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Larry David

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Larry David
File:Curb 506.jpg
Larry David in "The Smoking Jacket" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 5 Episode 6).
Born
Larry David (I)
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm) [1]
Spouse(s)Laurie Lennard (March 31, 1993 - present) (2 Children)

Larry David (born July 2 1947) is an Emmy-winning American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and film director born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, New York. David was the co-creator, head writer and executive producer for the television series Seinfeld. In addition, he created and stars in the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

David, a former standup comedian, was a writer and cast member for ABC's Fridays television series from 1980 to 1982, and a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. During his entire time at SNL, David only got one sketch included in the show — the last sketch of the night (where the weaker sketches are usually scheduled). David quit his writing job at SNL in the middle of that season, only to show up to work a few days later to act as if nothing had happened (and stayed through the rest of the season). This event inspired a season two episode of Seinfeld called The Revenge. David first met his future Seinfeld stars at these points in his early career: He worked with Michael Richards (Kramer) on Fridays and with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) during his one-year stint on SNL.

David graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with bachelor degrees in history (1970) and business (1971).

On March 31, 1993, David married Laurie Lennard; they have two children and live in Pacific Palisades, California.Like her counterpart in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Laurie is an environmental activist. Since May 2005 David and his wife have been contributing bloggers at The Huffington Post. Both Larry and Laurie have expressed a long-time interest in the discipline and philosophy of chaos magick.[2]

Seinfeld

In 1989, David teamed up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld to create The Seinfeld Chronicles for NBC. The show, later retitled Seinfeld, became one of the most successful shows in television history. David periodically appeared on the show. He was the primary inspiration for the character of George Costanza on Seinfeld. David left Seinfeld, on amicable terms, after the seventh season. However, he returned to write the series finale in 1998 two years later. Although his writing ceased in the later years, his job as executive producer is considered to have defined Seinfeld.

Indeed, voters on the Jump The Shark website [2] consider his departure from Seinfeld as one of the top three points of the show's decline.

The commercial success of Seinfeld has made Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld multimillionaires. Syndication deals and DVD releases have earned each co-creator hundreds of millions of dollars. Larry David is estimated to have earned over $200 million from Seinfeld alone.[3]

Larry David's appearances on Seinfeld

File:Larry Sein heartattack.jpg
David as a B-movie actor in the Seinfeld episode, "The Heart Attack"
File:Seinfeld s6e4.jpg
David as a mysterious man in a cape, talking to Frank Costanza, in "The Chinese Woman."

All of Larry David's appearances on Seinfeld were uncredited.

  • Voice of one of the elderly diners whom Elaine tries to get an eggroll from. He can be heard exclaiming "What did she say?" several times. ("The Chinese Restaurant", Season 2, Episode 6)
  • Actor in B-movie with the line "Like flaming globes, Zigmond! Ah ha ha ha ha haaa!" ("The Heart Attack," Season 2, Episode 11)
  • Voice of Newman in "The Revenge" (Season 2, Episode 12) (original NBC version only; replaced by Wayne Knight in syndication)
  • Voice of party attendee who shouts "Jack, lets get started!" and "I'd rather have a bottle of scotch!". ("The Pen," Season 3, Episode 3)
  • Voice of the car thief ("The Alternate Side," Season 3, Episode 11)
  • Voice over intercom reading out train connections in subway. ("The Subway," Season 3, Episode 13)
  • Voice of boxing announcer on Jerry's television ("The Parking Space," Season 3, Episode 22)
  • Appears on the far right of the screen next to the police with Larry Charles when the authorities show up at Kramer's apartment in Los Angeles to arrest him for murder ("The Trip, Part 2," Season 4, Episode 2)
  • Voice of the airplane passenger who forgets that he ordered the kosher meal which Elaine was forced to eat. ("The Airport," Season 4, Episode 12)
  • Dubs the voice of the co-worker who pokes into Elaine's office and says "Hey, Nip, ya need that manuscript or can I take it home?" ("The Pick," Season 4, Episode 13)
  • Voice of "his majesty" in the off-screen film "Checkmate." (The Movie, Season 4, Episode 14)
  • Greenpeace crew member alongside Larry Charles. ("The Pilot, Part 2," Season 4, Episode 24)
  • Voice of TV announcer at tennis match ("The Lip Reader," Season 5, Episode 6)
  • Voice of the passerby on the beach who calls out: "Is anyone here a marine biologist?" ("The Marine Biologist," Season 5, Episode 14)
  • Voice of soap opera director ("The Stand In", Season 5, Episode 16)
  • Voice over the intercom at the airport. ("The Raincoats, Part 2," Season 5, Episode 19)
  • Voice of comedy club emcee ("The Fire," Season 5, Episode 20)
  • Voice of George Steinbrenner, George Costanza's boss ("The Opposite," from Season 5, Episode 82 onward)
  • Frank Costanza's cape-wearing lawyer ("The Chinese Woman," Season 6, Episode 4)
  • Voice of a character in the film Chunnel which Jerry, Elaine, and Susan watch ("The Pool Guy," Season 7, Episode 8)
  • Newsstand worker who refuses a lipstick-stained dollar bill from George (dressed as Henry VIII) when he attempts to buy a pack of gum. Delivers the line "I beg your pardon, your majesty, but we don't accept bills with lipstick on the President." ("The Gum", Season 7, Episode 10).
  • Voice of police officer, "I said turn, Pimp!" ("The Wig Master," Season 7, Episode 19)
  • Voice of the heckling prisoner ("The Finale, Part 2," Season 9, Episode 22)

Curb Your Enthusiasm

In 1999, the HBO cable television channel aired David's special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, a hybrid work using story outlines and improvised dialogue, shot in a documentary style. Before it aired, HBO had suggested that David commit to a series using the same method. The result, Curb Your Enthusiasm, first aired in 2000. It revisits many of the themes first brought up in Seinfeld, albeit in a markedly different style. Because it is on HBO, the show can explore slightly more explicit themes (examples include a pubic hair being stuck in David's throat, and a woman keeping a baseball in her vagina) and dialogue (the show contains profanity). The overall gist of the show consists of David being socially inadequate in Los Angeles, and ending up ruining every relationship, environment or situation he's in. Alongside David is his wife, Cheryl (played by Cheryl Hines), his manager Jeff (played by Jeff Garlin), and Jeff's wife (played by Susie Essman). David also managed to get a large number of celebrities to either have a recurring role on the show (Richard Lewis, Wanda Sykes) or just a few appearances. For a complete list, see List of celebrities appearing on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In 2004, Curb Your Enthusiasm was credited with helping clear a Los Angeles man named Juan Catalan of a first-degree murder charge. Catalan, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, maintained his innocence, saying he was at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game on May 12, 2003, during the time of the slaying. During the game, an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm was being shot in Dodger Stadium which contained footage of Juan Catalan with his daughter. When told that his show had released a wrongfully accused man, Larry David commented in a New Yorker article, "I tell people that I've now done one decent thing in my life. Albeit inadvertently."[4]

In 2005, David was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the "Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series — Musical Or Comedy" category, for his work on the show. In the same year, fellow comedians and comedy insiders, in a poll to select The Comedian's Comedian, voted him number 23 on the top fifty greatest comedy acts ever.

David was also nominated for a 2006 Emmy Best Actor Award for his work on the show. There had been speculation that the show was ending after the fifth season; however, Jeff Garlin announced that David plans to commence a sixth season.

In a post Emmy show for E! News on August 27, 2006, Cheryl Hines confirmed that the sixth season would begin filming in October 2006; however, she is uncertain of the air date.

Other projects

David has also appeared in minor parts in two Woody Allen films, Radio Days (1987) and New York Stories (1989). He was considered for the part that went to Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa, and also played an angry version of himself to agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) on Entourage.

David wrote and directed the 1998 film Sour Grapes, about two cousins, Goot and Brennan, who feud over a casino jackpot. It was neither a commercial nor critical success.

References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202970/bio
  2. ^ http://michaelprescott.typepad.com/michael_prescotts_blog/2005/09/index.html
  3. ^ Who's the richest? Seinfeld, [1], The Associated Press, 1999
  4. ^ ""Curb" Curbs Injustice". E!. Retrieved June 20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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