Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an Emmy-winning actor, writer, comedian, producer and film director. David was co-creator, head writer and executive producer for the television series Seinfeld. He also created and stars in the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself.
David, a former standup comedian, was a writer and cast member for ABC's Fridays from 1980 to 1982, and a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. During his time at SNL, David only managed to get one of his sketches on the show — the last sketch of the night where the weaker sketches are usually scheduled. David quit his writing job at SNL mid-season, only to show up to work a few days later to act as though nothing had happened. This inspired a season two episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Revenge". David met his future Seinfeld stars during this early stage of his career: he worked with Michael Richards (Kramer) on Fridays and with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) during his one-year stint on SNL. David can be heard heckling Michael McKean when McKean hosted the show in 1984. David also can be seen in the sketch, "The Run, Throw and Catch Like a Girl Olympics" when Howard Cosell hosted the season finale in 1985.
David graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a bachelor's degree in history (1970) and then in business (1971).
As he grew richer, with a Forbes-estimated fortune of more than $200 million for his role as co-creator of "Seinfeld" (1990), this otherwise hapless, former failed stand-up comic says that he developed an allergy to caviar, which "was the perfect metaphor for my life."
Was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) for one season. In that entire season, David got only one sketch that he had written on the air, and it was the last sketch of the night.
Was the inspiration for the character of George Constanza on "Seinfeld" (1990).
Roger Ebert gave David's major motion picture writing-directing debut Sour Grapes (1998) a zero-star review (a rating he saves for especially bad movies he finds to be "evil"). David got his revenge with his new show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000), where a food critic (who just happens to use a thumbs up/thumbs down approach to his reviews) gets his thumb broken at the end. Ebert loves the show, though he recalls wincing at the thumb-breaking scene.
Close friend of writer Damien Furey.
Graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in history.
Is a New York Yankees fan.
Was a cast member of the TV series "Fridays" (1980). Another cast member was Michael Richards (I), who later played Kramer on "Seinfeld" (1990).
Once neighbors with Kenny Kramer.
He carries a pad of paper and a pencil with him wherever he goes to record his ideas, which typically come from his real life interactions with people.
When he was a stand-up comedian, he once walked on-stage and surveyed the crowd. Sensing no connection with them, he said, "This just isn't going to work," and promptly walked off the stage without performing any jokes.
Father of two daughters.
