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Michael RichardsBiography Filmography Links Contact Galleries Birthdate: 24 July 1949
Birthplace: Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA A native of Van Nuys, CA, Richards was raised by his mother Phyllis Richards, a medical records librarian. His father, William Richards, an electrical engineer, died when Richards was a toddler. His mother raised him in Culver City, one of L.A.'s centers for movie and television production. When Richards was in the eighth grade, he developed a passion for acting that blinded him to almost all other career options. After high school, he aspired to become a dramatic actor and enrolled in the theater program at Valley College in California. There, however, it quickly became apparent that Richards' genius lay not in drama, but in comedy (he credits his mother for his sense of humor). He did not graduate and was drafted by the Army. After serving two years in Germany, he returned to attend the California Institute of the Arts. He did not earn a degree, however, until he attended Washington State's alternative school, Evergreen State College. After graduating, he returned to Los Angeles and began performing in comedy clubs. In those days, he specialized in a blend of surrealist and zany comedy. He had worked the standup circuit for less than a year when he was tapped by the ABC network to appear in their new sketch series Fridays. Though derided as a direct rip-off of NBC's more successful Saturday Night Live, the show ran from 1980 to 1982. The year the show was cancelled is the year Richards
made his feature film debut, in Garry Marshall's comedy Young Doctors
in Love (1982). Though Richards subsequently never lacked for work in
features and television, he remained relatively obscure until fellow Fridays
castmate Larry David called to offer him a part in The Seinfeld Chronicles,
a show he had recently developed with comedian Jerry Seinfeld. After a
rocky start, the show was renamed Seinfeld and given a regular timeslot.
Richard's character Kramer was based on one of David's friends. It took
the actor a few episodes to develop his kooky alter ego, but once he did
the results were dazzling, garnering Richards a trio of Emmys for Best
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Playing Kramer was not always easy
for him. In many ways a classic slapstick character, the role's physical
demands often exhausted Richards, who also suffered the underlying stress
of becoming typecast. Fortunately, the fame accorded him for his television
work provided him the opportunity to stretch out on the big screen, as
he did in Diane Keaton's Unstrung Heroes (1995). In 1997, Richards received
top billing for the first time in Trial and Error, which co-starred Jeff
Daniels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide British Comedy Awards 2001, The (2001)
(TV) .... Himself Michael Richards - Ultimate resources for pictures, wallpapers and biography c/o Creative Artists Agency
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