Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for his role as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. We will see more about Michael Richards Net Worth.
He began his career as a stand-up comic, and he first gained national attention when he appeared on Billy Crystal’s first cable television special.
He went on to star in ABC’s Fridays as a series regular. He appeared in a number of television series, including Cheers, as a guest star. So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airheads, Young Doctors in Love, Problem Child, Coneheads, UHF, and Trial and Error are among his cinematic credits, with Trial and Error being one of his few major parts.
He played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld from 1989 to 1998, winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series during that period. He had a cameo appearance in Mad About You during the run of Seinfeld. Following Seinfeld, he starred in his own comedy, The Michael Richards Show, which lasted only two months before being cancelled.
Richards returned to stand-up comedy after Seinfeld concluded in 1998. In 2006, he sparked outrage when a video of him going on a racist rant against hecklers while performing at the Laugh Factory was released. The incident significantly harmed his career, and he declared his retirement from stand-up comedy in early 2007 as a result of extensive media coverage of the incident.
He made his first appearance as himself in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2009, among his fellow Seinfeld cast mates for the first time since the show’s conclusion, and parodied his Laugh Factory incident. In 2013, he starred in the one-season comedy Kirstie, in which he played Frank.
Michael Richards Bio/Wiki
| Real Name | Michael Anthony Richards |
| Nickname | Michael Richards |
| Age | 74 years |
| Date Of Birth | July 24, 1949 |
| Birth Place | Culver City, California |
| Height | 6 feet and 3 inches |
| Weight | 75 kgs |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Beth Skipp |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | American actor, writer, television producer |
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Early Life
Richards was born into a Catholic household in Culver City, California. He is the son of Phyllis (née Nardozzi), an Italian-born medical records librarian, and William Richards, a Scottish-born electrical engineer. Michael’s father died in a vehicle accident when he was two years old, and his mother never remarried.
Richards is a Thousand Oaks High School graduate. He was a competitor on The Dating Game in 1968, however, he was not picked for the date. In 1970, he was drafted into the United States Army. He was trained as a doctor and stationed in West Germany, where he was a member of the Training Road Show, a theatrical troupe.
He used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enrol at the California Institute of the Arts after being honourably discharged, and he graduated with a BA in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975. In addition, he performed a brief improv performance with Ed Begley Jr. He enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College around this time and continued to act in student musicals.
Personal Life
For 18 years, Richards was married to Cathleen Lyons, a family therapist. Sophia is their only child (b. 1975). They divorced the next year after splitting up in 1992.
Richards married his girlfriend Beth Skipp in 2010. They’ve been married since 2002 and have a son together. Richards is a member of the Freemasons.
Michael Richards Education
Richards graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. In 1968, he was a contestant on The Dating Game, however, he was not chosen for a date. He was recruited into the United States Army in 1970. He was a member of the Training Road Show, a theatrical ensemble, and was trained as a doctor and stationed in West Germany.
After being honourably discharged, he utilised the G.I. Bill to enrol in the California Institute of the Arts, and he graduated with a BA in theatre from The Evergreen State College in 1975.
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Career
Richards received his big break on television in 1979, when he appeared in Billy Crystal’s first cable television special. In 1980, he joined the cast of ABC’s Friday television show, alongside Larry David, who was also a cast member and writer.
It includes a well-known incident in which Andy Kaufman refused to perform his prepared lines, prompting Richards to bring the cue cards on-screen to Kaufman, who then threw his drink in Richards’ face, sparking a brief disturbance (Richards later claimed he was in on the joke).
Richards was represented by actor Norm Macdonald in the film Man on the Moon, which included a re-enactment of the Andy Kaufman incident (although he is never referred to by name, so he could be seen as a composite character taking the place of Richards).
Richards appeared as janitor Stanley Spadowski in “Weird Al” Yankovic’s comedic film UHF in 1989. On television, he played an unscrupulous bookie in Miami Vice; a television producer in St. Elsewhere making a documentary about Dr Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere; a character in Cheers trying to collect on an old bet with Sam Malone in Cheers, and a fitness expert in several guest appearances with Jay Leno as an accident-prone fitness expert.
Monk was originally intended by ABC as a procedural police comedy featuring an Inspector Clouseau-like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman. According to Hoberman, Richards was approached by ABC to portray Adrian Monk, but he declined.
Seinfield days
In 1989, Richards was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series Seinfeld, which was developed by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, a fellow Fridays cast member. Despite a poor start, by the mid-1990s, it had established itself as one of the most successful sitcoms in television history.
In 1998, it came to an end after a nine-year run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. Kramer is the show’s eponymous character’s next-door neighbour, and he is commonly referred to by his last name alone. Cosmo was revealed as his first name in the sixth-season episode “The Switch.”
Richards received more Emmys than any other member of the Seinfeld ensemble, winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series three times in 1993, 1994, and 1997.
He and his fellow Seinfeld cast mates began providing interviews and audio commentary for the Seinfeld DVDs in 2004. After Season 5, Richards stopped giving audio commentary, but he continued to do interviews.
The Michael Richards Show (Michael Richards)
Following the conclusion of Seinfeld in 2000, Richards began work on a new NBC series, his first significant project since the show’s demise. The Michael Richards Show was envisioned as a comedy/mystery featuring Richards as a fumbling private detective, for which he obtained co-writer and co-executive producer honours.
NBC requested that the programme be retooled into a more traditional, office-based sitcom before its release after the initial pilot flopped with test audiences. It was cancelled after a few weeks of low ratings and scathing reviews.
The 2006 incident at the Laugh Factory and its impact on his career
Richards went on a racist rant at a performance at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, on November 17, 2006, in reaction to a small number of black audience members who were heckling and interrupting him. Richards was heard yelling “He’s a nigger!” and making analogies to lynching and the Jim Crow era on many occasions.
Richards addressed a group of people who had come in the midst of the performance and were “being a bit loud,” according to Kyle Doss, a member of the group Richards addressed. Doss explains:
“Look at those obnoxious Mexicans and blacks up there,” [Richards] remarked. He stated it right away. Then he resumed his routine. After a time, I finally informed him, “You’re not hilarious in my opinion,” my pal says. When I told him that, he flipped out and shouted, “F-you N-word.” And it was the start of it all.
Richards apologised publicly three days after the incident on the Late Show with David Letterman via satellite, stating: “I’m terribly, deeply sorry for flipping off and shouting this garbage in a comedy club. That’s what’s so bizarre about this: I’m not a racist.” As Richards began his improvised explanation and apology, several studio audience members laughed, prompting programme guest Jerry Seinfeld to chastise them, saying: “Please, no more laughter. It isn’t amusing.”
Richards said that he was attempting to defuse the heckling by being even more obnoxious, but that his strategy had backfired. Later, he apologised to civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He was also a guest on Michael Jackson’s nationally syndicated radio show. Richards’ apology was not accepted by Doss, who stated: “He could have approached… one of us from the group if he wanted to apologise. He, on the other hand, did not. He apologised in front of the camera since the tape had gotten out.”
Several TV shows mocked the incident, including Mad TV, Family Guy, South Park, Extras, and Monday Night Raw. Richards appeared as himself in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, mocking the event.
Richards said that the outburst still plagued him and was a big cause for his retirement from stand-up comedy in a 2012 episode of Seinfeld’s online series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
The event was also a factor in comedian Paul Mooney’s decision to ban the racist slur from his own live performances.
Cameo Appearances, Guest Appearances, And Features.
In the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show, Richards played himself in Episode 2 of Season 1 “The Flirt Episode” (1992). He also had a cameo part as an “insensitive dude” in the comedic thriller film So I Married an Axe Murderer.
In Airheads, he portrayed radio station staffer Doug Beech, and in Trial and Error, he co-starred with Jeff Daniels as an actor claiming to be a lawyer. He also appeared on Miami Vice, Night Court, and Cheers as a guest star. Jerry Seinfeld appeared in and produced the animated feature Bee Movie, in which he voiced the character Bud Ditchwater.
Richards and the other key Seinfeld cast members made an appearance in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s seventh season in 2009. Richards starred in Jerry Seinfeld’s comedic web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee in 2012. He made an appearance as the president of Crackle in a Season 5 promo in 2014.
The premise from the trailer would be built on in one of the episodes, according to Seinfeld. Richards starred with Kirstie Alley and Rhea Perlman in the comedy Kirstie as Frank. On December 4, 2013, it aired on TV Land and was terminated after one season.
Michael Richards Net Worth
Michael Richards is a $45 million American actor. During the first few seasons of Seinfeld, supporting cast members Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, and Jason Alexander were paid a pittance for their efforts on the programme. Before season 5, in 1993, they were able to negotiate hikes that saw them each receive $150,000 each episode, or $3.8 million every season.
Supporting cast members fought for a large pay hike in May 1997, asking for $1 million for each show. The network retaliated with a payment of $200,000, followed by a payment of $400,000. They were paid $600,000 each episode for the last season of the programme, which amounted to nearly $15 million per episode.
That equates to almost $24 million in today’s dollars. The supporting cast members received a total of $45 million in base salary from Seinfeld before inflation. Julia, Michael, and Jason, contrary to common opinion, do not profit much from “Seinfeld’s” syndication deals, which have reached almost $4 billion as of this writing.
Assets
In order to profit from syndication sales, one must hold a certain amount of the show’s stock. On the programme, the supporting cast was never given backside points. They earn royalties from the show when it airs, but these payments are in the hundreds of thousands, not the millions as many believe.
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, on the other hand, both made $250 million from syndication sales in 1998. Larry and Jerry were still making at least $50 million a year from syndication points a decade later.
While backend points were disallowed in 1997, they were able to obtain profit-sharing points on DVD sales, which resulted in a little windfall when customers bought DVDs.
Michael paid $525,000 for a property in Studio City, California in 1992, according to public records. He sold the house for $810,000 in 1998, just a few months after Seinfeld concluded. Michael spent $1.75 million on a 6,000-square-foot property in the Pacific Palisades region of Los Angeles in 1996.
Michael claims he was riding around the neighbourhood one day when he saw the house and fell in love with it right away. He scribbled his name and phone number on a sheet of paper because there was a for sale sign out front. The individuals who were renting the house at the time returned his call and provided him with the owner’s phone number.
One of the renters, it turned out, was acquainted with Michael’s agent and contacted to inquire whether the actual Michael Richards had put his name and phone number in their mailbox with an offer to buy the house. This was confirmed by the agency.
House
Michael took the owner on a tour of the home and made an immediate offer, which was accepted. He made an all-cash payment.
Nearly every room in the house, which was created in the 1920s by renowned African American architect Paul Williams, offers a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. The house is now worth between $8 and $10 million.
Michael was a huge fan of comedian Red Skelton when he was younger. He used to have his mother drop him off at Bel-Air in front of what he thought was Red’s house (according to a Star Map). Red and Michael became friends after a long time. Michael purchased Red’s complete collection of rare books after his death, which he now keeps in his own library.
| Estimated Net Worth in 2023 (Approx) | $45 million |
| Estimated Net Worth in 2022 (Approx) | $30 million |
| Estimated Net Worth in 2021 (Approx) | $22 million |
| Estimated Net Worth in 2020 (Approx) | $14 million |
| Estimated Net Worth in 2019 (Approx) | $9 million |
| Annual Salary | $15 million |
Michael Richards Wife
Cathleen Lyons was Michael Richards’s first wife (1974 – 1992).
He dated Teresa DePriest from 2000 to 2001 before marrying Beth Skipp in 2010, with whom he had been dating since 2002 and with whom he has a son.
Michael Richards Height, Weight & Age
Michael Richards is 6 feet and 3 inches tall or 191 cm in centimetres.
He weighs about 75 kgs in body weight and even at this age he is a pretty handsome man. He is 74 years old as of 2023.
FAQs
74 years
Beth Skipp
6 feet and 3 inches
$45 million
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