WHAT IS GEORGE COSTANZA'S BACKGROUND???

Greetings.........

Does anyone know the true background of George.........

Is he Jewish....Italian....mixed.....

We know that Frank Costanza had a lost cousin in Tuscany (Carlo)...George states in the "calzone" episode that his name is Italian.....etc....etc....etc.

Can someone please fill me in............

I would like to also know Elaine, Jerry, & Newman's background also......

On Thu, 17 Jan 2002 23:51:49 -0500, "Robert Tobgi" wrote:

He could be Jewish AND Italian.

But:

Check out the FAQ. http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/set/7217/faq.html#3.6

There are many clues that Frank Costanza is Catholic and Estelle Costanza is Jewish - but they are never stated.

in the episode with lloyd braun and the Alex Theatre...george says that he has to go to his parents house to give christmas gifts

"The News Guy(Mike)" wrote in message news:[email]...

wrote:

is

"Robert Tobgi" wrote in message news:R3a28.10700$[email]...

I give Xmas gifts and I'm Jewish.

Estelle Costanza is, to my mind, a perfect example of the classic Jewish mother.

Ian

Maybe because she's modeled after Larry David's mother? (And Jerry's TV father was modeled after L.D.'s real father.)

-Lee

Estelle reminds me of the stereotype of some mothers from Long Island, I don't see anything Jewish about her. People who aren't from the New York area often think people from New York are Jewish when they are not.

The Costanzas are not Jewish. If he was, it would have been mentioned just like it points out that Jerry is.

George mentioned the schools they attend and they were in Queens.

East

"Ian F." wrote:

"Robert Tobgi" writes:

Strange of course since they celebrate Festivus which is a giftless holiday. But on the other hand they replaced Christmas with Festivus, indicating they recognised it before.

R

On Sat, 19 Jan 2002 11:42:23 -0500, "Casey Hoerig" wrote:

 . . .

Do they teach courses in "logic" at OSU? Take the course.

:-)

FOR EXAMPLE: ================ You see, my dear, all certified mail is registered, but registered mail is not necessarily cerified.

On Sat, 19 Jan 2002 20:52:26 -0500, "Casey Hoerig" wrote:

There you go again not understanding the basics of logic.

Look out, ya' missed the logic train again. :-)

The implication is *not* that all Jewish people refuse to drive German cars. Rather, the implication is that someone who does refuse to drive a German car may be Jewish. See the difference?

And obviously, this isn't hard 'n' fast proof that Estelle is Jewish, merely a piece of the puzzle which only suggests it, at best.

There are people old enough who refuse to drive anything German simply because of the war too.

East

John Twernbold wrote:

Fallacy of Composition 101

"Robert Tobgi" wrote in message news:...

Hi

I have read a book written by Michael Costanza. He is the person that George is heavily based on. The guy really exists and he is a very good friend of Jerrys.

Michael's background is Italian. A lot of the stories based around George are actual things that have happened to Michael but have been exaggerated for the show. Mind you not all "George happenings" are things that have happened to the real person. Some are pure fiction. It does say in the book that Frank and Estelle are Michael's parents to a T. Hope it helps.

But, I thought George was based on Larry David...

"Dwayne Conyers" wrote in message news:...

I have heard that also. I believe the characters are a combination of a couple of people. Perhaps George is Mikey Costanza with a touch of Larry thrown in.I have also read that Elaine is a mixture of a couple of people, one being Carol Leifer who is an ex-girlfriend of Jerrys that was also a member of the writing team (or somehow involved in production of the show). In Mikey's book he said that Jerry on the screen is pretty much Jerry in real life.

I would say he is Spanish on the basis that his parents were going to cook Paella for Jerrys parents.

BB

On Mon, 21 Jan 2002 15:15:02 -0500, "Casey Hoerig" wrote:

Irish?

But she also cooks Kasha. (That's a clue)

to

I never heard Mrs. Costanza say "ridicerous," so she's probably not Chinese.

^^^^^^ "Art is often hailed as the grandest expression of human spirit, but we know now ... that the grandest expression of human spirit is whatever it takes for a man or woman to rush back into a burning building to save more people."

On Mon, 21 Jan 2002 17:09:13 -0500, "Casey Hoerig" wrote:

Yes he did that too. But it was also made in George's parent's house in another episode.

"Casey Hoerig" writes:

Shame on you ! You know Frank doesn't cook because of the Korea incident.

R

"Should we be talkin' about this?"

S.C. Harrison wrote in message ...

Are you suggesting alt.cooking.ethnic????

homerr..

A good cook?

:-)

David

Casey Hoerig wrote:

WRT Estelle.

What are the subtle implications of the mah jong connection?

Mah Jong in the US is equated mostly with an older generation of women who belong to country clubs and who go to restorts on vacation. You can usually see them sit-up at a card table on the grass or by the pool playing Mah Jong. I take the Mah Jong reference to be about that and that it is a east coast thing since there are resorts and beaches in the area the New York area. An older generation house wife activity. I have never seen any men play Mah Jong. I don't see anything gender basis about the tiles. :-)

East

osmium wrote:

EastCoastGuyz wrote:

I believe, however, that it is more frequently played by men in China.

I put the name Costanza into the infobel.com telephone directory, all of the Firstnames it came up with were Italian e.g. Enzo, Riccardo, Salvatore etc, there were no Spanish names.

I therefore conclude that he must be Italian.

Brother B

Hello,

I'm new here, but I have a few theories on the subject.

George's father's family is clearly Italian, of Tuscan background. Costanza is an Italian name, plus his father went to Tuscany in one episode to find his long-lost brother or something to that effect. George's family is also probably nominally Catholic as he crossed himself in one episode.

Re his mother, I have no idea.

Elaine--now, she's a puzzle. Her last name is Benes, and I once thought it was Benez, which would mean she was Spanish or Hispanic. However, in one episode she denies being Hispanic, and furthermore, her father's name is Alton, not very Spanish-sounding. Of course, he could be an immigrant or the descendent of immigrants. But even so, one doesn't name one's kid Alton without a darned good reason.

However, I think that Elaine's background is Czech, because there was a famous Czech president named Benes (pronounced Benesh). She also appears to be nominally Catholic as she makes the sign of the Cross before she goes into the pesticide-filled apartment, IIRC. The only strange thing is she seemed to have some sort of connection with an ethnic Italian Catholic parish in one ep when the dying priest mistook her for "La Maddonna!" but I can't remember why the heck she was there and had that veil on.

Kramer...Huh. His first name is Cosmo, which is weird and doesn't go with Kramer. Kramer is a German, Flemish or Dutch name. I once stayed in a hotel whose manager was named Cramer, and this was in Brussels.

Newman's probably just a WASP of some sort. Hopefully not a relative of the great Cardinal Newman.

Of course, didn't Jerry and Larry David deliberately try to avoid being clear on the subject? I think the woman who played Mrs. Costanza once asked one of them if her family was supposed to be Italian Sephardim or what and he said that he didn't know or didn't think it relevant.

One more thing to add, re the K-Man and his suggested Flemish heritage. There's another layer to this story, methinks. There is one website that suggests Kramer might be Canadian, actually. Think about it, he likes Canadian football, sleeps under Hudson Bay blankets, has a Canada travel poster in his room and tapes Canadian Parliament on C-Span.

On 23 Jan 2002 21:23:28 -0800, [email] (M. G. Alderman) wrote:

Very Good!