Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander must like to play against type - because George Costanza can't seem to accomplish anything and Jason collects kudos like Vandalay Industries produces...whatever.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Jason started acting professionally at 16 and landed his first film just two years later. Since then, he's appeared in films like Pretty Woman, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, North, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Shallow Hal among others. But that's not all - he sings and dances, too. His theater credits include Merrily We Roll Along, Accomplice, Broadway Bound, Promises Promises, and The Rink. In 1989, his work in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" won him Tony, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Awards.

Jason appears on TV regularly (not just in Seinfeld reruns), and is a director (in his abundant spare time?). Behind the camera, Alexander was nominated for a DGA award for an episode of Seinfeld he helmed. Just in case he's got a spare minute, he teaches acting at USC. Must be all that fresh mango...

Jerry Seinfeld

It's really about something...

Actually, for Jerry Seinfeld it's about comedy. While his stints as a telephone light-bulb salesman and a jewelry street vendor might have been, let's say intriguing, comedy has been the focus of this New Yorker's life since he was a kid.

Jerry grew up in New York, worked the comedy club circuit and starred in his own HBO special, "Jerry Seinfeld's Stand-up Confidential," before Seinfeld began its run in 1990. While the TV show is what he's best known for, Jerry's also won acclaim as a writer. Based on his comic observations, his book SeinLanguage was published by Bantam Books in 1993, ranking as that year's third best-selling non-fiction hardcover and remaining on The New York Times Best-Seller List for 33 weeks. He's racked up over 50 appearances on The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, and is the commercial pitchman for American Express.

Seinfeld (the TV series, not the guy, although where the two divide is rather mysterious...) is now part of American pop culture. Jerry continues to do stand up, and his tours have been chronicled by documentarians resulting in the film "Comedian." Seinfeld married Jessica Sklar in 1999. The couple -- who live in New York (where else?) -- have a daughter, born in 2000.

Micheal Richards

Micheal Richards

Seinfeld trivia - who is the only one of Jerry's friends who wasn't born in the New York City area? That'd be Michael Richards, a native of Los Angeles. While Kramer may be a bumbling neighbor (and what is his job, anyway?), Michael Richards took a more traditional route to Hollywood -- earning a degree in theater arts from Evergreen State College in Washington and then working at the prestigious San Diego Repertory Theatre.

Eventually, all roads lead to Kramer. But on the way, Richards was a recurring TV guest with stints on "Cheers," "St. Elsewhere," "Miami Vice," "Hill Street Blues" and "Night Court." He starred in the late-night sketch comedy series "Fridays." Richards made his feature film debut in the Garry Marshall comedy Young Doctors in Love, and has also starred in Diane Keaton's critically acclaimed Unstrung Heroes, Airheads, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and more.

During the 2000-2001 season, Richards returned to series television in "The Michael Richards Show," starring as an offbeat private investigator. That season, he also starred opposite Sally Field in a cable television adaptation of Charles Dickens' drama "David Copperfield."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Born in New York City and raised in Washington, D.C., Julia Louis-Dreyfus became interested in acting at a young age. She studied theater at Northwestern University and, while there, worked extensively as a member of The Practical Theater Company, an improvisational group with a large following in the Chicago area. Her talent and improv skills eventually also brought her to the attention of the world-renowned Second City troupe, which she also joined. During a performance of The Practical Theater's "Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee," she garnered attention and was asked to join the ensemble cast of "Saturday Night Live." She remained with the late-night comedy series for three years.

Adept at both comedy and drama, her film credits include Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry and Hannah and Her Sisters; Ivan Reitman's Fathers' Day, with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal; and Queen of the Whole Wide World. Louis-Dreyfus also starred in the television adaptation of the Neil Simon comedy "London Suite."

She has also been seen frequently on television as a commercial spokesperson for such companies and products as AT&T and Clairol "Nice and Easy."

Louis-Dreyfus is married to writer/producer Brad Hall; the pair have known each other since their college days at Northwestern and were co-stars on "Saturday Night Live."