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Michael Richards

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This article is about the American actor. For other people named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation).

Michael Richards
Richards at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19, 1993
Born
Michael Anthony Richards

(1949-07-24) July 24, 1949 (age 75)
Culver City, California, U.S.[1]
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
The Evergreen State College (BA)
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, producer, comedian
Years active1979–2019
Spouses
  • Cathleen Lyons
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1974; div. 1993)​
    [2][3]
  • Beth Skipp
    ​
    (m. 2010)​
    [4][5]
Children2
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service / branch U.S. Army
Years of service1970–1972

Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering the national spotlight when he was featured on Billy Crystal's first cable TV special. He went on to become a series regular on ABC's Fridays. He made numerous guest appearances on a variety of television shows, such as Cheers. His film credits include So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airheads, Young Doctors in Love, Problem Child, Coneheads, UHF, and Trial and Error, one of his few starring roles.

From 1989 to 1998, he played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, three times receiving the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. During the run of Seinfeld, he made a guest appearance in Mad About You. After Seinfeld, he starred in his own sitcom, The Michael Richards Show, which was cancelled after 2 months.

When Seinfeld ended in 1998, Richards returned to stand-up comedy. He incited controversy in 2006 after a video was obtained by TMZ of him going on a racist tirade against hecklers while performing at the Laugh Factory.[6] The incident severely damaged his career, and due to significant media coverage of the event, he announced his retirement from stand-up in early 2007. In 2009 he appeared as himself in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, alongside his fellow Seinfeld cast members for the first time since that show’s finale, as well as lampooning his incident at the Laugh Factory. In 2013, he portrayed Frank in the sitcom Kirstie, which was cancelled after one season.[7]

Early life

Richards as a senior at Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, California (1967)

Richards was born in Culver City, California, to a Catholic family.[8] He is the son of Phyllis (née Nardozzi), a medical records librarian of Italian descent, and William Richards, an electrical engineer of Scottish and English descent.[9] His father died in a car crash when Michael was two and his mother never remarried.[2]

Richards graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. In 1968, he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game, although was not chosen for the date. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1970. He trained as a medic and was stationed in West Germany where he was a member of a theatrical group called The Training Road Show.[10] After being honorably discharged, he used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enroll in the California Institute of the Arts, and received a BA degree in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975.[11] He also had a short-lived improv act with Ed Begley Jr. During this period, he enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College and continued to appear in student productions.

Career

Richards got his big TV break in 1979, appearing in Billy Crystal's first cable TV special. In 1980, he began as one of the cast members on ABC's Fridays television show, where Larry David was a fellow cast member and writer. It included a famous instance where Andy Kaufman refused to deliver his scripted lines, leading Richards to bring the cue cards on screen to Kaufman, causing him to throw his drink into Richards's face before a small riot ensued (Richards later claimed he was in on the joke).[12] The film Man on the Moon featured a re-enactment of the Andy Kaufman incident where Richards was portrayed by actor Norm Macdonald (although he is never referred to by name, so he could be seen as a composite character taking the place of Richards).[13][14]

In 1986, Richards had a minor role in the cult satirical TV miniseries Fresno, playing one of a pair of inept criminal henchmen. In 1989, Richards had a supporting role in "Weird Al" Yankovic's comedy film UHF as janitor Stanley Spadowski. On television, he appeared in Miami Vice as an unscrupulous bookie; in St. Elsewhere as a television producer making a documentary about Dr. Mark Craig; in Cheers as a character trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone; and made several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert.

According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman, ABC first conceived the series Monk as a procedural police comedy with an Inspector Clouseau-like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hoberman said ABC wanted Richards to play Adrian Monk, but he turned it down.[15]

Seinfeld

Richards with Jerry Seinfeld at the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1992

In 1989, Richards was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series Seinfeld, created by fellow Fridays cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Although it got off to a slow start, by the mid-1990s it had become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. It ended its nine-year run in 1998 at No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. In Seinfeld, Kramer is the across the hall neighbor of the show's eponymous character, and is usually referred to only by his last name. His first name, Cosmo, was revealed in the sixth-season episode "The Switch".

Richards won more Emmys than any other Seinfeld cast member, taking home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1993, 1994, and 1997.

Starting in 2004, he and his fellow Seinfeld cast members provided interviews and audio commentaries for the Seinfeld DVDs. Richards stepped down from providing audio commentary after Season 5, though he continued to provide interviews.

The Michael Richards Show

In 2000, after the end of Seinfeld, Richards began work on a new series for NBC, his first major project since Seinfeld's finale. The Michael Richards Show, for which Richards received co-writer and co-executive producer credits, was conceived as a comedy/mystery starring Richards as a bumbling private investigator. When the first pilot failed with test audiences, NBC ordered that the show be retooled into a more conventional, office-based sitcom before its premiere. After a few weeks of poor ratings and negative reviews, it was cancelled.

2006 Laugh Factory incident

During a performance on November 17, 2006, at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, Richards launched into a racist rant in response to repeated heckling and interruptions from a small group of black audience members. Richards was recorded shouting "He's a nigger!" several times and making references to lynching and the Jim Crow era.[6][16][17][18][19] Kyle Doss, a member of the group that Richards addressed, said the group had arrived in the middle of the performance and were "being a little loud". According to Doss:

[Richards] said, "Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there." That's the first thing he said. And then he kept on with his bit. And, then, after a while, I told him, "My friend doesn't think you're funny." And then when I told him that, that's when he flipped me off and said, "F-you N-word." And that's how it all started.

— Kyle Doss, Interview on The Situation Room[20]

Three days after the incident, Richards made a public apology via satellite on the Late Show with David Letterman, saying: "For me to be at a comedy club and to flip out and say this crap, I'm deeply, deeply sorry. I'm not a racist, that's what's so insane about this."[21] Many studio audience members laughed as Richards began his unscripted explanation and apology, leading show guest Jerry Seinfeld to reprimand them, saying: "Stop laughing. It's not funny." Richards said he had been trying to defuse the heckling by being even more outrageous, but it had backfired. He later called civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to apologize.[20][22] He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show.[23] Doss stated that he did not accept Richards's apology, saying: "If he wanted to apologize, he could have contacted ... one of us out of the group. But, he didn't. He apologized on camera just because the tape got out."[22][24]

The incident was parodied on several TV shows, including Mad TV, Family Guy, South Park, Extras, and Monday Night Raw. In an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Richards appeared as himself and poked fun at the incident. In a 2012 episode of Seinfeld's web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Richards explained that the outburst still haunted him, and was a major reason for his retirement from stand-up.[25]

Comedian Paul Mooney also cited the incident as a key factor leading to his decision to remove the racial slur from his own live performances.[26]

Cameo roles, guest appearances, and film roles

Richards played himself in Episode 2 of Season 1 "The Flirt Episode" (1992) of the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show. He also had a cameo role in the comedy thriller film So I Married an Axe Murderer, credited as "insensitive man". He played radio station employee Doug Beech in Airheads, and co-starred with Jeff Daniels as an actor pretending to be a lawyer in 1997's Trial and Error. He also made guest appearances on Miami Vice, Night Court and Cheers. In 2007, he voiced character Bud Ditchwater in the animated film Bee Movie, which starred and was produced by Jerry Seinfeld. In 2009, Richards and the other main Seinfeld cast members appeared in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.[27] In 2012, Richards appeared in comedy web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, hosted by Jerry Seinfeld.[28] In 2014, he appeared as the president of Crackle in a trailer for Season 5. Seinfeld said the trailer's storyline would be expanded on in one of the episodes. In the comedy book SuperMega Saves the Troops written by Matt Watson and Ryan Magee, Michael Richards was a key character as an undercover spy.

Richards played Frank in the sitcom Kirstie, costarring Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman. It premiered on TV Land on December 4, 2013[7] and was canceled after one season.[29]

Personal life

Richards was married to Cathleen Lyons, a family therapist, for 18 years. They have one daughter, Sophia. They separated in 1992 and divorced the following year.[2][3]

In 2010, Richards married his girlfriend Beth Skipp. They have been together since 2002 and have one son.[4]

Richards is a Freemason.[30]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1982 Young Doctors in Love Malamud Callahan
1984 The House of God Dr. Pinkus 1984 ‘’[[The Ratings Game film)
1985 Transylvania 6-5000 Fejos
1986 Whoops Apocalypse Lacrobat
1987 Choice Chance and Control Victor Loudon Driver's Ed video
1989 UHF Stanley Spadowski
1990 Problem Child Martin Beck
1993 Coneheads Motel Clerk
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Insensitive Man
1994 Airheads Doug Beech
1995 Unstrung Heroes Danny Lidz Nominated—American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
1997 Redux Riding Hood The Wolf Voice
Short film
1997 Trial and Error Richard "Ricky" Rietti
2007 Bee Movie Bud Ditchwater Voice
2013 Walk the Light Lester Short film
2019 Faith, Hope & Love Daddy Hogwood

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1980–1982 Fridays Various roles 54 episodes; also writer
1982 Faerie Tale Theatre King Geoffeey Episode: "The Tale of the Frog Prince"
1983 Herndon Dr. Herndon P. Stool Television film
1984 Faerie Tale Theatre Vince Episode: "Pinocchio"
1984 At Your Service Rick the gardener Television film
1984 Night Court Eugene Sleighbough Episode: "Take My Wife, Please"
1984 The Ratings Game Sal Television film
1985 Tall Tales & Legends Sneaky Pete Episode: "My Darlin' Clementine"
1984–1985 St. Elsewhere Bill Wolf 5 episodes
1985 Cheers Eddie Gordon Episode: "Bar Bet"
1985 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Petronus Episode: "Car Wars"
1985 Slickers Mike Blade Television film
1985 It's a Living Hager Episode: "Desperate Hours"
1985 Hill Street Blues Special Agent Durpe Episode: "An Oy for an Oy"
1986 Miami Vice Pagone Episode: "The Fix"
1986 A Year in the Life Ronnie 3 episodes
1986 Fresno 2nd henchman 5 episodes
1987 Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge Various roles Television special
1987–1988 Marblehead Manor Rick 11 episodes
1989 Camp MTV Stanley Spadowski Television film
1989–1998 Seinfeld Cosmo Kramer
1992 Dinosaurs Director Voice
Episode: "Wesayso Knows Best"
1992 Mad About You Cosmo Kramer Episode: "The Apartment"
1992 The Larry Sanders Show Himself Episode: "The Flirt Episode"
1996 London Suite Mark Ferris Television film
2000 David Copperfield Mr. Wilkins Micawber Television film
2000 The Michael Richards Show Vic Nardozza 7 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer
2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm Michael Richards 3 episodes
2012 Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Michael Richards, Fictional Crackle president Dick Corcoran 3 episodes
2013–2014 Kirstie Frank 12 episodes

References

  1. ^ McDermid, Charles (July 13, 2007). "Richards finds solace in Cambodia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Michael Richards Tv's Top Jive-talking Hipster-doofus Fell for His Audience, and Vice Versa. Farewell, Cosmo, and Giddyup!". People. May 14, 1998. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Lipton, Michael A. (March 8, 1993). "Man Overboard!". People. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Lacher, Irene (December 1, 2013). "Michael Richards goes for a drive". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Falls, Michelle (December 6, 2013). "First Look at Michael Richards' Adorable Son Antonio—See the Precious Pics!". E!. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  6. ^ a b TMZ Staff (2006). ""Kramer's" Racist Tirade – Caught on Tape". In The Zone. TMZ.com. Retrieved November 20, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Goldberg, Lesely (February 15, 2013). "TV Land Orders Kirstie Alley-Michael Richards Comedy to Series". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. ^ "Michael Richards is not Jewish (Not that there's anything wrong with that)". HuffPost. November 23, 2006.
  9. ^ "Michael Richards Biography (1949?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  10. ^ Barbara DeMarco Barrett (June 1997). "The Spaz at Home". Orange Coat Magazine. p. 34.
  11. ^ "NewsLibrary.com – newspaper archive, clipping service – newspapers and other news sources". April 30, 1995.
  12. ^ Michael Richards 'Speaking Freely' transcript via First Amendment Center, Recorded February 28, 2002, in Aspen, Colorado Archived March 31, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Andy Kaufman on Fridays from FridaysFan. Funnyordie.com. February 11, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  14. ^ "Michael Richards – First Amendment Center – news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  15. ^ from "Mr Monk and His Origins," a special feature packaged with the Season One DVDs.
  16. ^ Mariel Concepción (2006). "Comedian Michael "Kramer" Richards Goes into Racial Tirade, Banned From Laugh Factory". News wire. VIBE.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006. Retrieved November 21, 2006.
  17. ^ ""Seinfeld" Comic Richards Apologizes for Racial Rant". Washingtonpost.com. November 21, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  18. ^ "Richards 'deeply, deeply sorry' for racial slurs". CBC arts. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. November 20, 2006. Retrieved November 20, 2006.
  19. ^ ""Seinfeld" Star Richards Under Fire For Racial Outburst". News wire. Reuters. November 20, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  20. ^ a b "The Situation Room transcript". The Situation Room. CNN. 2006. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
  21. ^ "CNN Newsroom". CNN.com. 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
  22. ^ a b "Sharpton: Comedian's apology not enough". CNN. November 23, 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  23. ^ "Jesse Jackson Talks To Michael Richards: Jackson Says Apology For Actor's Racist Rant Is Only A Beginning Before Healing". News wire. CBS. November 25, 2006. Retrieved April 23, 2007.
  24. ^ Kyle Doss wants reparations for Kramer calling him a nigger at YouTube
  25. ^ "Michael Richards It's Bubbly Time, Jerry – Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee by Jerry Seinfeld". Comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  26. ^ "Black entertainers struggle with the n-word". nbcnews.com. December 1, 2006.
  27. ^ "'Curb Your Enthusiasm' hosts a 'Seinfeld' reunion". Zap2It.com. March 6, 2009. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  28. ^ "Richards appears on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee". Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  29. ^ "TV Land cancels 'Kirstie'". Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  30. ^ "Today in Masonic History - Michael Anthony Richards is Born".
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