Jason Alexander
(born September 23, 1959) is an American actor, comedian and singer, best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld
.
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JASON ALEXANDER TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Alexander was born
Jay Scott Greenspan
in
Newark, New Jersey, the son of two Jewish parents Ruth Minnie (
née Simon), a nurse and
health care administrator, and Alexander B. Greenspan, an accounting manager.
[1] He has a half-sister, Karen Van Horn, and a half-brother, Michael Greenspan. Alexander is a 1977 graduate of
Livingston High School in
Livingston, New Jersey. He attended
Boston University but left the summer before his senior year, after getting work in New York City. He was later given an honorary degree in 1992. He is a talented magician, and only switched to acting as a career when he realized that he was unlikely to succeed as a magician.
[2]
Stage career
Alexander began his acting career on the
New York stage and is an accomplished singer and dancer. On
Broadway, he appeared in
Stephen Sondheim's
Merrily We Roll Along,
The Rink
,
Neil Simon's
Broadway Bound
,
Accomplice
, and
Jerome Robbins' Broadway
, for which he garnered the 1989
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Returning to the stage in 2003, Alexander was cast in a successful run, opposite
Martin Short, in the Los Angeles production of
Mel Brooks'
The Producers
[3] Alexander also appeared with
Kelsey Grammer in the 2004
musical adaptation of
Charles Dickens
s
A Christmas Carol. He played
Jacob Marley to Grammer's
Ebenezer Scrooge.
Alexander continues to appear in live stage shows, including
Barbra Streisand's memorable birthday party for Stephen Sondheim at the Hollywood Bowl, in which he appeared with
Angela Lansbury, performing selections from
Sweeney Todd
. Alexander was recently named the Artistic Director of Reprise! Broadway's Best in Los Angeles, where he previously directed
Sunday in the Park with George
. He is scheduled to direct the upcoming revival of
Damn Yankees
at Reprise!
Television
Alexander is best known as one of the key cast members of the phenomenally successful, award-winning television
sitcom Seinfeld
(1989-1998), in which he played
George Costanza (the
Jerry Seinfeld character's best friend since childhood). Concurrently with his
Seinfeld
role, Alexander provided the voice of the lead character in the
cult animated series
Duckman
(1994-1997). Alexander also voiced
Catbert, the evil director of human resources, in the short-lived
Dilbert
animated series based on the popular comic strip. He made cameo appearances in the second season of
Curb Your Enthusiasm
, playing himself. Alexander will also be appearing in the upcoming seventh season of
Curb Your Enthusiasm
, along with the other three principal
Seinfeld
cast members.
[4]
Alexander co-starred with George Clooney and Elliot Gould in the short-lived CBS sitcom
E/R from 1984-1985. He played Hospital Administrator Harold Stickley.
Alexander also had a part in the ABC sitcom
Dinosaurs
, as Al (Sexual) Harris (who frequently engaged in
sexual harassment). Despite a relatively successful career in film and stage, Alexander never managed to repeat his
Seinfeld
-level of success in television. 2001 marked his first post-
Seinfeld
return to prime-time television: the heavily-promoted but short-lived
ABC sitcom
Bob Patterson
(which was canceled after just 5 episodes). He has also had minor success as the creator of the PBS kids television programme
The Magic School Bus (TV series). His second chance as a TV series lead, the
CBS sitcom
Listen Up!
(September 20, 2004 to April 25, 2005), also fell short of a second season. Based very loosely on the life of the popular sports-media personality
Tony Kornheiser, Alexander was also the series' principal
executive producer.
Alexander appears on the
Family Guy: Live in Vegas
CD singing a verse in the song "All Cartoons are Fuckin' Dicks".
He was featured in the
Friends
episode "
The One Where Rosita Dies" as a suicidal supply manager named Earl. Phoebe rings him trying to sell him
toner and she learns about his problem and tries to convince him not to commit suicide. This is referred to in an episode of
Malcolm in the Middle where Alexander appears as a neurotic and critical loner called Leonard. He describes himself as free and mentions that he makes money with a job "selling toner over the phone". Also in the episode, he is repeatedly harassed by a man named George - his character's name on
Seinfeld
.
Alexander appeared in the 1995 TV version of the
Broadway musical "Bye Bye Birdie", as Conrad Birdie's agent, Albert Peterson.
Alexander appeared on
Star Trek: Voyager
on the episode "
Think Tank" playing a genius alien named Kurros who was trying to get
Seven of Nine to serve on his ship.
He appeared in the first episode of the short-lived 2002 revival of
The Twilight Zone
, playing
Death. He featured in the 2005
Monk
episode "
Mr. Monk and the Other Detective" as Monk's rival, Marty Eels. On the June 26, 2006 episode of the
Jimmy Kimmel Live! talk show, Alexander demonstrated several self-defense techniques. He was also the Host of the 230th July 4, 2006 of the
PBS July 4 "A Capitol Fourth" Celebrations in Washington, D.C. in which he sang, danced, and played tuned drums.
Alexander has appeared twice on
Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown
, winning the final table of the 8th season. In the process, Alexander won $500,000 for
United Way of America of the greater
New Orleans area, a charity. On August 6, 2006, Alexander signed on to feature as a regular cast member in the second season of
Everybody Hates Chris. Alexander was the host of
the Comedy Central Roast of actor William Shatner on August 13, 2006 (first airdate: August 20, 2006). In 2007, Alexander was a guest star in the third episode of the
improv comedy series
Thank God You're Here. He is also a frequent guest and panelist on:
Bill Maher's
Politically Incorrect
and
Real Time
shows;
Hollywood Squares
; the
Late Late Show
, with both
Craig Kilborn and
Craig Ferguson; and, the
Late Show with David Letterman
.
In 2008, Alexander guest-starred as a well-educated serial killer on the
CBS show
Criminal Minds
.
He returned to direct the 2009 season's episode 20 "Conflicted".
Movies
In addition to his roles as a misogynistic lawyer in
Pretty Woman
, co-starring with
Richard Gere, and as the womanizer Mauricio in
Shallow Hal
, with
Jack Black, Alexander has appeared in a litany of Hollywood film productions. They include
Love! Valour! Compassion!
,
Dunston Checks In
,
The Last Supper
,
Jacob's Ladder
and "Hood of Horror". He has also dabbled in the art of directing, starting with 1996's
For Better or Worse
and 1999's
Just Looking
. He also played the phenomenally successful US toymaker
A.C. Gilbert in the 2002 movie:
The Man Who Saved Christmas (film)
.
Other work
thumb celebration in 2006.
Alexander is also featured in country music star
Brad Paisley's music videos "
Celebrity" and "
Online," the later of which he directed and won the 2007 Country Music Association's Video of the Year Award.
In January 1995, Alexander did a commercial for Rold Gold pretzels to be broadcast during the
Super Bowl. The commercial depicts Jason with
Frasier
dog "Eddie" jumping out of an airplane with a parachute over the stadium. After the commercial, we're brought back to a supposedly "live feed" of the playing field hearing startled sports commentators as we see Jason and the dog landing in the field to applause from the crowd.
In the summer of 2005, he appeared with
Lee Iacocca in ads for
DaimlerChrysler.
Alexander has also done a
McDonald's commercial advertising the
McDLT, in which he sings. He has also appeared in
KFC commercials, including one with baseball superstar
Barry Bonds of the
San Francisco Giants and another one opposite
Trista Rehn of
The Bachelorette
. It was rumored that he no longer appears in these commercials due to the alleged cruelty to animals by KFC suppliers and slaughterhouses, but he refuted that in Adweek [August 2, 2006]. Alexander said, "That's
PETA bullcrap. I loved working for KFC. I was targeted by PETA to broker something between them. I think KFC really stepped up to the plate; unfortunately PETA did not."
He performed a mentalism and magic act at
the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California on April 24-30 2006. He has been awarded the Parlor Magician of the year award at the Castle.
Alexander was the national spokesman for the
Scleroderma Foundation, a leading organization dedicated to raising awareness of the disease and assisting those who are afflicted.
He also voiced the character Abis Mal in
The Return of Jafar.
An avid poker player, Jason was also one of the "famous faces"
[5] due to being a regular player on the
online poker website
Hollywood Poker which is run in conjunction with
Ongame Network. Alexander also played in the
2007 World Series of Poker main event, but was eliminated on the second day. He returned to play in 2009, and made it to Day 3 of the event, finishing in the top 30% of the field.
He is currently signed with
PokerStars where he plays under the screen name "J. Alexander"
Alexander is currently starring in "Jason Alexander's Comedy Spectacular" exclusive to Australia. This is a sold-out show where he performs stand-up, improvisation and demonstrates some of his Broadway musical talent. He is backed up by some well known Australian comedians. His first time performing a similar show of this nature was in 2006 for "Jason Alexander's Comedy Christmas." Both Alexander and his show have been receiving considerable media publicity in Australia and particularly Melbourne. He has expressed the great time he has had holidaying in Australia.
Jason Alexander was host of the LOL Sudbury opening night Gala in Sudbury, Ontario on May 29, 2008 which was simulcast throughout Canada at 60 Cineplex theaters, a first for any comedy festival.
He has lent his voice to several episodes of the
Twilight Zone Radio Dramas.
Jason Alexander explained on
Real Time with Bill Maher (July 17, 2009) that he has visited
Israel many times. On his appearance, he spoke about progress towards peace that he has recently observed.
After surviving Day 1 of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, Alexander claimed, "For a bald Jew, it's a good day."
Personal life
He has been married to Daena E. Title since May 31, 1982. They have two children, Gabriel (b. May 1992) and Noah (b. February 1996).
He is also the uncle and godfather of the Irish born actor
Stephen Mullan, who appeared in movies such as
She's All That
and
Tigerland
. His brother-in-law is actor/writer/director Jonathan Penner (husband to Daene Title's sister Stacy) who appeared on
Survivor: Cook Islands
and left due to injury on
Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites
.
According to an
FX trivia question during a viewing of
Shallow Hal
, Alexander started losing his hair at the age of 16.
He once acted in a dramatic play in Toronto called "Pearson Ole." The play also starred Wu-Tang affiliate F Jady and CGO Shah. Alexander co-wrote the play with filmmaker Nicholas Leone.
Filmography
- The Burning
- Dave (1981)
- Senior Trip
- Pete (1981)
- The Mosquito Coast
- Clerk (1986)
- Brighton Beach Memoirs
- Pool Player (1986)
- Seinfeld
- George Costanza (1989 - 1998)
- Pretty Woman
- Philip Stuckey (1990)
- White Palace
- Neil (1990)
- Jacob's Ladder
- Geary (1990)
- I Don't Buy Kisses Anymore
- Bernie Fishbine (1992)
- Coneheads
- Neighbor Larry Farber (1993)
- Sexual Healing
(1993)
- For Goodness Sake
(1993)
- Duckman
- Duckman - voice (1994 - 1997)
- The Paper
- Marion Sandusky (1994)
- North
(1994)
- Blankman
(1994)
- The Return of Jafar
- Abis Mal - voice (1994)
- Bye Bye Birdie
- Albert (1995)
- The Last Supper
(1995)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Hugo- (voice) (1996)
- Dunston Checks In
(1996)
- For Better Or Worse
(1996)
- Love! Valour! Compassion!
- Buzz Hauser (1997)
- Denial
- Art Witz (1998)
- Dilbert
- Catbert - voice (1999 - 2000)
- Love and Action in Chicago
- Frank Bonner (1999)
- The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
- Boris Badenov (2000)
- The Trumpet of the Swan
- voice (2001)
- Shallow Hal
- Mauricio Wilson (2001)
- Friends
- Earl (The One Where Rosita Dies) (2001)
- Bob Patterson
- Bob Patterson (2001)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
- voice (2002)
- The Man Who Saved Christmas
(2002)
- 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
- Lightning - voice (2002)
- A Christmas Carol
- Jacob Marley (2004)
- How to Go Out on a Date in Queens
- Johnny (2006)
- Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror
- British Record Executive (2006)
- Everybody Hates Chris
- Principal of School (2006 - 2007)
- Thank God You're Here!
- Improv comedy (2007)
- The New Adventures of Old Christine
(2008)
- Criminal Minds
(2008)
- Meteor
- Dr. Chetwyn (2009)
Jason Alexander appeared as a magician in the television show Remember WENN in the late 90s
References
- Jason Alexander Biography
- Reel Magic Quarterly #2
- Mel Brooks Gets Jason Alexander and Martin Short for L.A. Producers, Starting May 2, 2003
- Exclusive: 'Seinfeld' cast to appear on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
- Jason Alexander Biography