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'Michael Anthony Richards' (born July 24, 1949) is an American comedian and film and television actor best known for his role as the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television show ''Seinfeld'', a role which earned him three Emmy Awards.
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 Seinfield, 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.
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.[2]
Richards is also a producer, writer, Master Mason, Vietnam era veteran, and father of one.
Personal life
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.[3] 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,[4] and stationed in Germany as one of the co-directors of the V Corps Training Road Show. He produced and directed shows dealing with race relations and drug abuse; "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.[5][6]
In 2007, Richards was engaged to actress Beth Skipp.
Television and film career
Richards got his big TV break nine months later, 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).Michael Richards 'Speaking Freely' transcript via First Amendment Center, Recorded Feb. 28, 2002, in Aspen, Colorado 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 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. His famous improvisation skills can be witnessed in this movie. As is confirmed in the feature commentary and in the deleted scenes special feature on the ''UHF'' DVD, the scene where Stanley Spadowski was playing with the toy man he found in the box of Corn Flakes was completely improvised by Richards.
''Seinfeld''
In the same year, he was cast as Kramer (based on the real-life Kenny 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, though for some reason, Richards stopped providing commentary after Season 5.
''The Michael Richards Show''
Cast of the Michael Richards Show
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. The show featured Bill Cobbs, William Devane, Amy Farrington and Tim Meadows in supporting roles. 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.
''Monk''
The lead role in the series ''Monk'' was originally written for Richards,[7] but there was concern that audiences, used to seeing him do comedy, might not accept him in the role.[8] After being developed at ABC and then picked up by USA, the show was cast with Tony Shalhoub and became a critically acclaimed hit.
Cameo roles and guest appearances
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 John Ritter movie ''Problem Child''. He also made guest appearances on the popular sitcom ''Night Court''.
Laugh Factory incident
On November 17, 2006, during a performance at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, California, a cell phone video captured Richards[9][10] shouting "Shut up" at an audience member, followed by "He's a nigger!" to the rest of the audience[11] (using the word at least 7 times altogether), and also making a reference to lynching.[12] He was addressing a group of black hecklers.[13] There were retorts, "That was uncalled for" and then "fucking cracker-ass motherfucker." Richards made a public apology for his remarks, during a satellite appearance on the ''Late Show with David Letterman''.[14] 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[15] and Jesse Jackson[16] in order to apologize. He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show.[17] A Top Ten List featured on ''The Late Show'' in February 2007, titled "Top Ten Ways to Make the Grammy Awards More Exciting" and read by guest Christina Aguilera, mentioned Richards giving out the "rap and hip-hop awards".[18]
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 stupid 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.
The incident became a subject of satire. A caricature of Richards was featured prominently in the ''South Park'' episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," where he addresses Congress to ban the word "nigger-guy", an epithet by which another character, Randy Marsh is frequently referred to after saying "nigger" on live national television.
An animated version of Richards in South Park.
The January 6, 2007 episode of ''MadTV'' featured a parody of the My Chemical Romance song "Welcome to the Black Parade" called "The Black Tirade" that talks about the Laugh Factory incident, Richards' apology on ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', and his meetings with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.[19] Richards was played by Michael McDonald, who actually had a role on ''Seinfeld'' as The Wig Master.
After the incident National Lampoon created a spoof of a ''Seinfeld'' episode named "Seinfeld Lost Episode" combining clips from the original show and Michael's racist rant as well as his apology on David Letterman.[1]
Retirement from stand-up comedy
In July 2007, Richards announced that he has retired from stand-up comedy for "spiritual healing" purposes, traveling with Skipp to Cambodia, visiting remote temples before visiting Angkor Wat on a tour sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Nithyananda Foundation.[20]
Filmography
★ 1980 ''Fridays'' TV Series
★ 1982 ''Faerie Tale Theatre'' (TV) .... King Geoffrey, Vince
★ 1982 ''Young Doctors in Love'' .... Malamud Callahan
★ 1983 ''Herndon'' TV Series .... Dr. Herndon P. Stool
★ 1984 ''The House of God'' .... Dr. Pinkus
★ 1985 ''Transylvania 6-5000'' .... Fejos
★ 1986 ''Whoops Apocalypse'' .... Lacrobat
★ 1986 ''Fresno'' (mini) TV Series .... 2nd Henchman
★ 1987 ''
★ 1989 ''UHF'' .... Stanley Spadowski
★ 1989 ''Seinfeld'' (TV) .... Cosmo Kramer
★ 1990 ''Problem Child'' .... Martin Beck
★ 1993 ''Coneheads'' .... Motel Clerk
★ 1993 ''So I Married an Axe Murderer'' .... Newspaper reporter
★ 1994 ''Airheads'' .... Doug Beech
★ 1995 ''Unstrung Heroes'' .... Danny Lidz
★ 1996 ''Ellen's Energy Adventure'' (uncredited) .... Caveman discovering fire
★ 1996 ''London Suite'' (TV) .... Mark Ferris
★ 1997 ''Redux Riding Hood'' (voice) .... The Wolf
★ 1997 ''Trial and Error'' .... Richard 'Ricky' Rietti
★ 2000 ''The Michael Richards Show'' TV Series .... Vic Nardozza
★ 2000 ''David Copperfield'' (TV) .... Mr. Wilkins Micawber
★ 2008 ''Cat Tale'' .... Ace (voice only)
Notes and references
1.
2. Richards Facing Ruination Or Opportunity?
3. Michael Richards: Still Not a Jew Staff Reports
4. IMDB Biography
5. Brother Michael A. Richards: Renaissance Man, not "Kramer" The Scottish Rite Journal, September 2000, accessed 10 February, 2006.
6. "The Scottish Rite Journal of Freemasonry", Southern Jurisdiction USA, August 2003, accessed 7 August, 2006
7. Iqbal, Navid (August 8, 2006).Creator of 'Monk' gets behind show's act ''Daily Record''
8. Battaglio, Stephen (August 16, 2002). 'Monk': ABC loss was cable's gain. ''New York Daily News''
9.
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11. Washingtonpost.com "Seinfeld" Comic Richards Apologizes for Racial Rant
12.
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14. CNN Newsroom
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16.
17.
18. Those who cannot view the video on their computer or do not have Realplayer installed can read the list here.
19. http://www.tv.com/madtv/episode-1210/episode/937619/summary.html
20. Michael Richards finds inner solace in Cambodia Charles McDermid
External links
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