Michael Richards Net Worth, Personal Life, Career & More Info

Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, television producer, writer, and comedian, he was born in 1949, on the 24th of July, and raised in South Los Angeles, California, United States. Richards is renowned for his role as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. His mother’s name is Phyllis, an Italian-American medical records librarian, and his father’s name is William Richards, who was an electrical engineer. 

Michael expressed an early ability for performance as a top Forensic League competitor during grade school. He went on to star in multiple high school and college productions while working as an ambulance attendant and hospital orderly. He started his career as a stand-up comedian. After appearing in Billy’s Crystal’s first cable TV special, that was his first entry into the national spotlight. 

He made several guest appearances on various television shows like Cheers. He got benefits from several films including So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airheads, Young Doctors in Love, Problems Child, Coneheads, Trial and Error, and UHF for his starring role.

Between 1989 and 1998, He acted as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, and he received the Prime time Emmy Award three times for excellent support actor in a Comedy series. Throughout Seinfeld’s run, he represented a guest appearance in Mad About You. He performed in his own sitcom named Michael Richards Show but that was canceled after two months.

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Michael Richards’s Early Life, Education & More

Michael was born in Culver City, California, United States, in a Roman Catholic family. He is the son of Phyllis, a medical records librarian of Italian lineage, and William Richards, an electrical engineer of Scottish and English ancestry. In a car accident, his father died when Michael was two years old and his mother never married again.

Michael Richards completed his graduation from Thousand Oak Hgh School, He appeared in ‘The Dating Game’ as an opponent in 1968, but was not selected for the date. Michael trained as a medic in the US Army during the Vietnam War and was appointed writer and director of plays on drug abuse and race relations for the Army’s V-Corp Training Roadshow. After being honorably discharged, he used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enlist in the California State Institute of the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975.

Apart from this, he also had a short-term unplanned or unscripted act. During this period, enrolled in Los Angeles Valley College and continued to participate in student productions.

Michael Richards’s Career

After that, Michael returned to Los Angeles. There, the promoter of the Improve comedy club, Budd Friedman, and talent manager Charles Joffe found him, Also a trained theater actor under the tutelage of Stella Adler. Richards acted in territorial presentations, Off-Broadway, and in London’s West End. Besides, his comedian roles, in late 1979, Richards performed regularly in the comedy clubs and later worked as a bus driver in 1980. 

In 1980, he began as one of the cast members on ABC Fridays television show, where Larry David was a partner cast member and writer. It included a famous illustration where Andy Kaufman denied to convey his scripted lines, leading Richards to bring the signed letter on the screen to Kaufman, causing him to throw his drink into Richards’s face before a small riot ensued.

Richards was inclined by the physical comedy of such legends as Charles Chaplin and Jacques Tati, he cleared his dues on the comedy circuit until comedian Billy Crystal indicated him and gave him a break on one of his comedy specials. Michael earned a regular spot on the sketch comedy series Fridays, in which he created the character of Battle Boy who liked to blow up army soldiers. He also appeared in minor slapstick films such as Young Doctors in Love and Transylvania. He also had a supporting role in Weird AI Yankovic’s comedy film UHF as Janitor Stanley Sadowski.

Michael Richards’s Personal Life

In 1974, Richards got married to Cathleen Lyons, a family therapist, and they were together for nearly two decades. They have one daughter, Sophia. They parted in 1992 and divorced the following years.

Richards got married to his long-time girlfriend, Beth Skipp in 2010. They have been together since 2002 and have one son.

Michael Richards's Net Worth
Michael Richards’s Net Worth

Michael Richards’s Net Worth

Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, television producer, writer, and comedian, he was born in 1949, on the 24th of July, and raised in South Los Angeles, California, United States. Michael Richards is renowned for playing Cosmo Kramer, but he had various other notable TV appearances on shows like “Cheers” and “Miami Vice.” He also headed the short-lived “The Michael Richards Show.”. His estimated net worth is around $ 30 million. For more information, please stay tuned.

Michael Richards Seinfeld Salary

Michael Richards and Jason Alexander earned a modest amount of money for their work on the show Seinfeld, in which, Julia Louis Dreyfus was a cast member. They successfully negotiated raises before season 5 in 1993 which had them each earning $150,000 per episode, roughly $3.8 million per season. In May 1997, the supporting cast members held out for a massive raise, hoping for $1 million per episode. 

Michael Richards’s Films

Year Title Role  Notes
1982 Young Doctors in Love Mallamud Callahan
1984 The House of God Dr. Pinkus
1985 Transylvania Fejos
1986 Whoops Apocalypse Lacrobat
1987 Choice Chance and Control Victor Loudon Driver’s Ed video
1989 UHF Stanley Spadowski
1990 Problem Child Martin Beck
1993 Coneheads Motel Clerk
1993 So I Married an Axe Murderer Insensitive Man
1994 Airheads Doug Beech
1995 Unstrung Heroes Danny Lidz Nominated American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
1997 Redux Riding Hood The Wolf Voice Short film
1997 Trial and Error Richard “Ricky Rietti”
2007 Bee Movie Bud Ditchwater Voice
2013 Walk the Light Lester Short film
2019 Faith, Hope & Love Daddy Hogwood

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