Larry David facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Larry David
David in 2009
Birth name	Lawrence Gene David
Born	(1947-07-02) July 2, 1947 (age 77) New York City, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up television film
Education	University of Maryland, College Park (BA)
Genres	Observational improvisational black comedy insult comedy deadpan cringe satire
Subject(s)	Jewish culture everyday life human behavior social awkwardness pop culture current events
Spouse	Laurie Lennard ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2007)​ Ashley Underwood ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	2, including Cazzie
Relative(s)	Julie Claire (niece)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army Reserve
Years of service	1970–1975

Larry David (born July 2, 1947) is a famous American comedian, actor, writer, and TV producer. He is best known for co-creating the hit TV show Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld. Larry David was the main writer and producer for the first seven seasons of Seinfeld.

He also created and stars in the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. In this show, he plays a funny, made-up version of himself. Larry David won two Primetime Emmy Awards in 1993 for his work on Seinfeld. These awards were for Best Comedy Series and Best Writing for a Comedy Series.

Before his big TV success, David was a stand-up comedian. He also wrote and acted in the TV show Fridays. He briefly wrote for Saturday Night Live (SNL). Many comedians and experts have called him one of the greatest comedy stars ever. He also wrote and starred in a play on Broadway called Fish in the Dark. Since 2015, he has often appeared on Saturday Night Live. There, he plays Bernie Sanders, a U.S. presidential candidate who is actually his distant cousin!

Early Life and School

Larry David was born on July 2, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City. His parents were Rose and Mortimer David. He has an older brother named Ken. Larry's family is Jewish. His father's family came from Germany to the U.S. in the 1800s. His mother's family was Polish-Jewish and came from a place now in Ukraine.

He finished Sheepshead Bay High School in 1965. After high school, he went to the University of Maryland, College Park. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in history. At college, he found out he could make people laugh just by being himself. After college, Larry David joined the United States Army Reserve for five years.

Comedy Career

Stand-up and Saturday Night Live

While working as a stand-up comedian, Larry David also had other jobs. He worked as a store clerk, a limousine driver, and even a historian. He lived in an apartment building in Manhattan across the hall from Kenny Kramer. Kenny Kramer later became the inspiration for the character Cosmo Kramer in Seinfeld.

From 1980 to 1982, David was a writer and actor for the TV show Fridays. He worked with Michael Richards there, who would later play Kramer on Seinfeld.

From 1984 to 1985, David was a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL). During this time, he met Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who also worked on SNL. Larry David only got one of his sketches on the air during his time at SNL. It aired very late at night. He even quit SNL once, but then showed up to work two days later as if nothing had happened! This funny event later inspired an episode of Seinfeld called "The Revenge".

Breaking Through with Seinfeld

In 1989, Larry David teamed up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld. They created a TV pilot called The Seinfeld Chronicles. This pilot became the basis for Seinfeld, one of the most successful TV shows ever. TV Guide even called it one of the "50 greatest TV shows of all time."

Larry David sometimes appeared on Seinfeld without being credited. He played characters like Frank Costanza's lawyer and the voice of George Steinbrenner. He was also the main inspiration for the character George Costanza. David left Seinfeld after season 7 but came back to write the final episode in 1998. He also kept voicing Steinbrenner.

David wrote 62 episodes of Seinfeld. This includes the famous 1992 episode "The Contest". For this episode, he won an Primetime Emmy Award. TV Guide ranked "The Contest" as the number one TV episode of all time.

Larry David also wrote and directed a movie in 1998 called Sour Grapes. It was about two cousins fighting over a casino prize. He also had small acting roles in Woody Allen's movies Radio Days (1987) and New York Stories (1989).

Curb Your Enthusiasm and More Success

Larry David in 2009

In 1999, HBO aired a special called Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm. This special led to the TV series Curb Your Enthusiasm, which started in 2000. The show is similar to Seinfeld in its humor. The actors make up their dialogue based on a short story outline written by David.

Larry David has said that his character in the show is like him in real life, but without social awareness. The character often gets into awkward situations and misunderstandings. These moments are a big part of the show's comedy. People even started using the phrase "Larry David moment" to describe an accidentally awkward social situation. Curb Your Enthusiasm shows "the things nobody wants to say, but wish they could."

The show is about David's life after becoming rich from Seinfeld. He tries to live a good life. His TV wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), his manager Jeff (Jeff Garlin), and Jeff's wife Susie (Susie Essman) are also in the show. Many famous people like Richard Lewis and Wanda Sykes have appeared on the show. Actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have also played themselves.

Curb Your Enthusiasm has won many awards and is highly praised. It was nominated for 30 Primetime Emmy Awards and won one. It also won a Golden Globe. In later seasons, the cast of Seinfeld (including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards) appeared in a storyline where David tries to organize a Seinfeld reunion special. The show's 12th and final season started in January 2024.

Larry David also starred in the 2009 comedy movie Whatever Works. He had a small role in the HBO show Entourage. Because his daughters liked Hannah Montana, David and his daughters appeared as themselves in an episode of that show. He also played a character called Sister Mary-Mengele in the 2012 movie The Three Stooges. In 2013, he wrote and starred in the HBO TV movie Clear History.

He wrote and starred in the Broadway play Fish in the Dark in 2015. The play was about the death of a family leader. It was very popular and broke records for ticket sales before it even opened.

Playing Bernie Sanders

Since 2015, Larry David has often played Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live. Bernie Sanders was a candidate for president in 2016 and 2020. Larry David even hosted SNL twice. Once, Bernie Sanders himself made a guest appearance on the show with David.

In 2017, a TV show called Finding Your Roots found out that Larry David and Bernie Sanders are distantly related! They are sixth cousins once removed. Larry David joked about playing Sanders on TV. He said he would "beg him [Bernie] to drop out so I don't have to keep flying in from Los Angeles to do SNL." He added that if Sanders won, it would be "great for the country—great for the country, terrible for me."

Influences

Larry David has said that many comedians and shows influenced his work. Some of these include Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Phil Silvers, Abbott and Costello, Jackie Mason, Alan King, Don Rickles, and Mad magazine.

Personal Life

Larry David lives in Los Angeles, California. He was married to Laurie Lennard from 1993 to 2007. They have two daughters, Cazzie David and Romy David. In 2020, Larry David married Ashley Underwood. His niece, Julie Claire, is an actress who has appeared in both Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Larry David is an atheist. He is also a big sports fan, especially of New York teams. He supports the New York Jets (football), Yankees (baseball), Knicks (basketball), and Rangers (hockey). He also supports the Democratic Party.

Wealth

Larry David is very wealthy. Most of his money comes from the TV shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm being shown again and again. For example, Seinfeld reruns earned billions of dollars, and David got a large share of that. In 1998 alone, he earned an estimated $250 million from Seinfeld reruns.

In 2015, David said that his divorce in 2007 meant he lost half of his wealth. He mentioned that the exact amounts of his wealth that people talk about are often "crazy."

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and Nominations

Larry David has won many awards for his comedy work. These include two Emmy Awards, three Producers Guild of America Awards, and three Writers Guild of America Awards. He has also been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards. Many comedians and experts have voted him one of the greatest comedy stars ever.

Images for kids

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  Larry David in 2009

See also

In Spanish: Larry David para niños