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Larry David

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Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an Emmy-winning actor, writer, comedian, producer and film director. David was co-creator, head writer and executive producer for the television series Seinfeld. He also created and stars in the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself.

David, a former standup comedian, was a writer and cast member for ABC's Fridays from 1980 to 1982, and a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. During his time at SNL, David only managed to get one of his sketches on the show — the last sketch of the night where the weaker sketches are usually scheduled. David quit his writing job at SNL mid-season, only to show up to work a few days later to act as though nothing had happened. This inspired a season two episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Revenge". David met his future Seinfeld stars during this early stage of his career: he worked with Michael Richards (Kramer) on Fridays and with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) during his one-year stint on SNL. David can be heard heckling Michael McKean when McKean hosted the show in 1984. David also can be seen in the sketch, "The Run, Throw and Catch Like a Girl Olympics" when Howard Cosell hosted the season finale in 1985.

David graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a bachelor's degree in history (1970) and then in business (1971).

Television and film

Seinfeld

In 1989, Larry David teamed up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld to create NBC's The Seinfeld Chronicles (later retitled Seinfeld), which was to become one of the most successful shows in United States television history. David occasionally appeared (uncredited) on the show, and was the primary inspiration for the show's George Costanza character. Larry David left Seinfeld on amicable terms after the seventh season and returned to write the series finale in 1998 two years later. He also continually provided the voice for the character of George Steinbrenner. Although he subsequently stopped writing, his function as executive producer is considered to have defined Seinfeld.

The commercial success of Seinfeld has made creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld multimillionaires, with syndication and DVD releases earning them hundreds of millions of dollars. Larry David is estimated to have netted almost $250 million from Seinfeld alone.

David 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 special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, a hybrid work using story outlines and dialogue. Before it aired, HBO had suggested that David commit to a series using the same method. The result, Curb Your Enthusiasm, first aired in 2000. It revisits many of the themes first brought up in Seinfeld, albeit in a markedly different style. The basis of the show is Larry's life now that he has earned a fortune and has very little to do in semi-retirement. The show is mainly improvised, with the actors receiving a detailed synopsis of their scene for them to act out. The effect is an almost documentary style sitcom. Because HBO is a premium cable channel available only by subscription, the show can explore more explicit themes (examples include a pubic hair being stuck in David's throat, and a woman keeping a baseball in her vagina) and dialogue. 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 Richard Lewis, Bob Einstein and Wanda Sykes, and actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have had either recurring roles or guest appearances on the show. Larry David has commented that his character in the show, which is a fictionalised version of himself, is what he would be like in real life if he lacked social awareness and sensitivity. Indeed, fictional Larry's numerous and frequent social faux pas and misunderstandings are the basis of much of the show's comedy. Through no real fault of his own, but often due to his staggering lack of common sense, Larry has been variously accused of being a racist, a sexist, an adulterer, a pervert, a wife-beater and a thief. Additionally, because Larry has never learnt the skill of keeping his mouth shut when neccessary, there have been many violent incidents involving other characters who, unlike Larry, respect social rules and ettiquette. All the while, his patient wife Cheryl, though often enraged by his behaviour, supports him. Essentially, Larry is a likeable character and in the show, he meets quite unlikeable people. The conflict comes from the fact that although many of these people are indeed petty, volatile or annoying, they abide by rules that Larry does not. Larry therefore often comes off worse in the eyes of those he exists around.

In 2003, David was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the "Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series — Musical Or Comedy" category, for his work on the show. He was nominated again in 2005 and 2006. In the same year, fellow comedians and comedy insiders, in a poll to select The Comedian's Comedian, voted him number 23 on the top fifty greatest comedy acts ever.

David was also nominated for a 2006 Emmy Best Actor Award. There was speculation that the show would be ending after the fifth season; however, the show returned for a sixth season on September 9, 2007, airing at 10pm Sunday nights on HBO. Season 6 sees Larry and Cheryl take in a family after their home was ruined by a hurricane. Larry is continually amused by the fact that the family are black and their surname is 'Black', commenting that his name could be 'Larry Jew'. The sixth season also sees loyal and forgiving Cheryl finally reach breaking point with her sociopathic husband. During a very turbulent flight, Cheryl decides to call Larry from the plane, just in case she doesn't make it. She becomes furious when Larry tries his best to get her off the phone because he is trying to speak to the TiVo engineer at work in their house. Cheryl returns home safe, but due to Larry's outrageous behaviour, immediately announces that she is leaving him. For the remainder of the season, with Cheryl now dating a man who runs an undergarment company, we see Larry enduring disaster after disaster on the dating scene.

Other projects

David has also appeared in minor parts in two Woody Allen films, Radio Days and New York Stories. He was considered for the part that went to Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa. He also played an angry version of himself on Entourage.

David wrote and directed the 1998 film Sour Grapes, about two cousins who feud over a casino jackpot. It was neither a commercial nor critical success.

Since his daughters are Hannah Montana fans, David, along with them, guest starred in the episode "My Best Friend's Boyfriend" as themselves where they are waiting to get a table at a fancy restaurant, which may have been inspired by the Seinfeld episode "The Chinese Restaurant".

David has also starred in a print advertising campaign for American Express, in which he says his favorite in-flight movie was fictional Seinfeld-film Rochelle, Rochelle.

David is also set to star in Woody Allen's as-yet-untitled New York based comedy film, to be filmed in April 2008.

Awards and Nominations

Emmy Awards:

  • Outstanding Comedy Series; Seinfeld (1993)

Personal life

On March 31, 1993, David married Laurie Lennard; they have two daughters named Cazzie and Romy, and they lived in Pacific Palisades, California. Like her counterpart in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Cheryl David (played by Cheryl Hines), Laurie is an environmental activist. From May 2005, the couple were both contributing bloggers at The Huffington Post.

On June 5, 2007, the couple announced their intention to amicably separate. Laurie David filed for divorce on July 19, 2007 citing irreconcilable differences and seeking joint custody of their two daughters.

David is an avid fan of the New York Yankees, New York Jets, and New York Knicks. He is also a fervent supporter of Barack Obama.

References

External links



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