Michael Richards
Actor Michael Richards was born on July 24, 1949 in Culver City, California . When he was just a toddler, Richards’ father passed away, and he was raised by his mother in Culver City ; one of LA's foremost production areas for movie and television. In his early teens, Richards developed a passion for acting. After graduating from high school, Richards enrolled in the theater program at Valley College in California . At this time, Richards was drafted by the Army, serving two years in before returning to the California Institute of the Arts. He then went on to Washington State 's alternative school, Evergreen State College; and returned to Los Angeles after graduating to perform in the standup circuit.
After less than a year of doing standup, Richards was scouted by ABC to appear in their new sketch series Fridays, which was seen as an imitation of Saturday Night Live and ran from 1980 to1982. Guest hosts on the show included Andy Kaufman, Kim Carnes, Al Jarreau and Valerie Bertinelli.
From there, Richards went directly into his feature film debut, in the comedyYoung Doctors in Love (1982), directed by Garry Marshall and starring Sean Young. He continued to work steadily throughout the 80s, although it was fellow Fridays cast mate Larry David who gave him the golden ticket to fame when he chose him for a part in Seinfeld.
Alongside fellow cast mates, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Julia Louis Dreyfus; Richards shone as spazz-tastic apartment-dweller Cosmo Kramer; a character based on one of Larry David's real life friends. Richards’ incarnation garnered him three Emmy’s for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, but also took a physical toll on the actor.
Reportedly, Richards was unhappy with being typecast as a crazy cosmopolitan. He did, however, manage to snag big-screen gigs in Diane Keaton's Unstrung Heroes (1995) and Trial and Error (1997), which co-starred Jeff Daniels. Richards has also acted in Airheads (1994) with David Arquette and Adam Sandler; So I Married an Ax Murderer (1993) with Mike Myers; and Coneheads (1993) with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin.
In 2000, Richards debuted his first major project since Seinfeld, called The Michael Richards Show. Originally conceived as a comedy/mystery, the show lasted one season. Richards was reportedly also chosen to star as the title character in popular series Monk, but pulled out at the last minute, leaving the role for Tony Shaloub.
In November 2006, Richards came under fire for yelling racial slurs at hecklers in the audience during his stand-up performance at Hollywood ’s famed comedy club, The Laugh Factory. Within 24-hours, Richards was back on the same stage performing, during which time he was expected to issue an apology. Richards did not address the incident, and has since been banned from further performances at the club. A few days later, Richards appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to offer an apology for his remarks, which was diluted with broader and obscure comparisons of his outburst to race relations in the as a whole.
Richards has one daughter, Sophia with casting director Cathleen Richards, whom he divorced in 1990. |
