Seinfeld Had A "Real" George Costanza (Not Larry David)

 Seinfeld had another "real" George Costanza (Jason Alexander) besides the sitcom's co-creator Larry David. Given that Seinfeld was a sitcom about the fictionalized life of stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, it's unsurprising that some of the characters were also based on real people. For example, Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) was based on Larry David's neighbor, Kenny Kramer, who went on to use the connection to his advantage by hosting Kramer's Reality Tour, an open-top bus tour of famous Seinfeld locations.

It's well documented that Larry David provided much of the inspiration for the character of George, which led to a hilarious turn of events in the Seinfeld revival season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, when Larry had to step in to play George Costanza after Jason Alexander walked off set. This said, there was another person, Michael Costanza, who claimed to be the inspiration for the classic Seinfeld character. However, it's likely that they, like Kenny Kramer, merely hoped to benefit from the connection to the hugely popular sitcom.

In June 1999 the case of "Costanza v. Seinfeld" was brought to the Supreme Court. Michael Costanza, who had been at college with Jerry Seinfeld, sued the comedian, Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, and NBC for $100 million. Costanza claimed his name and likeness had been used without permission, and that his life was being affected by being linked with the selfish character of Seinfeld's George.Costanza. Michael Costanza's claim came from the idea that he had some visual similarities to George, and also knew Jerry Seinfeld from college. By the time of the Costanza v. Seinfeld lawsuit, the character of George Costanza had been in the public consciousness for a decade.

Michael Costanza, therefore, had no grounds for claiming his likeness had been appropriated, because the statute of limitations for such a case is one year. His claim was also thrown out because he had waived any claim by appearing as a disgruntled truck driver in Seinfeld season 3, episode 22, "The Parking Space". The final claim was against Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, and his associates, for defamation of Michael Costanza's character. David had apparently called Michael a "flagrant opportunist" for writing and publishing the book The Real Seinfeld (By The Real Costanza) but the claim was also thrown out as it was clearly just a matter of opinion.

Curb Your Enthusiasm regularly mined comedy from clashes between Larry David, the real inspiration for George Costanza, and the actor Jason Alexander. Their fictional feuding had basis in truth, as Alexander reportedly threatened to leave Seinfeld during season 3, as he was aggrieved that Larry David hadn't included George's character in the episode "The Pen". Originally, Jason Alexander disapproved of Seinfeld's "Jerry" storyline in season 4. Hilariously, Alexander's reasoning was that giving season 4 an arc would go against Larry David's core "show about nothing" concept.

Clearly, Larry David and Jason Alexander were incredibly similar, making him perfect casting for Larry's analog in Seinfeld. Indeed, George embodies many of Larry David's own self-reported traits. This can be seen in how the fictionalized Larry David behaves across 11 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, proving that while they share a surname, George Costanza is truly based on Larry David, rather than Michael Costanza.