George Costanza

George Louis Costanza is a fictional character on the U.S. television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander.

Related Topics:
U.S. - Television - Sitcom - Seinfeld - 1989 - 1998 - Jason Alexander

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George was Jerry Seinfeld's neurotic best friend. He sometimes lived with his parents, Estelle and Frank Costanza, a bitter couple who were as neurotic as their son. As a teenager, he was tormented by his gym teacher, who intentionally mispronounced George's last name as "Can't Stand Ya." George and Jerry attended public school together, setting the dynamic for their later relationship. George claims that he and Jerry met in gym class when George, climbing rope, fell on Jerry. But in a few episodes, it is hinted that Jerry and George may have been friends before high school (i.e. when Jerry reminisces that he beat George up in grade 4).

Related Topics:
Jerry Seinfeld's - Neurotic - Estelle - Frank Costanza

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George has numerous psychological problems, including: narcissism, habitual lying, low self-esteem, sudden fits of anger, impulsive acts of ill-considered genorosity, cheapness, selfishness, living in fantasy and a codependent friendship with Jerry. Like Kramer, he would often concoct elaborate plots to weasel out of relational, financial, or legal obligations, always with unexpected and negative consequences.

Related Topics:
Psychological - Narcissism - Self-esteem - Fantasy - Kramer

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The character of George is based partly on the show's co-creator, Larry David. In the first couple of seasons, George was restrained by the standards of his earlier actions. But as the series went on, his schemes and personality became more outlandish. Alexander related in an interview that, early in the creation of the show, he once expressed having problems acting out a scene in the script, because he felt no one would ever behave in such a way. David replied to him that the exact situation had actually happened to him, and he had reacted in exactly the same way. Alexander said that this was a breakthrough for him in portraying the character, giving him valuable insight into both David and George.

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During the series, George had a number of recurring fears and obsessions, including baseball, pretending to be financially successful, contracting lupus, and dating Marisa Tomei.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Lupus - Marisa Tomei

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George's professional life was unstable. He was unable to remain in any job for any great length of time before making an embarrassing blunder and getting fired. Over the course of the series, he worked for the New York Yankees, an industrial smoothing company, and countless other places. He was fired from his job at Pendant Publishing for having sex with the cleaning woman. His original job when the series started was as a real estate agent; he ended up getting fired after he slipped his boss a mickey. His dream job was an architect, a job he would often pretend to have. In one episode, Jerry told a girl George wanted to impress that George was a marine biologist. The plan backfired when George was called upon to save a beached whale with a golf ball in its blowhole; he saved the whale, but the woman rejected him when he confessed that he was not, in fact, a marine biologist.

Related Topics:
New York Yankees - Real estate - Mickey - Architect - Marine biologist - Whale - Golf ball

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George briefly gained experience as a sitcom writer as he helped Jerry to write the pilot for the fictitious show Jerry. While pitching the concept of a "show about nothing" to NBC executives, George claimed to have written an off-Broadway play entitled La Cocina, about a Mexican chef named Pepe. In La Cocina, George claimed Pepe mimed the preparation of tamales, and it was the mime aspect that made the play so funny.

Related Topics:
NBC - Broadway - Mexican chef - Mime - Tamale

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George was engaged to Susan Biddle Ross, a wealthy executive at NBC who approved Jerry and George's show-within-the-show sitcom pilot. George and Susan dated on and off for a year, during which time the commitment-phobic George was constantly trying to find ways to end their relationship without actually having to initiate the break up with her. He proposed to her in a short-lived bout of midlife crisis, after he and Jerry made a "pact" to move forward with their lives. When Jerry broke up with his girlfriend and declared the deal over, George panicked and again tried repeatedly to weasel out of his engagement. He got his wish days before the wedding, when he indirectly killed her by selecting the cheapest envelopes for their wedding invitations, not knowing they contained toxic glue. Susan's parents never forgave him for this, and they appointed him to the Board of Directors of the Susan Biddle Ross Foundation to keep him trapped in their influences.

Related Topics:
Susan Biddle Ross - Pilot - Midlife crisis - Toxic - Glue

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George had an unusual affinity for velvet. When he was dating a woman who had velvet-covered furniture but lived with a man named Scott, he desired to replace Scott so that he could be "ensconced in velvet." His scheme had unintended consequences, because when Scott moved out, he took all the furniture (complete with the velvet) with him. In another episode, George stated that if it were socially acceptable he would "drape in velvet." He dated a woman who had absolutely no interest in physical appearances, so he started wearing a velvet jogging suit. This may be an affinity of Larry David. (See an interview with Larry David on 60 Minutes II.)

Related Topics:
Velvet - 60 Minutes II

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George's father Frank invented the December holiday Festivus to counter the commercialism of Christmas. When George was a child, he was forced to celebrate the holiday, and as a result George hates Festivus. George shows his feelings for the holiday when he refuses to take down Frank in the Feats of Strength (but Frank provokes him into doing it anyway).

Related Topics:
Festivus - Commercialism - Christmas

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George once flew to Akron, Ohio to "zing" someone with a line about a "jerk store."

Related Topics:
Akron - Ohio

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