Richard Belzer leaving 'Law & Order: SVU' as series regular

Richard Belzer has left the popular Law & Order: SVU after 15 seasons as a series regular.

His character of John Munch surprised fans by retiring during Wednesday's episode of the popular crime drama, The Huffington Post reports.

Though his character is retiring, Munch isn't necessarily gone, a source has said. He will still occasionally show up on SVU. Next Wednesday's episode features a retirement party for Belzer's character.

Belzer told HuffPo in May, "I'd be a fool to say I didn't want to do it anymore and I'm certainly not bored with the character because the writing is so good. [Munch is] very close to how I would be if I were in that situation, so it's a dream."

According to Us Weekly, Munch was first created in 1993 for NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street. Munch then moved on to Dick Wolf's spinoff version, while making guest appearances in other shows, such as The Beat, Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial By Jury and even The X Files.

The 69-year-old actor is the second high profile actor to leave the show in recent years. Chris Meloni, who played Det. Elliot Stable, left in 2011.

image: Wikimedia Commons

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