Jason Alexander Biography

Jason Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known by his stage name Jason Alexander, is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and director.

Alexander is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series Seinfeld. Other well-known roles include Phillip Stuckey in the film Pretty Woman (1990) and the title character in the animated series Duckman (1994-1997).

Alexander has had an active career on stage, appearing in several Broadway musicals including Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989, for which he won the Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He appeared in the Los Angeles production of The Producers. He was the Artistic Director of "Reprise! Broadway's Best in Los Angeles", where he has directed several musicals.

Early life

Alexander was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Jewish parents Ruth Minnie (ne Simon), a nurse and health care administrator, and Alexander B. Greenspan, an accounting manager. He has a half-sister, Karen Van Horne, and a half-brother, Michael Greenspan. Alexander grew up in Livingston, New Jersey and is a 1977 graduate of Livingston High School. He attended Boston University but left the summer before his senior year, after getting work in the city of New York. At Boston University, Alexander 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." He was later given an honorary degree in 1995. He is a practicing magician, and only switched to acting as a career when he realized that he was unlikely to succeed as a magician.

Acting career

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, Kander & Ebb's The Rink, Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, Accomplice, and Jerome Robbins' Broadway, for which he garnered the 1989 Tony Award for Best Leading 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. Alexander also appeared with Kelsey Grammer in the 2004 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, playing Jacob Marley to Grammer's Ebenezer Scrooge. He 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 Theatre Company 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. In 2015, he replaced Larry David as the lead in David's Broadway play Fish in the Dark.

Television

Alexander is best known as one of the key cast members of the award-winning television sitcom Seinfeld (1989-1998), in which he played George Costanza (Seinfeld's character's best friend since childhood). Alexander was nominated for six (6) Primetime Emmy Awards and four (4) Golden Globe Awards for his performance as Costanza, but didn't win any, mainly due to his co-star, Michael Richards also being nominated and winning for his role as Cosmo Kramer. He did, however, win a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his work.

Before Seinfeld, he starred in a short-lived CBS sitcom called Everything's Relative in 1987 which lasted six episodes. 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.

Alexander made cameo appearances in the second season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing himself. Alexander also appeared in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, along with the other three principal Seinfeld cast members. He also had a part in the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs, as Al "Sexual" Harris (who frequently engaged in sexual harassment) as well as other voices. Despite a 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 five episodes). Alexander partially blames the lack of success on the mood of the country after 9/11.

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. Alexander was also the principal executive producer of the series, based very loosely on the life of the popular sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser. Alexander appeared on the Family Guy: Live in Vegas CD and sang a verse in a song. He was featured in the Friends episode "The One Where Rosita Dies" as a suicidal supply manager named Earl. Phoebe calls him trying to sell him toner and she learns about his problem and tries to persuade 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. He guest-starred in episode 8 of the 1996 variety show Muppets Tonight.

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 "One Night at Mercy", 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. In 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 on the CBS show Criminal Minds in the season four episode "Masterpiece" as Prof. 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. In 2011, Alexander was the guest star in an episode of Harry's Law, playing a high school teacher bringing a wrongful dismissal suit.

Movies

In addition to his roles as an insensitive lawyer in Pretty Woman, co-starring with Richard Gere, and as inept womanizer Mauricio in Shallow Hal, with Jack Black, Alexander has appeared in Love! Valour! Compassion!, Dunston Checks In, Love and Action in Chicago, The Last Supper and the psychological horror film Jacob's Ladder. 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. His other Disney voice work includes House of Mouse and the video game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. He has also dabbled in directing, starting with 1996's For Better or Worse and 1999's Just Looking. He also played the toymaker A.C. Gilbert in the 2002 movie The Man Who Saved Christmas. In 2009, Alexander had a small role in the movie Hachi: A Dog's Tale as a train station manager, alongside his Pretty Woman costar Richard Gere. Alexander starred in A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! as Cosmo.

Other work

Alexander is also featured in country music star Brad Paisley's music videos "Celebrity" and "Online", the latter of which he directed and won the 2007 Country Music Association's Video of the Year Award for. In August 2012, he co-starred in the music video "Trying Not to Love You" by Nickelback with former Baywatch star Brooke Burns. In January 1995, Alexander 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. In the summer of 2005, he appeared with Lee Iacocca in ads for DaimlerChrysler. Iacocca did the ads as part of a way to raise money for Dr. Denise Faustman's research to cure autoimmunity. Both Lee Iacocca and Jason Alexander have had loved ones whose lives have been adversely affected by autoimmunity. Alexander has also done a McDonald's commercial advertising the McDLT, in which he sings. He has also appeared in Kentucky Fried Chicken (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 the August 2, 2006 issue of Adweek. 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 from April 24 to 30, 2006, and was later given the Parlor Magician of the year award at the Castle for this act. 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 and the television series based on Disney's 1992 animated film, Aladdin. Jason Alexander guest starred in Malcolm in the Middle as an intelligent but unpleasant individual (Lenard) who Malcolm meets in the park. He makes money as a telephone salesman and spends his time playing chess in the park. Malcolm, afraid of ending up like Lenard, tries to get him to change his ways and get a full-time job. In 2007, Alexander appeared in a commercial for the ASPCA, which has aired on cable TV stations. In 1987, Alexander appeared in a commercial for Miller Lite, with Yogi Berra as the celebrity, speaking about Miller Lite using his unique malapropism eloquence, sitting at a bar with many others including a young Jason Alexander standing behind Berra's left shoulder.

In 2009, Alexander also lent his voice talents in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production known as The Word of Promise. In this dramatized audio, Alexander played the character of Joseph. The project also featured a large ensemble of well known Hollywood actors including Jim Caviezel, Lou Gossett Jr., John Rhys-Davies, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, Christopher McDonald, Marissa Tomei and John Schneider.

Poker career

In recent years, Alexander has also competed on televised poker shows and in various tournaments. He has appeared twice on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, winning the final table of the 8th season. Alexander won the $500,000 prize for his charity, The United Way of America to help benefit the New Orleans Area. 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. He made it to Day 3 of the event, finishing in the top 30% of the field. Alexander has also appeared on NBC's Poker After Dark in the "Celebrities and Mentors" episode, finishing in 6th place after being eliminated by professional poker player Gavin Smith. He also signed with PokerStars where he plays under the screen name "J. Alexander".

Recent appearances

Alexander was host of the LOL Sudbury opening night gala in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on May 29, 2008, which was simulcast throughout Canada at 60 Cineplex theaters, a first for any comedy festival. He has loaned 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 a number of well-known Australian comedians. His first time performing a similar show of this nature was in 2006 for Jason Alexander's Comedy Christmas. In February/March 2010, Alexander starred in his own show, The Donny Clay Experience, at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Donny Clay character, which he has performed in a tour of the United States, is a self-help guru in a similar mold to his Bob Patterson character.

It was announced in July 2010 that Alexander would be joining the cast of the Nickelodeon films based on their series The Fairly OddParents, A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! and A Fairly Odd Christmas. He played Cosmo, one of Timmy Turner's fairies.

On January 6, 2010, it was announced that Alexander would be the new face of the weight loss company Jenny Craig.

Alexander stars in the music video for Nickelback's "Trying Not to Love You" as a coffee foam artist.

On January 6, 2015, Alexander made an appearance in a YouTube video with one of his son's popular YouTuber friends.

Personal life

Alexander has been married to Daena E. Title since May 31, 1982. They have two sons, Gabriel and Noah.

Alexander has been a prominent public supporter of the OneVoice initiative, which seeks out opinions from moderate Israelis and Palestinians who want to achieve a mutual peace agreement between their societies. He 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.

In 2012, Alexander announced his support for the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Burning	Dave
1986	The Mosquito Coast	Clerk
1986	Brighton Beach Memoirs	Pool Player
1990	Pretty Woman	Philip Stuckey
1990	White Palace	Neil
1990	Jacob's Ladder	Mr. Geary, the lawyer
1993	Sexual Healing	Frank
1993	Coneheads	Neighbor Larry Farber
1993	For Goodness Sake	VCR Customer	Short film
1994	The Paper	Marion Sandusky
1994	North	North's Dad
1994	The Return of Jafar	Abis Mal (voice)	Direct-to-video
1994	Blankman	Mr. Stone
1995	The Last Supper	The Anti-Environmentalist
1995	For Better or Worse	Michael Makeshift	Also director
1996	The Hunchback of Notre Dame	Hugo (voice)
1996	Dunston Checks In	Robert Grant
1997	Love! Valour! Compassion!	Buzz Hauser
1998	Denial	Art Witz
1998	The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale	The Dresser's Spectacles (voice)
1999	Love and Action in Chicago	Frank Bonner
1999	Madeline: Lost in Paris	Henri / Uncle Horst (voices)	Direct-to-video
1999	Just Looking		Director
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Boris Badenov	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2000	Let's Rap Fire Safety	Smoke Detector (voice)	Short film
2001	The Trumpet of the Swan	Father (voice)
2001	Shallow Hal	Mauricio Wilson
2001	On Edge	Zamboni Phil
2002	The Hunchback of Notre Dame II	Hugo (voice)	Direct-to-video
2003	101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure	Lil' Lightning (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2006	Farce of the Penguins	Penguin on Belly (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2006	Ira and Abby	Dr. Morris Saperstein
2006	Hood of Horror	British Record Mogul
2006	How to Go Out on a Date in Queens	Johnny
2007	The Grand	Dr. Yakov Achmed
2009	Rock Slyde	Mailman Stan
2009	Hachi: A Dog's Tale	Carl
2010	Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey	Moronic (voice)
2011	The Voyages of Young Doctor Dolittle	Eugene (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2012	Stars in Shorts	Sid Rosenthal
2015	Wild Card	Pinky
2015	Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant	Larry's Dad
2016	Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz	Mr. Bibb / The Nome King (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2017	The Gettysburg Address	Noah Brooks (voice)	Documentary

Television

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Senior Trip	Pete	Television film
1984-1985	E/R	Harold Stickley	15 episodes
1986	Rockabye	Lt. Ernest Foy	Television film
1987	Everything's Relative	Julian Beeby	10 episodes
1988	Newhart	Ramming	Episode: "Courtin' Disaster"
1989-1998	Seinfeld	George Costanza	178 episodes American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (1992-93) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1995, 1997-98) Nominated"?American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male Performer in a TV Series (1996, 1999) Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1993-95, 1998) Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1992-98) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (1996-99) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated"?Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series (1993-95)
1992-1993	Dinosaurs	Additional voices	7 episodes
1993	Dream On	Randall Townsend	Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape" Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
1994-1997	Duckman	Eric Duckman (voice)	70 episodes
1994, 1998	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	2 episodes
1994	Aladdin	Abis Mal (voice)	14 episodes
1995	Bye Bye Birdie	Albert Peterson	Television film
1996	Muppets Tonight	Himself	Episode: "Jason Alexander"
1996	The Nanny	Jack	Episode: "The Tart with Heart"
1997	Remember WENN	Alan Ballinger	Episode: "Nothing Up My Sleeve"
1997	Cinderella	Lionel	Television film Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1998	Hercules	Poseidon (voice)	4 episodes
1999	Jingle Bells	Elf (voice)	Television film
1999	Star Trek: Voyager	Kurros	Episode: "Think Tank"
1999-2000	Dilbert	Catbert (voice)	9 episodes
2001, 2009	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Himself	5 episodes
2001	Friends	Earl	Episode: "The One Where Rosita Dies"
2001	Bob Patterson	Bob Patterson	10 episodes; also executive producer
2001	The Legend of Tarzan	Zutho (voice)	Episode: "Tarzan and the Face from the Past"
2002	Son of the Beach	Tex Finklestein	Episode: "Penetration Island"
2002	House of Mouse	Hugo (voice)	Episode: "Donald Wants to Fly"
2002	The Twilight Zone	Death	Episode: "One Night at Mercy"
2002	The Man Who Saved Christmas	A.C. Gilbert	Television film
2003	Malcolm in the Middle	Leonard	Episode: "Future Malcolm"
2004-2005	Listen Up!	Tony Kleinman	22 episodes; also producer
2004	A Christmas Carol	Jacob Marley	Television film
2005	Monk	Marty Eels	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Other Detective"
2006	Odd Job Jack	Don (voice)	Episode: "Twenty-One You're Dead"
2006-2007	Everybody Hates Chris	Principal Edwards	2 episodes
2006	Campus Ladies	Professor	Episode:"A Very Special Episode"
2008	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Dr. Palmer	Episode: "One and a Half Men"
2008	Criminal Minds	Prof. Rothchild	Episode: "Masterpiece"
2009	Meteor	Dr. Chetwyn	2 episodes
2010-2013	Fish Hooks	Mr. Nibbles (voice)	3 episodes
2010	The Cleveland Show	Saul Friedman (voice)	Episode: "Brotherly Love"
2010	American Dad!	Sal (voice)	Episode: "White Rice"
2011	Glenn Martin DDS	Brandon (voice)	Episode: "GlenHog Day"
2011	Franklin & Bash	Carter Lang	Episode: "Big Fish"
2011	Harry's Law	Richard Cross	Episode: "Bad to Worse"
2011	China, IL	Harold (voice)	2 episodes
2011	A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!	Human Cosmo	Television film
2011	Dora the Explorer	Owl (voice)	2 episodes
2012	Two and a Half Men	Dr. Goodman	Episode: "The Straw in My Donut Hole"
2012	Clipaholics	Narrator	8 episodes
2013	Community	Mountain Man	Episode: "Intro to Felt Surrogacy"
2014	Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee	George Costanza	Episode: "George Costanza: The Over-Cheer"
2014	Kirstie	Stanford Temple	Episode: "Maddie's Agent"
2014	The Tom and Jerry Show	Rick (voice)	2 episodes
2014	How Murray Saved Christmas	Doc Holiday (voice)	Television film
2015	Big Time in Hollywood, FL	Himself	Episode: "The Hand That Feeds"
2015	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Coach Wallace (voice)	Episode: "Ultrahyperball"
2015	Drunk History	William "Boss" Tweed	Episode: "Journalism"
2015-2016	The Grinder	Cliff Bemis	4 episodes
2016	The Mark Lembeck Technique	Mark Lembeck	Pilot
2017	Animals.	Algae (voice)	Episode: "Rats"
2017	The Simpsons	Bourbon Verlander (voice)	Episode: "The Caper Chase"
2017	Hit the Road	Ken Swallow
2017	Kody Kapow	Goji

As director

Year	Role	Notes
1992	Seinfeld	Episode: "The Good Samaritan" Nominated"?Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Comedy Series
2006	Campus Ladies	Episode: "A Very Special Episode"
2007-2008	Everybody Hates Chris	2 episodes
2009	Criminal Minds	Episode: "Conflicted"
2010	'Til Death	Episode: "Snore Loser"
2012	Franklin & Bash	Episode: "Last Dance"
2012	Mike & Molly	Episode: "Vince Takes a Bath"

Video game

Year	Title	Voice role
1996	Topsy Turvy Games	Hugo
2012	Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance	Hugo

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Merrily We Roll Along	Joe	Neil Simon Theatre
1982	Forbidden Broadway		Stage 72
1984	The Rink	Lino/Lenny/Punk/Uncle Fausto	Al Hirschfeld Theatre
1985-1986	Personals		Minetta Lane Theatre Nominated"?Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
1986-1988	Broadway Bound	Stanley	Broadhurst Theatre
1989-1990	Jerome Robbins' Broadway	Narrator	Imperial Theatre Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
1990	Accomplice	Performer	Richard Rodgers Theater
2003-2004	The Producers	Max Bialystock	National Tour
2013	Broadway Bound		Director Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
2015	Fish in the Dark	Norman Drexel	Cort Theatre