A social misfit, was kicked out of every school he ever attended, due to his uncontrollable wit. His mother (Frances) died of breast cancer when Richard was 18. His father (Charles) committed suicide when he was 22. A dedication is written to him in Richard Belzer's "UFO's, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe" (Ballantine Books, 1999).
Belzer flunked out of junior college, joined the Army and then tried (I don't know if he was or was not successful) to get out of the Army. He not only is not a college graduate, he, unlike the men and women he criticizes now, could not make it in the US military.