George Costanza

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George Costanza
Catholic (by upbringing)
Latvian Orthodox Church

George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American

sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic relationships through his own fear of being dumped. He is also remarkably lazy; during periods of unemployment he actively avoids getting a job, and while employed he often finds ingenious ways to conceal idleness from his bosses. He is friends with Jerry Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer, and Elaine Benes. George and Jerry were junior high school friends (although in "The Betrayal", Season 9, Episode 8, George says the two have been friends since fourth grade) and remained friends afterward.[1][2] George appears in every episode except "The Pen
" (third season).

The character was based on Seinfeld co-creator Larry David but is surnamed after Jerry Seinfeld's real-life New York friend, Michael Costanza. Alexander reprised his role in an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, reuniting with Jerry Seinfeld and Wayne Knight (also reprising their roles as Jerry and Newman, respectively).

Early life and family

George is a son of

psychopaths",[5] and said in "The Chinese Woman" that, if they had divorced when George was young, he "could have been normal".[6]

In "

Brooklyn, New York, where he went to a public school.[7] In a previous episode he mentions he went to high school on Long Island.[8] He met Jerry during his youth, and they remained friends from that point on.[9] George and Jerry both attended John F. Kennedy High School, class of 1971.[10] During their high school years, George and Jerry frequently hung out at a pizzeria called Mario's Pizzas, where the former, having the highest score "GLC", would play Frogger[11] (although Frogger debuted in 1981, well after the pair's high school graduation in 1971). George was picked on by his gym teacher Mr. Heyman, who deliberately mispronounced his name as "can't stand ya" and gave him wedgies.[12] He and Jerry then attended Queens College.[13]

Two of George's cousins appear on the show: Shelly, who briefly appears to visit Estelle in the hospital in "

The Junk Mail".[15] George talks to his parents about his family in "The Money", during which it is revealed that he had an "Uncle Moe", who "died a young man" and an "Aunt Baby", who died at the age of seven of internal problems.[16] It is also revealed that his mother has a "Cousin Henny".[16] In "The Doll", it is revealed that Frank Costanza was born in Italy and has a cousin, Carlo, who still lives there.[17] As of "The Robbery", George had living grandparents whom he had recently visited, although it is never made clear whether these were his maternal or paternal grandparents.[18]

Personality

George is neurotic, self-loathing, and dominated by his parents, yet also prone to occasional periods of overconfidence that invariably arise at the worst possible time. Throughout Seinfeld's early seasons, despite doing poorly on his SATs and being afraid of embarrassing himself on an IQ test (as depicted in "The Cafe"), George is depicted as moderately intelligent – he mentions interests in the Civil War[19] and musical theatre,[20] and in some early episodes appears almost like a mentor to Jerry – but becomes less sophisticated, to the point of being too lazy even to read a ninety-page book (Breakfast at Tiffany's), preferring to watch the movie adaptation at a stranger's house instead. In "The Abstinence", it is discovered that George has what would appear to be genius-level intelligence but can never access it because his mind is always so completely focused on sex. One Chicago Tribune reviewer noted that, despite all his shortcomings, George is "pretty content with himself".[21]

George exhibits several negative character traits, among them dishonesty, insecurity, and

Estelle, and often form the basis of his involvement in various plots, schemes, and embarrassing social encounters. Episode plots frequently feature George manufacturing elaborate deceptions at work or in his relationships to gain or maintain some slight or imagined advantage or (pretend) image of success. He is shown to have an intense fear of commitment. He had success in "The Opposite", where on Jerry's advice he starts to do the complete opposite of what his instincts tell him to do, which results in him getting a girlfriend and a job with the New York Yankees. His anxiety is also evident in "The Note
", where he begins doubting his sexuality after he receives a massage from a male masseur.

George refers to himself in the third person when under extreme stress (e.g. "George is getting upset!"), after befriending a person with a similar trait in "The Jimmy".

George flees a burning kitchen during his girlfriend's son's birthday party, knocking over several children and an old woman so he can escape first in "

The Fire". There are moments where George exhibits remarkable courage, but usually accidentally and often in support of inane lies he would rather not confess to. For instance, in "The Marine Biologist", he goes into the sea alone to save a beached whale because his date, a woman on whom he had a crush in college, thinks he is a marine biologist.[13]

George often takes impressive measures to build and maintain relationships with women. In "The Conversion," he goes through the process of converting to the Latvian Orthodox Church as his girlfriend's parents would not let her date somebody outside their religion. The one relationship he holds long-term, with his fiancée Susan, is the one about which he is seemingly least enthusiastic, as shown by his ongoing attempts to postpone, and later cancel, their wedding, and his rather nonchalant reaction when she dies.

He is interested in nice restrooms, and his personal bathroom habits border on obsession. In "

The Busboy", he claims to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the locations of the best public bathrooms in the city. He proves this in "The Bizarro Jerry", when he directs Kramer to "the best bathroom in midtown" at the offices of Brandt-Leland, even describing the layout, marble, high ceiling, and toilets that flush "like a jet engine". In "The Gymnast", he told Jerry that he always removes his shirt when using the bathroom because "it frees me up... no encumbrances". When working for the Yankees, he suggested having the bathroom stall doors stretched all the way to the ground (letting people's legs not be seen while in the stalls). The obsession even comes up in the Seinfeld reunion staged on Curb Your Enthusiasm: years after the series, George is said to have made a fortune on a smartphone app that directs its user to the nearest "acceptable" public toilet anywhere in the world (though he loses most, if not all, of his fortune to Bernie Madoff
).

George and Jerry have been best friends since meeting in high school gym class. The extreme closeness of their friendship is occasionally mistaken for

The Cartoon
", George dates somebody who Kramer insists is merely a "female Jerry".

Development

Seinfeld co-creator Larry David based George largely on himself.[22][23] Seinfeld and David created the character as a foil to Seinfeld's character.[24] In the first draft of the show's pilot script, called Stand-Up at the time, George's name was "Bennett" and he, like Jerry, was a comedian.[22] In that same draft, the scene in the pilot in which George and Jerry discuss a woman Jerry met earlier, instead saw George and Jerry discussing their stand-up act.[22] His name was changed to George, and he became a real estate broker instead.[22] George's last name comes from Michael Costanza, a college classmate of Seinfeld.[25] "Louis", George's middle name is a homage to Lou Costello, whose 1950s television series The Abbott and Costello Show inspired Seinfeld.[26] Although he is often asked whether he wanted to play the character, Larry David has said that he was only interested in writing the show, and doubted that NBC would have approved of his being cast.[24]

Casting director Marc Herschfield stated that, during casting for the character, "we saw every actor we could possibly see in

Larry Miller.[22][27] A 2011 article by Bradford Evans in Splitsider[28] claims those considered for Costanza include Danny DeVito and Nathan Lane, while Jason Alexander himself has noted that Steve Buscemi, Paul Shaffer and Chris Rock were also considered for the role.[29][30] Robert Schimmel also auditioned.[31]

On April 3, 1989, Herschfield sent a partial script to Jason Alexander, who was in New York City at the time.[24] Herschfield had met Alexander when he was working on the CBS sitcom E/R.[24] Alexander enjoyed the script and felt it read like a Woody Allen film; therefore, he did a Woody Allen impression on his audition tape and bought a pair of glasses to better resemble the actor.[24][32] Though Alexander thought his audition was "a complete waste of time", both David and Seinfeld were impressed; Seinfeld stated "the second we saw him, like two lines out of his mouth, we went 'That's the guy.'"[24] On April 10, 1989, at 9:00 a.m. Alexander did his first official audition and met David and Seinfeld.[22] While in the waiting room for his final audition, Alexander saw that Larry Miller was also auditioning.[24] Alexander was aware that Miller and Seinfeld were very good friends, and so figured that he would not get the part. After his final audition, he returned to New York City, and when he landed he received a phone call informing him that he was hired.[24]

Many of George's predicaments were based on David's past real-life experiences. In "The Revenge", for example, when George quits his job in a fury only to realize he has made a mistake, he goes back the next day as if nothing happened; this mirrors David's actions while working as a writer for Saturday Night Live, when he quit and then returned to his job in the same manner.[24] When David explained this to him, Alexander realized that the character was based on David, and changed his performance from the Woody Allen imitation to what he has called a "shameless imitation of Larry David."

In 1998, Michael Costanza sued the show for

privacy rights when they created the character".[35]

Other information

Susan

George becomes engaged to

The Invitations", she dies from licking the toxic glue in their wedding invitations. When notified of her death at the hospital, George displays a combination of shock, apathy, and relief. A few moments after being notified of Susan's death, he says to Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine, "Well, let's go get some coffee
." Susan's parents appoint him to the board of directors of the Susan Ross Foundation.

George is very bad at meeting women and even worse at maintaining his romantic relationships and, as a result, his relationships usually end badly.[36][37]

Professional life

George's professional life is unstable and he is unable to remain in any job for any great length of time before making an embarrassing blunder and getting fired and he is unemployed for a large amount of time throughout the series.

His original job when the series starts is as a real estate agent; he ends up quitting and getting re-hired, but fired immediately afterward for drugging his boss. He always wanted to be an architect or least "pretend to be an architect". He first mentions this desire in "The Stake Out", and claims in "The Race" that he had designed "the new addition to the Guggenheim".

Over the course of the series, he works for a real estate transaction services firm (Rick Bahr Properties), a rest stop supply company (Sanalac), the New York Yankees (his longest running job), a playground-equipment company (Play Now) and an industrial smoothing company (Kruger Industrial Smoothing). He briefly works with Elaine at Pendant Publishing but is fired for having sex with the cleaning woman on his desk in "The Red Dot". He has a very successful interview to become a bra salesman but upon leaving the interview he rubs the fabric of a woman at the elevator who turns out to be head of the company and is immediately fired.

When seeking another job, the interview gets interrupted in the middle and George doesn't know if he was hired or not, so he decides just to show up anyway and is soon asked to worked on a "Pensky File" that he knows nothing about.

At one point, George works briefly for his father selling computers.

During Season 4, George gains experience as a sitcom writer as he helps Jerry to write the pilot for the fictitious show Jerry. While pitching the concept of a "show about nothing" to NBC executives, George begins dating NBC executive Susan Ross until "The Virgin", when she is fired. The Jerry pilot is never picked up.

Fashion and hairstyle

George has balding hair, which is less noticeable in "

The Beard". He also tries to restore his hair in "The Tape", in which he starts using a Chinese cream that is said to be a cure for baldness. His hair is rarely seen styled. His clothing is usually very plain. He frequently wears jeans and Nike Cortez sneakers. In "The Trip, Part 1", he mentions that his clothes are color-coded based on his mood. Several times throughout the show, George mentions a desire to "drape" himself in velvet, which he does in "The Doodle". In "The Bizarro Jerry", George can be seen styling his hair based on an Andy Sipowicz poster.[38]

Art Vandelay

Art Vandelay is an alias first used by George in "

running joke. In "The Red Dot", George tells Elaine's boss that he frequently reads books by Art Vandelay, who he describes as a "beatnik, from the Village." In "The Boyfriend", George tells the unemployment office that he is close to getting a job at "Vandelay Industries", a latex manufacturer ostensibly located at Jerry's address. He later tells Susan that Art is Elaine's boyfriend as part of a cover story to prevent Susan from learning that he is secretly dating Marisa Tomei ("The Cadillac"). In "The Bizarro Jerry", George asks an office receptionist to see a "Mr. Art Vandelay" as part of a ruse to ask her on a date. In "The Serenity Now", George invents fake customers, one of whom is "Mr. Vandelay", to hide his lack of sales success. In "The Puerto Rican Day", George pretends to be Vandelay (Jerry pretends to be "Kel Varnsen", and Kramer is "H.E. Pennypacker") to take advantage of an open house to watch a Mets game on television. In "The Finale
", the name of the presiding judge is Arthur Vandelay, much to George's amazement.

Reception

In a list of the "50 Greatest Sidekicks" compiled by

The People called George the greatest television character on a list of the 100 best television characters.[42] British comedian Ricky Gervais and Guardian columnist Marina Hyde have both called George "arguably the greatest sitcom character of all time".[43][44]

For his performance as George, Alexander was nominated for various awards. In 1992, he received his first

American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series.[60][61] He was also nominated for the award in 1996 (with Richards) and 1999, but did not win again.[62][63]

References

Explanatory notes
Citations
  1. ^ "Ricky Gervais' Top 10 TV Sitcoms". rickygervais.com.
  2. ^ Marina Hyde (December 22, 2004). "Marina Hyde's diary". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Writer: Daniels, Greg; David, Larry; Director: Cherones, Tom (April 22, 1992). "The Parking Space". Seinfeld. Season 3. Episode 22. NBC.
  4. ^ Writer: Leopold, Tom; Director: Cherones, Tom (January 29, 1992). "The Suicide". Seinfeld. Season 3. Episode 15. NBC.
  5. ^ Writer: David, Larry; Director: Cherones, Tom (September 23, 1993). "The Puffy Shirt". Seinfeld. Season 5. Episode 2. NBC.
  6. ^ Writer: Mehlman, Peter; Director: Ackerman, Andy (October 13, 1994). "The Chinese Woman". Seinfeld. Season 6. Episode 4. NBC.
  7. ^ Writer: Robin, Andy; Director: Cherones, Tom (March 18, 1993). "The Junior Mint". Seinfeld. Season 4. Episode 20. NBC.
  8. ^ Writer: Mehlman, Peter; Director: Cherones, Tom (November 21, 1991). "The Nose Job". Seinfeld. Season 3. Episode 9. NBC.
  9. ^ Writer: Charles, Larry; Director: Cherones, Tom (February 11, 1993). "The Betrayal". Seinfeld. Season 9. Episode 8. NBC.
  10. ^ Germain, David (November 6, 2007). "What 'Seinfeld' fans have been waiting for". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 42.
  11. ^ Writer: Kavet, Gregg ; Robin, Andy; Koren, Steve; O'Keefe, Dan; Director: White, Joshua (April 23, 1998). "The Frogger". Seinfeld. Season 9. Episode 18. NBC.
  12. ^ Writer: Charles, Larry; Director: White, Joshua (October 16, 1991). "The Library". Seinfeld. Season 3. Episode 5. NBC.
  13. ^ a b Writer: Hauge, Ron; Rubin, Charlie; Director: Cherones, Tom (February 10, 1994). "The Marine Biologist". Seinfeld. Season 5. Episode 14. NBC.
  14. ^ Writer: David, Larry; Director: Cherones, Tom (November 18, 1992). "The Contest". Seinfeld. Season 4. Episode 11. NBC.
  15. ^ Writer: Feresten, Spike; Director: Ackerman, Andy (October 30, 1997). "The Junk Mail". Seinfeld. Season 9. Episode 5. NBC.
  16. ^ a b Writer: Mehlman, Peter; Director: Ackerman, Andy (January 16, 1997). "The Money". Seinfeld. Season 8. Episode 12. NBC.
  17. ^ Writer: Gammill, Tom; Pross, Max; Director: Ackerman, Andy (February 22, 1996). "The Doll". Seinfeld. Season 7. Episode 17. NBC.
  18. ^ Writer: Goldman, Matt; Director: Cherones, Tom (June 7, 1990). "The Robbery". Seinfeld. Season 1. Episode 3. NBC.
  19. ^ Writer: David, Larry; Director: Cherones, Tom (April 18, 1991). "The Revenge". Seinfeld. Season 2. Episode 7. NBC.
  20. ^ Writer: David, Larry; Seinfeld, Jerry; Director: Cherones, Tom (February 6, 1991). "The Jacket". Seinfeld. Season 2. Episode 3. NBC.
  21. ^ Artner, Alan; Bannon, Tim; Caro, Mark; Christiansen, Richard; Griffin, Jean Latz; Johnson, Steve; May, Mitchell; Nidetz, Steve; Wood, Nancy Watkins; Wilson, Terry; Wiltz, Teresa (December 6, 1995). "The 25 Greatest TV Characters of all Time". Chicago Tribune. p. 1.
  22. ^ a b c d e f Seinfeld Seasons 1 & 2: Notes about Nothing – 'The Seinfeld Chronicles' (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
  23. ^ Davies, Dan (October 16, 2004). "Unhappy as Larry". The Guardian. Retrieved August 3, 2009. Spotters will know that Jason Alexander's character in Seinfeld, the stooge George Costanza, is largely based on the real Larry David
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Seinfeld Seasons 1 & 2: How it Began: The Making of Seinfeld, Part 1 (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
  25. ^ Tuma, Debbie (May 4, 1998). "Seinfeld Book by Real Character". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 3, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ Seinfeld Season 3: Notes about Nothing – "The Truth" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
  27. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (November 22, 2004). "'Seinfeld' boxed sets: Much ado about 'nothing'". The Star-Ledger.
  28. ^ "The Lost Roles of Seinfeld". Splitsider.
  29. ^ Highfill, Samantha (June 3, 2015). "Jason Alexander: Chris Rock, Others Turned Down my Seinfeld Role". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  30. ^ "Jason Alexander Reveals Danny DeVito Turned Down Seinfeld Role". June 4, 2015.
  31. ^ "A Comic's Trip". Entertainment Weekly.
  32. ^ Meyers, Kate (December 1, 1995). ""Bye" George". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  33. British Broadcasting Corporation
    . October 27, 1998. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  34. ^ Silverman, Stephen (October 27, 1998). "Seinfeld Sued for $100 Million". Time. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  35. ^ Margulies, Lee (January 6, 2001). "Morning Report; Arts and Entertainment Reports from the Times, News Services and the Nation's Press". Los Angeles Times. p. F2.
  36. Chicago, Illinois
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  38. ^ "Seinfeld - NOW PLAYING". Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  39. ^ "We're Number 2! The 50 Greatest Sidekicks: Nos. 25–1". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  40. ^ Bull, Roger (February 16, 2005). "The 50 greatest sitcom characters of ALL time". The Times-Union. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  41. ^ "Idaho Falls, Idaho, Newspaper Picks Its 50 Favorite Sitcom Characters". Knight Ridder Tribune. October 24, 1999.
  42. London, England
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  43. ^ Gervais, Ricky (2004). "Ricky Gervais' Top 10 TV Sitcoms". Ricky Gervais.com. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  44. ^ Hyde, Marina (December 21, 2004). "Diary". The Guardian. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  45. ^ "NBC Tops Emmy List; Blizzard of Nominations for 'Northern Exposure'". The Washington Post. July 17, 1992. p. C6.
  46. ^ "1992 Emmy Winners". The New York Times. September 1, 1992. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  47. ^ "'Damn'ed ambitious". Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. November 4, 2007.
  48. ^ Cox, Ted (July 16, 2002). "Who deserves an Emmy? Merit doesn't always mean a nomination, so we correct TV's annual award oversights with our critics new honor". Daily Herald. Arlington Heights, Illinois.
  49. ^ Fox, David J. (December 23, 1993). "'Schindler,' 'Piano' Head Globe List Entertainment: Both films are nominated for awards in six categories by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Holly Hunter also receive multiple nominations". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  50. The Rocky Mountain News
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  51. ^ "Golden Globe Nominees". The Dallas Morning News. January 21, 1995.
  52. ^ "Golden Globe Nominees". The Washington Post. January 18, 1998.
  53. ^ Richmond, Ray (June 12, 2006). "Ensemble Theater – Emmy Watch: Actors". The Hollywood Reporter.
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  55. Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. January 25, 1997. p. B8.
    "Screen Actors Guild". The Washington Post
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  56. ^ Szymanski, Michael (February 24, 1997). "SAG gives actors a lift Franz, Louis-Dreyfus among guild award winners". USA Today. p. 2D.
  57. ^ "4th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Recipients". Screen Actors Guild. March 8, 1998. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  58. ^ "'Shakespeare,' NBC get most Actor nods". United Press International. January 26, 1999.
  59. ^ Baxter, Kevin (March 8, 1999). "'Shakespeare,' 'ER' Lead Awards by Actors Guild". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  60. The Toronto Star
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  61. ^ "Seinfeld TV series captures 3 American Comedy Awards". The Waterloo Record. March 2, 1993. p. C7.
  62. ^ "American Comedy Awards". The Washington Post. March 15, 1998. p. Y4.
  63. ^ "American Comedy Awards". The Washington Post. March 14, 1999. p. Y4.
  64. ^ Writer: Gammill, Tom; Pross, Max; Director: Cherones, Tom (December 9, 1993). "The Cigar Store Indian". Seinfeld. Season 5. Episode 10. NBC.

External links