Richard Dimitri Passes On

Richard Dimitri, who played twins Bertram and Renaldo on Mel Brooks's sitcom When Things Were Rotten and crated the sitcom Daddy Dearest, died on December 18, 2025, at the age of 83. He had suffered with lung and heart illness for decades.

Richard Dimitri was born on June 27, 1942, in New York City. His father abandoned his family when he was only a toddler. He was raised by his mother and his maternal grandfather. He graduated from Yonkers High School and then attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1962. He made his debut on Broadway in 1968 in The Guide. He appeared on Broadway in 1969 in Zorba.

In the Seventies, Richard Dmitri appeared in Lysistrata. He taught at Queens College In New York City. He moved to Los Angeles when he was cast on Mel Brooks's television series When Things Were Rotten. It was a parody of the Robin Hood legend, with Richard Dmitri playing twins Bertram (an assistant to the Sheriff of Nottingham) and Renaldo (one of Robin Hood's Merry Men). When Things Were Rotten only lasted 13 episodes. Afterwards, Richard Dimitri guest starred on the shows Starsky and Hutch; Welcome Back, Kotter; Hawaii Five-O; This is the Life; and Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. He appeared in the mini-series Seventh Avenue. He appeared in the movie The World's Greatest Lover (1977).

In the Eighties, Richard Dimitri appeared in the movies Johnny Dangerously (1984) and Let It Ride (1989). He guest starred on the TV shows CBS Summer Playhouse and Trying Times. In the Nineties, he guest starred on the shows Hearts Afire and Tracey Takes On, and appeared in the mini-series OP Center. 

Richard Dmitri also wrote for television. He wrote the unsold 1977 TV pilot Roosevelt and Truman. He wrote two episodes of the sitcom House Calls. and the live action Saturday morning show Going Bananas. In the Nineties, he created the sitcom Daddy Dearest.

Richard Dmitri left the entertainment industry in 1998 because of his health. He began working as an art and antiques dealer and ran the gallery Engs-Dimitri Works of Art on on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Richard Dimitri had a great deal of talent as a comic actor. He was excellent on When Things Were Rotten, playing the fashion-conscious Bertram and his twin brother and the sheriff's lackey Renaldo, who could have just stepped off the boat from Puerto Rico. Even in a cast that included Dick Gautier, Dick Van Patten, and Bernie Kopell, Richard Dmitri stood out on the show. In the movie Johnny Dangerously, he played nightclub owner Roman Moronie, who never could get swear words correct. In :Let It Ride, he played gambler Tony Cheeseburger. Richard Dmitri had a gift for playing funny, off-the-wall characters and could hold his own with such talents as Gene Wilder, Michael Keaton, and Richard Dreyfuss.