Of course, we all know Larry David created Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld. From 1989 to 1996, Larry David was both the executive producer and head writer. However, he’s now became just as celebrated for his HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. There’s a lot about this ridiculous and absurd comedian many don’t know. How similar is the real Larry to the Larry David on Curb?
‘Curb Your Enthusiam’ Exonerated A Man For Murder
One wild fact about Curb Your Enthusiasm is that the show helped exonerate an innocent man named Juan Catalan for murder. When the police arrested Catalan for murder in 2003, he told them he was at a Los Angeles Dodger’s game when the crime had been committed. However, they couldn’t find evidence for his alibi until he recalled that HBO was filming Curb Your Enthusiasm there. The cameras also caught Juan Catalan on tape and he was even awarded $320,000 by 2007 in his lawsuit against LA and the police department.
Curb Your Enthusiam Exonerated A Man For Murder
Documentary
Originally, Curb Your Enthusiasm was supposed to be a documentary about comedian Larry David returning to stand-up. However, things changed quite a bit since that initial special. It transformed into more of a mockumentary. Now, this show has been nominated for 30 Emmys and won a Golden Globe!
Documentary
SNL Days
From doing stand-up to writing starring in the ABC show, Fridays, Larry David moved on to a familiar job for comedians. Yes, he wrote for Saturday Night Live. However, he only worked for SNL for a year in the 80’s.
SNL Days
Odd Jobs
Well, before this hysterical and talented man got into comedy, he had many odd jobs. Some of his previous jobs includes as a limousine driver and even as a bra salesman! Sadly, he couldn’t make a sale at the latter job. Also that’s where the idea came from when George tried working as a bra salesman in Seinfeld.
Odd Jobs
Idealized Version Of Himself
Everyone cannot get over how ridiculous Larry David is on Curb Your Enthusiasm. While there are similarities to the real Larry David, David spoke with Rolling Stone and said, “The character really is me, but I just couldn’t possibly behave like that. If I had my druthers, that would be me all the time, but you can’t do that. We’re always doing things we don’t want to do, we never say what we really feel, and so this is an idealized version of how I want to be. As crazy as this person is, I could step into those shoes right now, but I would be arrested or I’d be hit or whatever.”
Idealized Version Of Himself
Roots
Larry David, or Lawrence Gene David, was born in Brooklyn on July 2, 1947. He was born to Mortimer Julius David, known as Morty, and Regina Brandes or Rose. David has an older brother, Ken. Larry David’s father was a men’s clothing manufacturer.
Roots
Degree
After graduating from Sheepshead Bay High School in New York, David studied history at the University of Maryland. It was in college that David began honing his comedic skills. He joined the fraternity, Tau Epsilon Phi. Often times, he would tell stories of everyday happenings to his brothers with wit and humor.
Degree
From Army To Stand Up
After graduating from University of Maryland in 1970, he enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. However, that career was only temporary. After serving in the National Guard, he switched gears and began doing stand up. Actually, his first stand up was in 1974 at an open mic night in Greenwich Village.
From Army To Stand Up
Unscripted
If you’re a fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, you know all about it being unscripted. That’s right. The actors only only given an outline or slight direction. Almost everything you’re watching is improvisation! Star Cheryl Hines explained to TV Guide that the showrunners do create a detailed plot outline, but everything else is all up to the actors. They don’t even talk about the scenes with each other before filming. Oh and guest stars? Usually, they’re not permitted to even look at the outline.
Unscripted
Real Life Inspiration
Many of Larry David’s most hysterical moments on Curb or Seinfeld came from real-life situations. Remember The Contest or The Revenge from Seinfeld? Yeah, those came from real-life scenarios. Also, when Larry David separated from his wife, he also got divorced from Cheryl on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Real Life Inspiration
One Of The Most Successful Comedians
A lot of his fortune came from Seinfeld. Apparently, the show was syndicated for a modest $650 million. For its reruns on US television channels, the show netted $3.1 billion in fees. Hey, we can’t forget about Curb Your Enthusiasm. Although many estimated Larry David’s net worth to be about $900 million, he protested that his fortune is that high, citing his divorce as one reason.
One Of The Most Successful Comedians
Incredible Discovery
Everyone was joking about how much Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders looked like Larry David as the 2016 primary elections took place. The two even appeared on SNL together! Anyway, Larry David was on an episode of the PBS show, Finding Your Roots. Guess what? The two are actually distant cousins!
Incredible Discovery
That Time He Quit SNL
Back when he was working for SNL, he kept writing skits that never made it to air. Six weeks in, minutes before they were airing, another of his sketches was cut and he had it. He walked up to Dick Ebersol, as he told Vanity Fair, “I walked up to him and I went, this f**king show stinks! It’s a piece of shit. I’m done! I quit! F**k you! And that was it and then I left. It was freezing out and I’m beginning to compute how much money I just cost myself.”
That Time He Quit SNL
Tricked Ya!
Now, comes the best part! He ran into Kenny Kramer, the real-life inspiration for Kramer on Seinfeld. Kramer asked what happened and he told his friend he quit but regretted it. As David recalled, Kramer told him to just show up at work on Monday like it never happened. So David explained, “I went into the meeting on Monday, I took a seat with all the writers. They start going around the room asking each one what they’re doing. I said, I’m thinking about doing a sketch about a trapeze artist. And that was it.” Does this sound familiar? That’s because he had the character George do something similar for Seinfeld!
Tricked Ya!
George’s Inspiration
Of course, you probably suspected this after watching Curb, but yes, George Costanza is based on Larry David. The character draws real-life inspiration from Larry, his quirks and his life experiences.
George’s Inspiration
Meaning Behind The Name
Ever wonder what the show’s title meant? Firstly, it’s an ode to David’s Seinfeld days and the craze surrounding that. He didn’t want people to expect this to be another massive hit like his old show. Luckily, it actually did become a phenomenon. There’s also another meaning, as David told Time, “Also, people should keep enthusiasm curbed in their lives. Always keep it. To not is unattractive. It’s unseemly.”
Meaning Behind The Name
Richard Lewis And LD Go Way Back
Love Richard Lewis and Larry David together? What is it about their chemistry? Well, funny enough their on-screen banter has some real-life history to it! They used to be childhood rivals while at sports camp when they were about 12 years old. Richard Lewis spoke to OC Weekly, saying, “I despised the guy and he hated me. It was like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but at 12.” Then a decade later they became friends while doing stand-up and as Richard recalled, “We then traced our childhoods and then it hit me like a ton of bricks! I was like, ‘Ohhhh you’re Larry David from that camp!’ The odds that we would become best friends was so unique and so crazy, it bonded us forever. You can see that on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ninety-nine percent is me fighting with him because we do it in real life.”
Richard Lewis And LD Go Way Back
Seinfeld’s Premise
Now, everyone famously calls Seinfeld ‘the show about nothing.’ Jerry Seinfeld spoke about the real pitch. Seinfeld said, “The real pitch, when Larry and I went to NBC in 1988, was we want to show how a comedian gets his material. The show about nothing was just a joke in an episode many years later, and Larry and I to this day are surprised that it caught on as a way that people describe the show, because to us it’s the opposite of that.”
Seinfeld’s Premise
Mockumentary That Felt Too Real For Some
So, Curb Your Enthusiasm was originally supposed to be like a documentary. Hey, they even got the documentary filmmaker Robert B. Weide on the job, who ended up staying for most of the show as a director and executive producer. Eventually, it became more mockumentary, but not everyone caught on. As Weide said, many people who knew actress Cheryl Hines believed it was real. Weide said, “She had friends in Florida who saw the show and were upset to find out that Cheryl had married a big TV producer and they were never invited to the wedding.”
Mockumentary That Felt Too Real For Some
Larry’s Guest Role On Disney
So one first introduction of Larry’s family to the world was when he made a guest appearance on Disney. Back in 2007, Larry David and his daughters appeared on an episode of Hannah Montana. He played himself and the role was pretty, pretty good.
Larry’s Guest Role On Disney
Family Life
While Larry was married to Laurie Lenard, they had two daughters. Their firstborn, Cazzie Laurel was born in May of 1994. Then in March of 1996, they welcomed their second daughter Romy March.
Family Life
Cazzie David
You may have seen Cazzie David in the news or on Instagram. This rising star is following in her father’s footsteps. She began writing and staring in a comedy show that people compare to Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her show, Eighty-Sixed, explores love, breakups and other daily anxieties as a millennial. You can watch her hysterical series on YouTube. After watching it, you won’t have any doubts that she’s her father’s daughter.
Cazzie David
His Ex
Back to Larry’s ex-wife for a minute. He was married to Laurie David from 1993 until 2007. Laurie, born to a Jewish middle-class family from Long Island, graduated from Ohio University with a degree in journalism. She works as an Environmental Activist. In addition, she has her own management company that represents comedy writers and comedians.
His Ex
Always Ready
Something the comedy genius LD is known for is always being ready to turn real life into material. He carries a pad of paper and a pencil at all times. That way he’s always able to record any ideas.
Always Ready
Not Into Holidays
The real Larry David can be just as grouchy and fussy as his character on Curb. If you were wondering if he’s a jolly holiday guy, here’s your answer. David hates all holidays from Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years to Halloween and the Jewish High Holy Days. However, he has said he doesn’t mind Memorial Day or even Columbus Day.
Not Into Holidays
J.B. Smoove
Now, the story of J.B. Smoove’s audition to play Leon Black is one for the books. Apparently, he walked right in as his character and they told him he would improv with Larry. He said of that moment, “I said, ‘OK, let’s do this …, Larry.’ Because we improv-ing right? I said, ‘I’ll smack you in the face, right?’ And Larry looked at everybody, like, ‘Who the … is this guy?'” Yet, then they started the scene and Smoove gave his now-signature Leon look, ” that little turn to the head like my eyebrows go up, cause I got this thing with my forehead where one side of my head, like one side of my forehead gets wrinkled up, right? I’m like The Rock. Have you ever seen The Rock do his little eyebrow? My sh*t is more pronounced.” Larry couldn’t control himself, and that’s how Smoove got the part!
J.B. Smoove
Rejection
Back when Larry David first showed his pilot of Curb to friends, everyone hated it. Ted Danson described that moment, saying, “My wife, Mary, and I met Larry on Martha’s Vineyard. They were renting a home there, and he had just shot the pilot. He showed a group of us in this little rental house. We were all crowded around this hot room and looked at the pilot. I’m overjoyed to tell you this: A couple of people fell asleep.” Even David said a lot of friends told him they couldn’t sit through the whole first episode because it was so cringeworthy.
Rejection
Susie’s Character
One of the most iconic things about Curb is Susie Essman playing Susie Green and of course, yelling at Jeff Garlin’s character. Watching her curse and yell at Jeff or Larry is hysterical every time! Nowadays, people stop her on the streets to ask her to scream and curse at them. She spoke to Esquire about it, “I’m in an interesting position because people come up to me, and I’m not always in the mood. I’m going about my life, and I don’t feel like screaming and yelling at them, but some people are so relentless that I end up gladly screaming and yelling at them, and then they’re happy. I don’t think I’ve ever gone too far. It seems like I don’t go far enough. People are visibly disappointed that when they meet me I’m not this screaming, yelling crazy person.”
Susie’s Character
Iconic Tune
Whenever someone mentions Larry David or Curb Your Enthusiasm, that signature theme songs immediately plays in your head right? Where did they ever find it? It’s just so perfect! Apparently, Larry David first heard it on a bank commercial. He loved that upbeat tune and how it would play out with his darker humor and decided to use it.
Iconic Tune
Not Into The Flight
For all the Jewish humor, you would this this multi-millionaire man has traveled to the homeland time and time again. Well, that’s actually far from the truth. Leave it to Larry to come up with the most absurd excuse. He claims he has never been to Israel because the flight is too long. He would.
Not Into The Flight