Alec Berg

Berg was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a biophysicist father and professor mother.^[2] He is of Swedish descent.^[3] He grew up idolizing the comedy of Bill Cosby and Steve Martin.^[4] He attended high school in Pasadena, California,^[5] before graduating from Harvard University,^[1] where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon.^[4]

Berg wrote for the final four seasons of the sitcom Seinfeld, as well as being the co-creator (with Bill Hader) and executive producer of Barry.^[6] He also co-wrote the screenplays for the films The Cat in the Hat, EuroTrip, and The Dictator. Berg is also an executive producer (and sometime director) of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as an executive producer of Silicon Valley.^[5][7] In 2016, Berg signed an overall deal with HBO.^[8]

Berg's name was used for a character in the Seinfeld episode "The Face Painter," where it is pronounced "Alec Buuurg" in a low dramatic voice. This practice was begun by Larry David when addressing the real life Berg, and it spread throughout the Seinfeld offices. Berg said he was surprised to see his name in the script, and is occasionally addressed in that manner after "The Face Painter" is shown on television.^[9] Berg was also the inspiration for a character in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Divorce," featuring a lawyer of the same name whom Larry assumes to be Jewish but is a Catholic of Swedish descent.^[3]