Jason Alexander
The greatest part of the job was... that was for nine years it was a pleasure to go to work.—Jason Alexander, summing up his time on Seinfeld
Jason Scott Greenspan, otherwise known as Jason Alexander (born September 23, 1959) is an American actor known to the world as the one and only George Costanza from Seinfeld.
In actuality, the man is an accomplished performer on the stage, having won a Tony Award for his singing contributions. However, it would be his role as George Costanza, Jerkass and best friend to main character Jerry Seinfeld that would make Costanza a true household name. Being named "the greatest sitcom character of all time" by none other than Ricky Gervais, Costanza's accolades for the role included Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, as well as a win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. One could say that, along with Michael Richards as Kramer, he became a Breakout Character on the show.
He's also an expert poker player, and he needs a picture.
His Credits include:
- Film:
- The Mosquito Coast (1986) as a Clerk
- Pretty Woman (1990) as Philip Stuckey
- Jacob's Ladder (1990) as Geary
- Coneheads (1993) as Larry Farber
- North (1994) as North's father
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame as the voice of Hugo
- Shallow Hal (2001) as Mauricio Wilson
- TV:
- Seinfeld (1990-1998) as George Costanza
- Aladdin (1994) as the voice of Abis Mal
- Duckman (1994-1997) as the voice of Duckman
- Dilbert (1999-2000) as the voice of Catbert
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001, 2009) as himself
- Listen Up (2004-2005) as Tony Kleinman
- Everybody Hates Chris (2006-2007) as Principal Edwards
Tropes associated with Jason include:
- Bald of Awesome: Fans ofhis could refer to him as such, though he's taken to wearing a toupee at times.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Compared to George Costanza, the man can be quite considerate.
- My God, What Have I Done?: On May 25th of 2012, Jason made a guest appearance on Craig Ferguson, where he explained why he considered cricket to be a "gay" sport. Subsequently, he received some rather negative media attention, leading to a sincere apology making it clear that he did realize the error of his actions.
- Star-Making Role: Again, while he was more than a respectable actor beforehand, Seinfeld offered him his greatest exposure. He's grateful for it too, because he's remarked that, otherwise, "he'd be remembered as that guy who tried to rape Julia Roberts".