Mike Costanza???

Somebody please load this page and tell me what you think.

http://members.aol.com/wordwiseb/realcostanza/

Without checking the page, I heard Jason Alexander on Howard Stern's show yesterday. He categorically denied that Mike Costanza was the inspiration for George Costanza's character. He stated that Mike Costanza's relationship to Jerry may have contributed to the genesis of George Costanza, but that the character's content and development was in no way inspired by Mike Costanza. (I am not quoting directly here) However, he did not say that the character was inspired by Larry David. Perhaps that is understood. I don't know... I've been hearing about this Mike Costanza guy for two weeks now. Funny that he waits until season 9 to start up with this.

Cheers, Steve

Will the real George Costanza please stand up!

it's true. the seinfeld character only uses the Costanza name as it's modeled after Larry David. Heard M. Costanza on Howard Stern the other day...he called while Jason Alexander was paying a visit. Alexander didn't seem amused. Only in America...anything for a buck.

The book is for real. Steve Tyler wrote in message ...

JD Faith wrote in message ...

Mike Costanza claims that all the "bad George" stuff is Larry David (neurotic, pessimistic, etc.) and all the "good George" stuff is him. He really did go to school with Jerry and he actually had a coach who nicknamed him "Cantstandya".

The reason he's doing all this now is that he figures that any connection with the show will be worthless after it's over.

• Kevin

I'm not sure I would feel pleased if all my old friends crawled out of the woodwork to capitalize on my success. That 15 minutes of fame "drug" must be quite seductive. alt showbiz gossip

I heard him call into Stern - he's pathetic, clearly seeking a piece of the action for something which he did not contribute to. I know Jerry makes millions, but he shouldn't have to put up with people like this.

Whatever. I already ordered the book through amazon.com. When I get it, I'll post my thoughts. Maybe it's good stuff? I'm reserving judgement, especially if it's not a hoax, and the guy really has a claim to fame. Remember. Kenny Kramer is in the same boat, and he's become a favorite of ours. Why not the self-proclaimed original Costanza? ------------------------------------------ [email] (Hammer nail here--> <-- for a new monitor.)

Larry David, in a recent interview, did not seem amused, either. He says they mostly used the man's name and that the "George" character was based mostly on Larry David, not Mike"Can'tstandya"(that pronuciation, I believe I read, did come from Mike.) alt showbiz gossip

Mike Costanza, who IS a real friend of Jerry's from his younger days (and a guy with whom Jerry has kept contact over the years) hasn't claimed he was the main inspiration for the George character, at least not in any interview I've seen...he does claim to have contributed the name, and a few minor per- sonality quirks (including the occasional loud vol- ume and exaggerated gestures) although everyone acknowledges that most of George comes from Larry David...

Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY

I agree with part of your response, however, how do you explain the title of his book: _The Real Jerry Seinfeld, as told by The Real Costanza_? Sounds to me like this guy is riding the hype and hoping people will think he is the real George. He claimed that the character of George Costanza was obviously taken from him. Else, why does Jason Alexander even go through the motions of dispelling him. They spoke on the phone to Mike Costanza during Jason's interview. Jason directly answered Mike with (roughly) the reponse given in my original response to the original post.

I guess we are probably caught in a discussion on semantics here. That's ok. We all agree that Lary David was directly connected to and inspired much of the content of George Costanza's character, as played by Jason Alexander.

Cheers, Steve