The brother of Law & Order actor Richard Belzer died after jumping from the rooftop of his posh Manhattan apartment on Wednesday.

Police found the body of 73-year-old Leonard Belzer around 6:45 in the morning in the curtilage of 250 W. 94th St. in Manhattan. They said they found notes in his apartment but did not disclose details.

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Belzer, who hosted the popular "The Comedy Hour" radio show, had been married to award-winning "Sesame Street" director Emily Squires until her demise in November 2012 at age 71. The couple didn't have children.

He is said to have come down with a deteriorating health condition which was aggravated by the loss of his wife.

"Belzer had always been in a good mood and loved talking about movies, until his wife passed away, he was never quite the same," said his neighbor Terry Caza, a 56-year-old producer and actor.

Building employees described Belzer as hurting and in a lot of pain and had made numerous trips to ER.  

An advocate of spirituality, Belzer co-wrote a book entitled "Spiritual Places In And Around New York City" in 2000.

Leonard's brother, Richard Belzer, is popularly known as John Munch in the long-running TV series "Law & Order".  

Their father, Charles, is also said to have taken his own life in 1968.

An article in the 1993 issue of People magazine revealed that Leonard had previously tried to commit suicide but was stopped when Richard found him cold from drug overdose.

While growing up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Belzer siblings suffered a battered childhood with their mother, Frances, beating them ferociously.

Leonard disclosed to People magazine, "Our mother didn't know how to love her sons appropriately, she always had some rationale for hitting us."

Leonard's comedy, as confessed by Richard, was only a defense mechanism against the cruelty they suffered in the hands of their mother, who died in 1964.

TagsLeonard Belzer, The Comedy Hour, Richard Belzer, Law & Order