Michael Richards

Michael Richards

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Birth name: Michael Anthony Richards
Date of birth: 24 July 1949
Place of birth: Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA
Nickname: Mike
Height: 6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
Spouse: Cathleen Lyons (1974 – 1992) (divorced) 1 child

Famous Quote: “I’m a performer. I push the envelope, I work in a very uncontrolled manner onstage. I do a lot of free association, it’s spontaneous, I go into character. It’s strange how parts come along, how life lives us, and what we get to do with the abilities that are given us. When you perform in front of an audience after only two days of rehearsal, you’re flying by the seat of your pants particularly when they’re rewriting the show right up to the moment the camera goes on.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Michael Richards
242 Aderno Way
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
USA 

Biography:  Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American comedian and actor known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television series Seinfeld, a role which earned him three Emmy Awards. For some actors, creating a timeless character who ends up so universally beloved; so undeniably unique, that no one can imagine another actor in that part, would be a dream realized. For other actors, becoming too connected in the public conscience with said character and having that formidable shadow loom over every future project, could be a frustrating battle with the past and the fans who simply can not let it go. 

Few television actors save Carroll O’Connor, Lucille Ball, Henry Winkler, et al have experienced this type of blessing-turned-curse career arc more than comedian Michael Richards. As Cosmo Kramer, the gangly, perpetually amped, mooch of a neighbor to stand-up Jerry Seinfeld on the legendary sitcom, “Seinfeld” (1990-98), Richards so inhabited his loony alter-ego, that when the show famously wrapped, he more than any of his co-stars – found it the most difficult to start anew. After adding fuel to the fire of a supposed “Seinfeld” curse, following the cancellation of his post-“Seinfeld” sitcom, “The Michael Richards Show” (2000-01), a resigned Richards quietly left the scene to focus on his stand-up and other pursuits. Unfortunately, he was suddenly and shockingly thrust back into the spotlight after letting fly a stream of racial slurs during a 2006 comedy club appearance, resulting in charges of racism after the meltdown was leaked onto the internet.

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.

Immortalized as Cosmo Kramer on the classic American sitcom “Seinfeld” (1990), L.A. comedy star Michael Richards, born in Culver City, California, developed an early interest in acting in high school. He attended the California Institute of the Arts and graduated at Evergreen State College in Washington with his BFA in drama. Around this time, he founded an improv company with Ed Begley Jr. although it didn’t last long. Michael interrupted his fledgling career with a two-year stint in the Army and lived a rather wanderlust lifestyle until finally grounding himself again in theater. First performing with the San Diego Repertory Company, he subsequently returned to L.A. where he developed a stand-up comedy act.

Inspired by the physical comedy of such legends as Charles Chaplin and Jacques Tati, he paid his dues on the comedy circuit until comedian Billy Crystal noticed him and gave him a break on one of his comedy specials. Michael earned a regular spot on the sketch comedy series “Fridays” (1980), where he created the character of Battle Boy who liked to blow up army soldiers. He also appeared in such minor slapstick films as Young Doctors in Love (1982) and Transylvania 6-5000 (1985). Everything finally came together for the elastic-faced comedian in 1989, after being cast as Cosmo Kramer, Jerry Seinfeld’s convulsive, frizzy-mopped neighbor and pal on “Seinfeld” (1990). The frenzied character earned him three Emmy awards and instant cult status. What can be a blessing, however, can also be a curse. So strongly identified with the Kramer character, Michael has major concerns once the series ended in 1998.

Despite great comedy work in the films Unstrung Heroes (1995) and Trial and Error (1997), he didn’t nab a strong career in film. Meanwhile, a subsequent sitcom vehicle “The Michael Richards Show” (2000), in which he served as creator, co-writer, and co-executive producer, went down the tubes quickly after his character was criticized as too one-note and “Kramer-esque” in style. Like other similar actors before him, such as ‘Carroll O’Connor (I)’, the versatile Michael is smartly riding out the Kramer storm until he finds the right time to resurface. That time to resurface was in late 2006. However, it was for all the wrong reasons. He was caught on tape at a Los Angeles comedy club, delivering a racist tirade directed at two African-American hecklers. Although he has repeatedly apologized through the media, it is unknown what damage this may do to his career.

In November 2006, controversy arose concerning racial epithets Richards shouted at black hecklers during a live comedy show. He 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.

Michael Richards was born in Culver City, California to William Richards, an electrical engineer; and Phyllis Nardozzi, a medical records librarian. Richards was brought up with no specific religious tradition. 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.

Richards married former casting director Cathleen Richards and had a daughter, Sophia. The two were divorced in 1990. He resides northwest of the San Fernando Valley, specifically the Conejo Valley, near Thousand Oaks, California. Richards is a Master Mason and also holds 33° in the Scottish Rite. He was very active in preservation of Masonic research, and in his personal life is an avid reader. Richards holds memberships in the following lodges: Riviera Lodge No. 780, Culver City–Foshay Lodge No. 467, as well as the Southern California Research Lodge. Additionally, he is also a Life Member of the Los Angeles Scottish Rite Valley and a Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research Society. In 2007, Richards was engaged to actress Beth Skipp.

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, 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 a screen credit portraying Stanley Spadowski in “Weird Al” Yankovic’s movie UHF in 1989.

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. Starting in 2004, he and his fellow Seinfeld cast members have provided interviews and audio commentaries for the Seinfeld DVDs, but Richards stopped providing commentary after Season 7.

In 2000, after the end of Seinfeld, Richards began work on a new series for NBC, his first major project since Seinfeld’s 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 canceled.

Richards played himself in Episode 6 of Season 1 “The Flirt Episode” (1992) of the acclaimed 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,” and had a supporting role as an escaped convict in the movie Problem Child. He also made guest appearances on the sitcom Night Court.

Attended Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, USA. Attended the California Institute of the Arts. Most renowned for his role as Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld” (1990). His character in “Seinfeld” (1990) was named Kessler in the original pilot. Cosmo Kramer, his character in “Seinfeld” (1990), always wore clothes one size too big to make him appear to be laid back and loose.

Is a 33-degree Scottish Rite Freemason. Is a Vietnam-era Army Veteran. He was drafted and served for two years in West Germany. Auditioned for the role of Al Bundy on “Married with Children” (1987). His big dream when he started acting was to play a detective. This led him to later create “The Michael Richards Show” (2000), a sitcom about a private detective agency. The show flopped and was short-lived. Later, he was considered for the lead role in another comical detective show, “Monk” (2002), which ultimately went to Tony Shalhoub.

Was the actor Andy Kaufman threw water on during a skit on “Fridays”. In the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon (1999), Richards’ character was played by Norm MacDonald. Is the only cast member on “Seinfeld” (1990) who has never hosted “Saturday Night Live” (1975). Banned from ever performing at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles. Has a daughter named Sophia from his marriage to Cathleen Lyons.

On November 12, 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 “He’s a nigger!” to the rest of the audience (using the word 6 times altogether), and also making a reference to lynching. He was addressing a group of black hecklers. Richards made a public apology for his remarks, during a satellite appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. 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 he Richards said, ‘Look at the 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.

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