Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan, known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career, he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe Awards. He gained stardom for his role as George Costanza in the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and four Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Television.
Alexander made his Broadway debut originating the role of Joe in Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along in 1981. He remained active on Broadway acting in the musicals The Rink in 1984 and the Neil Simon play Broadway Bound in 1986. He then starred in Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His subsequent theatre roles include the touring production of The Producers from 2003 to 2004 and replacing Larry David in the original 2015 Broadway production of Fish in the Dark. He has also directed several plays such as the original 2023 Broadway production of The Cottage.
His film roles include Pretty Woman, Jacob's Ladder, Coneheads, The Paper, Dunston Checks In, Shallow Hal, and Hachi: A Dog's Tale. He voiced the gargoyle Hugo in the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the titular role in Duckman. He was the narrator for the documentary film Sideshow: Alive on the Inside. For his role in Dream On he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Early life and education
Greenspan was born on September 23, 1959, in Newark, New Jersey to a Jewish family, the son of Ruth Minnie, a nurse and health care administrator, and Alexander B. Greenspan, an accounting manager. Greenspan later borrowed his father's first name to create his stage name, Jason Alexander.Alexander grew up in Maplewood and Livingston, New Jersey, and is a 1977 graduate of Livingston High School. Interested in magic from an early age, he initially hoped to be a magician, but while attending a magic camp was told that his hands were too small for card magic. He became interested in theater, eventually realizing, "Wait a minute—the whole thing's an illusion. Nothing up there is real" and that theater itself was "a magic trick". He then decided to pursue a theater career.
After high school, he studied theater at Boston University. He wanted to pursue classical acting, but a professor redirected him toward comedy after noticing his physique, remarking, "I know your heart and soul are Hamlet, but you will never play Hamlet." Alexander left Boston University without a degree after his third year to take a full-time acting job in New York City. The university awarded him an honorary degree in 1995.
Career
1980–1999: Broadway debut and ''Seinfeld''
Alexander began his acting career on the New York stage and is an accomplished singer and dancer. Alexander made his film debut in 1981 in the summer camp slasher film The Burning. On Broadway he appeared in Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along in 1981, Kander & Ebb's The Rink in 1984, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound in 1986, Accomplice in 1990, and Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989, for which he garnered the 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote of his performance "Jason Alexander, the evening's delightful narrator, accomplishes the seemingly impossible: he banishes the memory of Zero Mostel from the role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".In addition to his roles as an insensitive, money-hungry lawyer in Pretty Woman in 1990, Alexander has appeared in Jacob's Ladder in 1990, Coneheads in 1993, The Paper and North in 1994, The Last Supper in 1995, Dunston Checks In in 1996, Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1997, Denial in 1998, and Love and Action in Chicago in 1999. Alexander starred in several commercials during the 1980s. Among them were commercials for Hershey's Kiss; Delta Gold potato chips; Miller Lite beer; McDonald's McDLT hamburger; Pabst Blue Ribbon beer; Levi's 501 jeans; Sony Watchman TV; and Western Union wire transfer. Before Seinfeld, Alexander appeared in commercials for John Deere and McDonald's and in the short-lived CBS sitcom Everything's Relative.
Alexander is best known as one of the key cast members of the award-winning television sitcom Seinfeld, where he played the bumbling George Costanza. He was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards for the role, but did not win any, mainly due to his co-star Michael Richards winning for his role as Cosmo Kramer. He did, however, win the 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series.
Concurrently with his Seinfeld role, he had a part in the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs as Al "Sexual" Harris as well as other characters from 1991 to 1994. For his role in an episode of Dream On, Alexander was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1994. Alexander voiced the lead character in the animated series Duckman and voiced Catbert, the evil director of human resources, in the short-lived animated series Dilbert from 1999 to 2000, based on the then-popular comic strip. In January 1995, he did a commercial for Rold Gold pretzels to be broadcast during the Super Bowl. The commercial depicts him with Frasier dog Eddie jumping out of an airplane with a parachute over the stadium. After the commercial, the audience is brought back to a supposedly live feed of the playing field hearing startled sports commentators as Alexander and the dog land in the field to wild applause.
Alexander appeared in the 1995 TV version of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, as Conrad Birdie's agent, Albert Peterson. He guest-starred in episode 8 of the 1996 variety show Muppets Tonight. He voiced the gargoyle Hugo in Disney's 1996 animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. Alexander voiced the character Abis Mal in the 1994 film The Return of Jafar and the 1994-1995 TV series based on the 1992 film Aladdin.
In 1997, he appeared in Cinderella, a remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, alongside Whitney Houston, Brandy Norwood, and Whoopi Goldberg. His other Disney voice work includes House of Mouse in 2001 and the 2012 video game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He has dabbled in directing, starting with 1996's For Better or Worse and 1999's Just Looking. In 1999, Alexander presided over the New York Friars Club Roast event honoring Jerry Stiller, who played his father on Seinfeld; it featured appearances by Kevin James and Patton Oswalt, both Stiller's costars on The King of Queens. Alexander appeared in the 1999 Star Trek: Voyager episode "Think Tank" as Kurros, a genius alien trying to get Seven of Nine to serve on his ship.
In 1999, he provided narration for the documentary film ''Sideshow: Alive on the Inside.''
2000–2009: Solo-lead sitcoms and return to theatre
Despite a successful career in film and stage, Alexander did not repeat his Seinfeld-level of success in television. 2001 marked his appearance as inept womanizer Mauricio in Shallow Hal and his first post-Seinfeld return to prime-time television: the heavily promoted but short-lived ABC sitcom Bob Patterson, which was canceled after five episodes. Alexander partially blames the show's failure on the country's mood after 9/11. Alexander made cameo appearances as himself in 2001 in the second season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he appeared in the show's seventh season with his three principal Seinfeld co-stars. He was featured in the Friends 2001 episode "The One Where Rosita Dies" as Earl, a suicidal supply manager. Phoebe calls him trying to sell him toner, learns about his problem, and tries to persuade him not to commit suicide. This is referenced in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where Alexander appears as Leonard, a neurotic and critical loner. He describes himself as "free" and says he makes money "selling toner over the phone". Later in the episode, he is repeatedly harassed by a man named George.He appeared in "One Night at Mercy", the first episode of the short-lived 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone, playing Death. He played the toymaker A.C. Gilbert in the 2002 film The Man Who Saved Christmas. He appeared in Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials in 2002, including one with Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants and another with Trista Rehn of The Bachelorette. It was rumored that he quit doing these commercials due to KFC suppliers and slaughterhouses' alleged cruelty to animals, but he denied that in an interview with Adweek, saying, "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." In 2007, Alexander appeared in a commercial for the ASPCA that aired on cable TV stations. In 2018, Alexander portrayed Colonel Sanders in commercials for KFC, reprising his role from the 2002 campaign.
In 2003, he was cast opposite Martin Short in the Los Angeles production of Mel Brooks's The Producers. He appeared with Kelsey Grammer in the 2004 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, as Jacob Marley. He voiced Lil' Lightning in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, which went on to become one of his most signature roles. Alexander's second chance as a TV series lead, the CBS sitcom Listen Up, also fell short of a second season. Alexander was the principal executive producer of the series, based very loosely on the life of the popular sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser. He performed on the Family Guy: Live in Vegas 2005 album. Alexander continued to appear in live stage shows, including Barbra Streisand's memorable birthday party in 2005 for Stephen Sondheim at the Hollywood Bowl, where he performed selections from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Angela Lansbury. He featured in the 2005 Monk episode "Mr. Monk and the Other Detective" as Monk's rival, Marty Eels.
In a 2006 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Alexander demonstrated several self-defense techniques. Also that year, he hosted the PBS "A Capitol Fourth" celebrations in Washington, D.C., singing, dancing, and playing tuned drums. Alexander was featured as a recurring cast member in the second season of Everybody Hates Chris. He hosted the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. He was the artistic director of Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles from 2007 until it went defunct in 2013, where he previously directed Sunday in the Park with George, and directed its 2007 revival of Damn Yankees. In 2007, Alexander was a guest star in the third episode of the improv comedy series Thank God You're Here.
He has been a frequent guest and panelist on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect in 1995, 1997 and 2000 and Real Time in 2006, 2009 and 2012; Hollywood Squares in 1999, 2002 and 2004; the Late Late Show in 2003, 2012, 2014 and 2015, with Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and James Corden; Late Show with David Letterman in 1989, 2000, and 2002; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2015; and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2015. In 2008, Alexander guest-starred in the season four episode "Masterpiece" of the CBS show Criminal Minds as Professor Rothschild, a well-educated serial killer obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence who sends the team into a race against time to save his last victims. He returned in the same season to direct the episode "Conflicted", featuring the actor Jackson Rathbone.
Alexander hosted the LOL Sudbury opening night gala in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada in 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. In 2008 and again in 2009, Alexander fronted Jason Alexander's Comedy Spectacular, a routine exclusive to Australia. The show consists of stand-up and improvisation and incorporates Alexander's musical talent. He is backed up by several well-known Australian comedians. His first time performing a similar show of this nature was in 2006's Jason Alexander's Comedy Christmas. In February/March 2010, Alexander starred in his show, The Donny Clay Experience, at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Donny Clay, whom he has portrayed in a tour of the United States and Orillia, Ontario, is a self-help guru in a similar mold to his Bob Patterson character. In 2009, he played Joseph in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production The Word of Promise. The project featured a large ensemble of actors, including Jim Caviezel, Lou Gossett Jr., John Rhys-Davies, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, Christopher McDonald, Marisa Tomei, and John Schneider. In 2009, Alexander had a small role in the film Hachi: A Dog's Tale as a train station manager.