Larry David Biography

Lawrence Gene "Larry" David (born July 2, 1947) is an American actor, writer, comedian, and television producer. He is best known as the head writer and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld, from 1989 to 1998, and as its co-creator, with Jerry Seinfeld. David has subsequently gained further recognition for the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, also created by David, in which he stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself.

David's work won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993. Formerly a standup comedian, David went into television comedy, writing and starring in ABC's Fridays, as well as writing briefly for Saturday Night Live. He has won two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as being voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders as number 23 of the greatest comedy stars ever in a British poll to select The Comedian's Comedian.

Early life

Lawrence Gene David was born in the neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Rose and Morty David, who was a men's clothing manufacturer. His family was Jewish. He graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School and then from the University of Maryland, with a bachelor's degree in History (1969), and then in Business Administration (1970). After college, David enlisted in the United States Army Reserve.

Career

While a stand-up comedian, David also worked as a store clerk, limousine driver, and television repairman to pay his bills. He lived in Manhattan Plaza, a federally-subsidized housing complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, across the hall from Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the Cosmo Kramer character in Seinfeld. David then became a writer for and cast member of ABC's Fridays from 1980 to 1982, and a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1984 to 1985. During his time at Saturday Night Live, he was able to get only one sketch on the show, which aired at 12:50 AM, the last time slot on the show.

David quit his writing job at SNL midseason, only to show up to work a few days later acting as though nothing had happened. That event inspired a second-season episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Revenge". David met his future Seinfeld stars during that early stage of his career: he worked with Michael Richards (Kramer) on Fridays and with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) on SNL. He can be heard heckling Michael McKean when McKean hosted SNL in 1984, and he can be seen in the sketch "The Run, Throw, and Catch Like a Girl Olympics" when Howard Cosell hosted the season finale in 1985.

Seinfeld

In 1988, David teamed up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld to create a pilot for NBC called The Seinfeld Chronicles, which became the basis for Seinfeld, one of the most successful shows in United States television history, reaching the top of TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time. Entertainment Weekly ranked it the third-best TV show of all time. David made occasional uncredited appearances on the show, playing such roles as Frank Costanza's cape-wearing lawyer and the voice of George Steinbrenner. He was also the primary inspiration for the show's character George Costanza. David left Seinfeld on friendly terms after the seventh season but returned to write the series finale in 1998, two years later. He also continued to provide the voice for the Steinbrenner character.

David wrote 62 of the episodes of Seinfeld, including 1992's "The Contest", for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and which TV Guide ranked the episode #1 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time". Syndication of Seinfeld earned David an estimated US$250 million in 1998 alone. This amount has been steadily decreasing each year, but payments will continue until the full $1.7 billion from the original deal has been paid. In 2008 David made $55 million from Seinfeld syndication, DVD sales, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He was nominated for an Emmy award 19 times for Seinfeld, winning twice " once for best comedy and once for writing.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

The HBO cable television channel aired David's 1-hour special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, on October 17, 1999. This was followed by Curb Your Enthusiasm, a television series on HBO that aired its first episode on October 15, 2000. The show revisits many of the themes of Seinfeld, and is improvised from a story outline only several pages long that David writes (as of the 5th season, additional writers were hired).

The actors improvise their dialogue based on the story outline, direction, and their own creativity. David has said that his character in the show, a fictionalized version of himself, is what he would be like in real life if he lacked social awareness and sensitivity. The character's numerous and frequent social faux pas, misunderstandings, and ironic coincidences are the basis of much of the show's comedy and have led to the entry into the American pop culture lexicon of the expression "Larry David moment", meaning an inadvertently created socially awkward situation.

The basis of the show is the events in David's life following the fortune he earned from the Seinfeld series; David, semi-retired, strives to live a fulfilled life. Alongside David is his wife Cheryl (played by Cheryl Hines), his manager and best friend Jeff (played by Jeff Garlin), and Jeff's wife Susie (played by Susie Essman). Celebrities, including comedians Bob Einstein, Wanda Sykes, and Richard Lewis, appear on the show regularly. Actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have had recurring roles as themselves.

The show is critically acclaimed and has been nominated for 30 Primetime Emmy Awards, with one win, as well as one Golden Globe win. In the first six seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander appeared in several episodes, and Jerry Seinfeld made a cameo. In season 7, the cast of Seinfeld, including Michael Richards, returned in a story arc involving David's attempt to organize a Seinfeld reunion special.

On Wednesday, June 2, 2010, the series premiered on the TV Guide Network, making its network television debut. TV Guide Network also produced a series of related discussions with high-profile guest stars, media pundits, and prominent social figures called "Curb: The Discussion" debating the moral implications depicted in each episode. David is quoted as saying "Finally, thanks to the TV Guide Network, I'll get a chance to watch actual, intelligent people discuss and debate the issues addressed on 'Curb'. Now if only someone could tell me where this alleged 'Network' is, I might even watch it."

Other projects

David has also been involved in other films and television series. David wrote and directed the 1998 film Sour Grapes, about two cousins who feud over a casino jackpot. It was neither a commercial nor a critical success. He has appeared in minor parts in two Woody Allen films " Radio Days and New York Stories " more recently taking the leading role in Allen's New York-based comedy film Whatever Works. Because his daughters are Hannah Montana fans, David, along with his daughters, guest-starred, as themselves, in the episode "My Best Friend's Boyfriend," in which they were waiting for a table at a fancy restaurant. David had a cameo appearance on the HBO series Entourage as a client of Ari Gold, and also appeared as a panelist on the NBC series The Marriage Ref. During the 2008 U.S Presidential Election, David supported and actively campaigned for Barack Obama. In December 2010, David penned an op-ed piece for The New York Times, a sardonic critique of the extension of Bush-era tax cuts headlined "Thanks for the Tax Cut!" David played Sister Mary-Mengele in the 2012 reboot of The Three Stooges. David co-wrote and starred in the 2013 HBO television film Clear History.

Personal life

David married Laurie Lennard on March 31, 1993. They have two daughters, and lived in Pacific Palisades, California. Both Davids became contributing bloggers at The Huffington Post in May 2005. On June 5, 2007, the couple announced their intention to separate amicably. Laurie David filed for divorce on July 13, 2007, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking joint custody of the couple's two daughters. David's estimated net worth is $400 million. The results of a DNA test shown live on Lopez Tonight in 2009 revealed that 37% of David's ethnic lineage might be Native American. However, the test's accuracy is disputed by several genealogists.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?	Mort's Friend
1983	Second Thoughts	Monroe Clark
1987	Radio Days	Communist Neighbor
1989	New York Stories	Theater manager
1998	Sour Grapes	Studio executive, Annoying doctor, Singing bum	Also director
2008	Is Anybody There?	Fireman
2009	Whatever Works	Boris Yelnikoff
2012	The Three Stooges	Sister Mary-Mengele
2013	Clear History	Nathan Flomm	Also writer and producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980–1982	Fridays	Himself	Also writer
1984–1985	Saturday Night Live	Various
1989–1998	Seinfeld	Various	Also creator, writer
1993	Love & War	Himself	Episode: "Let's Not Call It Love"
1998	Charlie Rose	Himself
1999–2009	Late Night with Conan O'Brien	Himself
2000–present	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself	Also creator, writer
2003	Real Time with Bill Maher	Himself
2004	Entourage	Himself	Episode: "New York"
2005	Earth to America	Himself
2006–2009	Late Show with David Letterman	Himself
2007	Hannah Montana	Himself	Episode: "My Best Friend's Boyfriend"
2007	The View	Himself
2009	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Himself
2009	D.L. Hughley Breaks the News	Himself
2009	Up Close with Carrie Keagan	Himself
2009	The Joy Behar Show	Himself
2009	Lopez Tonight	Himself
2009–2012	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Himself
2010	The Marriage Ref	Himself
2010	Totally Tracked Down	Himself	Episode: "Master of Her Domain"
2010	Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education	Himself
2011	The Paul Reiser Show	Himself	Episode: "The Father's Occupation"
2011	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Himself
2012	Inside Comedy	Himself
2012	Conan	Himself	Episode: "Where in Carmen Sandiego Is Waldo?"
2013	The Burn with Jeff Ross	Himself
2013	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	Himself

Awards and nominations

• Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing " Comedy Series for various episodes of Seinfeld from 1991"1994.
• Won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing " Comedy Series for the Seinfeld episode, The Contest, in 1993.
• Shared a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Seinfeld with co-creator, Jerry Seinfeld.
• Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series " Musical or Comedy for his role in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2002, 2004, & 2005.
• Voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders as number 23 of the greatest comedy stars ever in a poll to select The Comedian's Comedian.
• Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor " Comedy Series for his role in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2012.

Books About

• The Larry David Story: A Parallel Universe Biography
• Hitchhiking with Larry David: A True Story From Martha's Vineyard
• Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Larry David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm by Josh Levine (ECW Press, 2010)