Richard Belzer began his career in show business with a starring role in "Groove Tube," the counterculture film that went on to become a cult classic. Since then, Belzer's comedic talents have been featured in every entertainment medium from off-Broadway to radio to film. Richard Belzer reprises his role as acerbic Detective John Munch on Wolf Films/NBC Universal Television's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," after first portraying Munch on NBC's critically acclaimed drama series "Homicide: Life on the Street" for seven seasons. His character transferred from Baltimore to New York to join the crime unit.
Detective Munch first appeared as a homicide detective in a fictional police department in Baltimore as a central character in the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street, which debuted January 30, 1993. After it concluded its seventh season in May of 1999, John Munch retired from the Baltimore Police Department, took his pension, and moved to New York to join a sex crimes investigation unit. On SVU, Munch is now mostly an information gatherer, but is occasionally involved in undercover operations. His main talent seems to be picking up on minutiae that no one else notices, and being more well versed in literature and politics than his younger colleagues.