WHEN SEINFELD CRACKED its final postmodern gag in 1998, fans of “television’s greatest sitcom” wondered what its stars would do next. Earlier this month, Jerry Seinfeld showed a delighted audience at Dublin’s O2 he was still a real stand-up guy.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played kooky Elaine, will star as the US vice-president in a new drama series, Veep, starting in June on Sky Atlantic. Michael Richards, who played krazy Kramer, retired from stand-up after an incident in which he allegedly made racial slurs at audience members.
But what about Jason Alexander, who played Jerry’s neurotic best pal, George Costanza? You might see Alexander when he makes a guest appearance on the latest series of Two And A Half Men, but you may not recognise him. Since late last year, the balding actor has been sporting a brand new head of hair, which makes him look somewhat different to the loveable, venal cad we know from Seinfeld.
He says he made the change for “professional and practical reasons”: his receding hair had begun to look “dorky”, and he didn’t want to be always cast as the funny bald guy. “I started balding at age 17,” he says. “I was always cast older than my actual age, which generally meant better roles. But most recently, the look lost any kind of impression other than purely comical.”
Rather than shave his head, which might further “limit my castability”, or go for permanent implants, which might lose him the bald guy gigs, he settled on a semi-permanent hairpiece. “It’s honestly no big deal for me and I hope it’s not for you either,” he says.
Born Jason Greenspan in New Jersey in 1959, Alexander always dreamed of being on stage – as a magician. His talent for acting, singing and dancing, however, proved his magic ticket to performing in Broadway musicals. When he went to LA to audition for Seinfeld he already had a Tony Award under his belt.
He was in the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and in 2001’s Shallow Hal with Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow.
After Seinfeld ended he continued working in TV and film, but with less success, so he gravitated back towards the stage, starring in a hit production of The Producers with Martin Short, and in A Christmas Carol with Kelsey Grammer, aka Frasier. He performed in his own magic show and competed in televised celebrity poker games.
In his latest stage show, he plays spoof motivational speaker Donny Clay. He and his wife Daena have been together for 30 years and have two children, Gabriel and Noah. At next month’s Tony Awards party, Alexander will be presented with a lifetime achievement award.
Alexander has another talent – he’s a Trekkie, with encyclopaedic knowledge of the original Star Trek series (he guested in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager). Oddly enough, his new hairpiece makes him look a little like his hero William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk.
Kevin Courtney
