Michael Richards is an American actor, problably best known for portraying Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, a role which delivered him 3 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Biography
Michael Richards was born Michael Anthony Richards on July 24, 1949, to William Richards and Phyllis Nardozzi. He was born in Culver City, California, United States where he was raised with no specific religious tradition. He developed an early interest in acting while in high school. After attending at the California Institute of Arts he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975. During the Vietnam war in 1973 Richards spent two years in the U.S. Army developing educational skits. After this Richards started a small improv company with Ed Begley, Jr. which unfortunately didn't last very long. He wasn't noticed for a while until comedian Billy Crystal gave him a part in one of his TV specials. In 1980 (at the age of 30) he became a regular cast member on ABC's Fridays (together with Larry David whom he would later work with for Seinfeld). Richards' most famous appearance on Fridays was the skit in which he was thrown water on by Andy Kaufman which now a days is referred to as the "Andy Kaufman Incident" because it wasn't very clear if this was a joke or an incident. In 1987 Richards auditioned for the role of Al Bundy on the popular FOX Sitcom Married... with Children but this part eventually went to Ed O'Neill. Richards made some guest appearances on various TV shows such as: Cheers, Miami Vice, Night Court, Hill Street Blues and It's a Living and had small recurring roles on St. Elsewhere and Marblehead Manor. His real television breakthrough came in 1989 when Richards was cast to portray the convulsive, frizzy-mopped neighbour Cosmo Kramer on the hit sitcom Seinfeld a role that earned him 3 Primetime Emmy Awards. After Seinfeld Richards was popular enough to pursue his big dream, which was portraying a private detective, which led to The Michael Richards Show in 2000. The only problem was that when the series ended in 1998 Richards was so strongly identified with the Kramer character that he wasn't known as Michael Richards but as Cosmo Kramer, which caused the series to be cancelled after only 9 episodes. Richards was considered to portray Adrian Monk on Monk but this part went to Tony Shalhoub. Richards has a small film career thanks to playing in films such as UHF, Trial and Error and Unstrung Heroes, in 2007 he voiced But Ditchwater in the animated film Bee Movie.
Roles
Starring Roles
Guest Starring Roles
| Series
|
Role
|
Episode
|
Airdate
|
| Faerie Tale Theatre |
King Geoffrey |
1x01 - The Tale of the Frog Prince |
September 11, 1982
|
| St. Elsewhere |
Bill Wolf |
2x14 - Drama Center |
February 15, 1984
|
| St. Elsewhere |
Bill Wolf |
2x17 - Vanity |
March 7, 1984
|
| Faerie Tale Theatre |
Vince |
3x03 - Pinocchio |
May 14, 1984
|
| St. Elsewhere |
Bill Wolf |
3x07 - Fade to White |
November 7, 1984
|
| Night Court |
Eugene Sleighbough |
2x11 - Take My Wife, Please |
December 13, 1984
|
| St. Elsewhere |
Bill Wolf |
3x13 - Dr. Wyler, I Presume |
December 19, 1984
|
| Tall Tales and Legends |
Sneaky Pete |
?x?? - My Darlin' Clementine |
1985
|
| St. Elsewhere |
Bill Wolf |
3x17 - Give the Boy a Hand |
January 23, 1985
|
| Cheers |
Eddie Gordon |
3x18 - Bar Bet |
February 14, 1985
|
| Scarecrow and Mrs. King |
Petronus |
2x18 - Car Wars |
March 11, 1985
|
| It's a Living |
Hager |
1x04 - Desperate Hours |
October 19, 1985
|
| Hill Street Blues |
Special Agent Dupre |
6x07 - An Oy for an Oy |
November 14, 1985
|
| Miami Vice |
Pagone |
2x18 - The Fix |
March 7, 1986
|
| Marblehead Manor |
Rick the Gardener |
1x07 - Full Dress |
October 25, 1987
|
| Marblehead Manor |
Rick the Gardener |
1x15 - The Lady's Not for Spurning |
February 7, 1988
|
| Marblehead Manor |
Rick the Gardener |
1x18 - Chinny Chin Chum |
February 28, 1988
|
| Dinosaurs |
Surly Photographer |
2x24 - WESAYSO Knows Best |
May 8, 1992
|
| The Larry Sanders Show |
Himself |
1x16 - The Flirt Episode |
September 19, 1992
|
| Mad About You |
Cosmo Kramer |
1x08 - The Apartment |
November 11, 1992
|
| No Opportunity Wasted |
Himself |
1x04 - America's Heroes |
October 21, 2004
|
Specials and Made-for-TV Movies
| Title
|
Role
|
Airdate
|
Series/Banner
|
| The Ratings Game |
Sal |
December 15, 1984 |
|
| Slickers |
Mike Blade |
July 11, 1985 |
|
| On the Ledge |
Various |
1987 |
|
| Camp MTV |
Stanley Spadowski |
August 6, 1989 |
|
| Behind the Scenes: 'UHF' |
Himself |
1989 |
|
| The First Annual Comedy Hall of Fame |
Himself |
1993 |
Comedian Hall of Fame
|
| 40 Years of Television Magic |
Himself |
December 10, 1994 |
The Wonderful World of Disney
|
| A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman |
Himself |
March 29, 1995 |
|
| London Suite |
Mark Ferris |
September 15, 1996 |
|
| Trial & Error |
Himself |
1997 |
Reel Comedy
|
| Andy Kaufman's Really Big Show |
Himself |
December 21, 1999 |
|
| David Copperfield |
Mr. Wilkins Micawber |
December 10, 2000 |
|
| The Eleventh Annual British Comedy Awards |
Himself |
December 15, 2001 |
British Comedy Awards
|
| The Seinfeld Story |
Himself |
November 25, 2004 |
|
| 50 Most Shocking Celebrity Scandals |
Himself |
May 21, 2007 |
|
Talk, News and Game Show Appearances
| Series
|
Episode
|
Airdate
|
| The Rosie O'Donnell Show |
|
May 29, 1997
|
| Late Show with David Letterman |
Show 809 |
June 3, 1997
|
| The Rosie O'Donnell Show |
|
November 6, 2000
|
| V Graham Norton |
|
November 8, 2002
|
| V Graham Norton |
|
January 30, 2003
|
| Rove Live |
|
October 12, 2004
|
| Good Morning Australia |
|
October 14, 2004
|
| The Oprah Winfrey Show |
|
November 29, 2004
|
| Live with Regis and Kelly |
|
November 23, 2005
|
| Late Show with David Letterman |
Show 2659 |
November 20, 2006
|
Notable Film Roles
Producer
Series Produced
Writer
Series Created
Episode Writer
Memorable Moments
Awards and Accolades
American Comedy Awards
- Nominated: Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (1996)
- Unstrung Heroes
- Nominated: Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (1996)
- Seinfeld
- Nominated: Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (1999)
- Seinfeld
(3 Wins in 5 Nominations)
- Won: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1993)
- Seinfeld
- Won: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1994)
- Seinfeld
- Nominated: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1995)
- Seinfeld
- Nominated: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1996)
- Seinfeld
- Won: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1997)
- Seinfeld
Satellite Awards
- Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy (1997)
- Seinfeld
(3 Individual Nominations)
- Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (1996)
- Seinfeld
- Won: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1997)
- Seinfeld
- Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (1997)
- Seinfeld
- Won: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1998)
- Seinfeld
- Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (1998)
- Seinfeld
Trivia
