Michael Richards

1979–1989: Early career

Richards got his big TV break in 1979, 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, where Larry David was a fellow cast member and writer. It included a famous instance in which Andy Kaufman refused to deliver his scripted lines, leading Richards to bring the cue cards on screen to Kaufman, who responded by throwing his drink into Richards's face, causing a small riot (Richards later claimed he was in on the joke).^[16] The film Man on the Moon featured a re-enactment of the Andy Kaufman incident where Richards was portrayed by actor Norm Macdonald.^[17][18]

In 1981, he appeared in the It's a Living episode "Desperate Hours".^[19] In 1986, Richards had a minor role in the cult satirical TV miniseries Fresno, playing one of a pair of inept criminal henchmen. That same year he auditioned to play Al Bundy in the TV series Married... with Children, but he was passed over for Ed O'Neill.^[20] In 1989, Richards had a supporting role in "Weird Al" Yankovic's comedy film UHF as janitor Stanley Spadowski. On television, he appeared in Miami Vice as an unscrupulous bookie; in St. Elsewhere as a television producer making a documentary about Dr. Mark Craig; in Cheers as a character trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone; and made several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert.^{[citation needed]}

1989–2005: Seinfeld and rise to prominence

In 1989, Richards was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series Seinfeld, created by fellow Fridays cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Although it got off to a slow start, by the mid-1990s it had become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. It ended its nine-year run in 1998 at No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings. In Seinfeld, Kramer is the neighbor across the hall of the show's eponymous character, and is usually referred to only by his last name. His first name, Cosmo, was revealed in the sixth-season episode "The Switch".^{[citation needed]}

Richards won more Emmys than any other Seinfeld cast member, taking home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1993, 1994, and 1997 for his role as Kramer. When referring to speculation that he would launch a spin-off to Seinfeld about Kramer, Richards said he was not interested in doing so.^[21] During the run of Seinfeld, Richards made cameo appearances in several TV shows; he played himself in Episode 2 of Season 1 "The Flirt Episode" (1992) of the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show. He also had a cameo role in the comedy thriller film So I Married an Axe Murderer, credited as "insensitive man". In 1996, Richards made a cameo in Epcot's Ellen's Energy Adventure, where he portrayed a caveman discovering fire. He played radio station employee Doug Beech in Airheads, and co-starred with Jeff Daniels as an actor pretending to be a lawyer in 1997's Trial and Error. He also made guest appearances on Miami Vice, Night Court and Cheers.

In 2000, two years after the end of Seinfeld, Richards began work on a new series for NBC, his first major project since Seinfeld's finale. The Michael Richards Show, for which Richards received co-writer and co-executive producer credits, was conceived as a comedy/mystery starring Richards as a bumbling private investigator. When 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. Critics said the show was too "Kramer-esque" and Richards invoked the so-called "Seinfeld curse" as to why the show failed.^[21]

According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman, ABC first conceived the series Monk with Richards in mind for the titular role; an Inspector Clouseau–like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Richards ultimately turned down the role.^[22]

Starting in 2004, he and his fellow Seinfeld cast members provided interviews and audio commentaries for the Seinfeld DVDs. Richards stepped down from providing audio commentary after Season 5, though he continued to provide interviews.^{[citation needed]}

2006–2012: Laugh Factory incident and aftermath

During a performance on November 17, 2006, at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, Richards launched into a rant using racist epithets and remarks in response to repeated heckling and interruptions from a small group of Black and Hispanic audience members. Richards was recorded shouting "He's a nigger!" several times and making references to lynching, Planet of the Apes, and the Jim Crow laws.^{[5][23][24][25][26]} Kyle Doss, a member of the group that Richards addressed, said the group had arrived in the middle of the performance and were "being a little loud". According to Doss:

[Richards] said, "Look at the stupid Mexicans and blacks being loud up there." That's the first thing he said. And then he kept on with his bit. And then, after a while, I told him, "My friend doesn't think you're funny." And then when I told him that, that's when he flipped me off and said, "F-you N-word." And that's how it all started.

The incident remained unknown to the larger public for three days until a cellphone video filmed by a member of the audience was obtained and released by TMZ. On November 20, after the video made rounds around the news, Jerry Seinfeld invited Richards to appear via satellite during a broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman, where Richards was recorded saying: "I'm not doing too good. I lost my temper on stage, I was at a comedy club trying to do my act and I got heckled and I took it badly and went into a rage. And uh, said some pretty, uh, nasty things to some Afro-Americans."^[28] Many studio audience members, thinking Richards was performing a bit, laughed as he gave his explanation and apology, leading Seinfeld to reprimand them, saying: "Stop laughing. It's not funny." Richards said he had been trying to defuse the heckling by being even more outrageous but it had backfired. He later called civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to apologize.^[27][29] He also appeared as a guest on Jackson's syndicated radio show.^[30] Doss stated that he did not accept Richards's apology, saying: "If he wanted to apologize, he could have contacted ... one of us out of the group. But he didn't. He apologized on-camera just because the tape got out."^[29][31]

Richards's popularity among the general public declined after the tape was released. A Gallup poll conducted in late November found that only 41 percent of Americans still held a favorable view of Richards. By contrast, other Seinfeld cast members' favorability ratings were in the 70s and 80s.^[32] The same poll also found that 45 percent of non-whites expressed a negative view of Richards due to the incident.^[32] The incident was parodied on several TV shows, including Mad TV, Family Guy, South Park, Extras, Monday Night Raw and Smiling Friends. In the ninth episode of the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Richards appeared as himself and poked fun at the incident. In 2008, rapper Wale referenced the incident and used recordings of the incident as well as Richards's apology, in the song "The Kramer" on The Mixtape About Nothing album.

One year after the incident, Richards voiced the character Bud Ditchwater in the animated film Bee Movie, which starred and was produced by Jerry Seinfeld. In 2009, Richards and the other main Seinfeld cast members appeared in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.^[33] In 2012, he appeared in the comedy web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, hosted by Seinfeld, in which he remarked on the 2006 incident.^[34] In the episode, Richards explained that the outburst still haunted him and was a major reason for his retirement from stand-up.^[35]

2013–present

In 2013, Richards was cast to play Frank in the sitcom Kirstie, costarring Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman. It premiered on TV Land on December 4, 2013^[6] and was canceled after one season.^[36] In 2014, Richards appeared as the president of Crackle in a trailer for Season 5 of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

In 2019, Richards played Daddy Hogwood in the romantic comedy Faith, Hope & Love starring Peta Murgatroyd and Robert Krantz.^[37]

In June 2024,^[38][39] Richards released a memoir entitled Entrances and Exits.^[40]

Film

Television