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Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an Emmy Award-winning American actor and comedian, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld.
Richards began his career as a stand up comedian, first stepping into a 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. Prior to Seinfeld, he made numerous guest appearances on a variety of television shows including Cheers, Night Court, Miami Vice and St. Elsewhere.
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Quotations
I'm not a racist. That's what's so insane about this.
ibid.
It is uncalled for you to interrupt my ass you cheap motherfucker!
:- responding to the heckler saying That was uncalled for
Ohh, I guess you got me there. He's absolutely right. I'm just a wash up. Gotta stand on the stage.
:- responding to the heckler saying You're not funny! You're a reject! You never had no shows! You never had no movies! 'Seinfeld' that's it!.
ibid.
Encyclopedia
Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an Emmy Award-winning American actor and comedian, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld.
Richards began his career as a stand up comedian, first stepping into a 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. Prior to Seinfeld, he made numerous guest appearances on a variety of television shows including Cheers, Night Court, Miami Vice and St. Elsewhere. His film credits include So I Married an Axe Murderer, Problem Child, and UHF. After Seinfeld, Richards starred in his own sitcom, The Michael Richards Show, which lasted less than one season. After his series was canceled, he returned to his roots in stand up comedy.
In November 2006, controversy arose concerning racial epithets Richards shouted at black hecklers during a live comedy show. He publicly apologized for his statements a few days after the show.
In July 2007, Richards announced that he has retired from stand-up comedy for "spiritual healing" purposes and would be traveling with his fiancée to Cambodia, where they would visit Angkor Wat, as well as more remote temples, on a tour sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Nithyananda Foundation.
Early life
Richards was born in Culver City, California, the son of Phyllis (née Nardozzi), a medical records librarian of Italian descent, and William Richards, an electrical engineer. Richards was brought up with no specific religious tradition. but adopted Judaism later in life. He attended the California Institute of the Arts but received a BA degree in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975. He also had a short-lived improv act with Ed Begley, Jr. during this period. Enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, he continued to dominate student productions. He later said: "I am grateful that the public schools introduced me to the performing arts." He was drafted during the Vietnam War, was in the U.S. Army for two years, and stationed in Germany as one of the co-directors of the V Corps Training Road Show. "This was a successful, educational operation, boosting the morale of our men and incorporating the arts into the service." He then spent two years in the Army developing educational skits, and a couple more years "finding himself" at a commune in the Santa Clara Mountains. In 1979, he drove a bus and developed a stand-up comedy act.
Television and film 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, including a famous instance in which guest 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 Richard's face, before a small riot ensued (Richards later claimed he was in on the joke). The film Man on the Moon featured a re-enactment of the Andy Kaufman incident in which 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).
He was also famous for a brief sketch that he did on the show, during which he simply improvised with a large pile of dirt and some army toys. Richards had a guest starring role on NBC's Miami Vice as an unscrupulous bookie. He also had a guest role on Cheers as a character trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone. He made several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert, and gained screen credits portraying Stanley Spadowski in "Weird Al" Yankovic's movie UHF and serial killer Martin Beck in Problem Child in 1989.
Seinfeld
In 1989, he was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series Seinfeld, which was created by fellow Fridays cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Although it got off to a slow start, by the mid-1990s, the show had become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. The series ended its nine-year run in 1998 at #1 in the Nielsen Ratings.
Richards won more Emmys than any other cast member on Seinfeld. He took 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, but Richards stopped providing commentary after Season 5.
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 Seinfelds high-profile finale. The Michael Richards Show, for which the actor received co-writer and co-executive producer credits, was originally conceived as a comedy/mystery starring Richards as a bumbling private eye. However, after 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.
Cameo roles and guest appearances
Richards played himself in Episode 6 of Season 1 "The Flirt Episode" (1992) of the HBO series, The Larry Sanders Show. Richards also played a cameo role in So I Married an Axe Murderer where he was an "insensitive man". He also made guest appearances on the sitcoms Night Court and Cheers.
Laugh Factory incident
On November 17, 2006, during a performance at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California, a cell phone video captured Richards shouting "Shut up" to a heckler in the audience, followed by repeated shouts of "He's a nigger!" to the rest of the audience (using the word six times altogether), and also making a reference to lynching. He was addressing a pair of black hecklers. Richards made a public apology for his remarks, during a satellite appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, on an episode in which Jerry Seinfeld was the guest. He described going into a rage and said, "For me to be at a comedy club and to flip out and say this crap, I'm deeply, deeply sorry." He said he was trying to defuse heckling by being even more outrageous, but that it had backfired. Richards later called civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in order to apologize. He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show.
Kyle Doss, one of the members of the group that Richards had addressed, gave his explanation to CNN of the events prior to the cell phone video. He said that they had arrived in the middle of the performance and that, "I guess we're being a little loud, because there was 20 of us ordering drinks. And Richards said, 'Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there.'" Richards then continued with his routine. Doss added, "And, then, after a while, I told him, my friend doesn't think you're funny," which triggered Richards' outburst.
Personal life
During the 1970s Richards attended, and graduated from, The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Richards married former casting director Cathleen Lyons and had a daughter, Sophia. The two were divorced in 1992. He resides in Glendale,
California, specifically the Rossmoyne/Mountain area in the Northwest part of the city.
In 2007, Richards became engaged to actress Beth Skipp.
Richards is a Freemason and also a 33° member of the Scottish Rite. He has been very active in preservation of Masonic research.
TV/Filmography
Fridays TV Series1982 Faerie Tale Theatre (TV) .... King Geoffrey, Vince1982 Young Doctors in Love .... Malamud Callahan1983 Herndon TV Series .... Dr. Herndon P. Stool1984 The House of God .... Dr. Pinkus1985 Darlin' Clementine .... Sneaky Pete1985 Transylvania 6-5000 .... Fejos1985 Cheers .... Eddie Gordon1986 Whoops Apocalypse .... Lacrobat1986 Fresno (mini) TV Series .... 2nd Henchman1987 Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge1987-1988 Marblehead Manor (TV) .... Rick the Gardener1989 UHF .... Stanley Spadowski1989-1998 Seinfeld (TV) .... Cosmo Kramer1990 Problem Child .... Martin Beck1993 Coneheads .... Motel Clerk1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer .... Newspaper reporter1994 Airheads .... Doug Beech1995 Unstrung Heroes .... Danny Lidz1996 Ellen's Energy Adventure (uncredited) .... Caveman discovering fire1996 London Suite (TV) .... Mark Ferris1997 Redux Riding Hood (voice) .... The Wolf1997 Trial and Error .... Richard 'Ricky' Rietti2000 The Michael Richards Show TV Series .... Vic Nardozza2000 David Copperfield (TV) .... Mr. Wilkins Micawber2007 Bee Movie....Bud Ditchwater (voice)2010 Cat Tale .... Ace (voice)
External links
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