Biography for
Jason Alexander (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

23 September 1959, Newark, New Jersey, USA

Birth Name

Jason Scott Greenspan

Nickname

Jay
Pretzel Boy

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Jason Greenspan adopted the stage name Jason Alexander while still in high school in New Jersey. He was soon appearing in Broadway plays and movies, then in the hit TV series, "Seinfeld" (1990), from 1990 to 1998. Alexander also directs and produces films.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anna Kasper

Spouse

Daena E. Title

(31 May 1981 - present) 2 children

Trade Mark

Often portrays neurotic and socially awkward characters

Trivia

Was a 1977 graduate of Livingston High School in Livingston, New Jersey. One of his classmates was Julia Montgomery. They co-starred in numerous high school productions.

Played flute and also percussion in the Livingston Lancer's Marching Band.

High school acting credits include the shows "Guys and Dolls", "The Odd Couple" and "Oliver".

1989: Appeared on Broadway in Jerome Robbins's musical "Broadway", for which he won a Tony award.

Parents Ruth and Alex Greenspan; half-sister Karen Van Horn, half-brother Michael Greenspan.

Attended Boston University and left a year early because he was able to find acting work in New York City during the summer before his senior year. Later given an honorary degree.

Two children (Gabriel, born August 1991, and Noah, born February 1996)

Has an extensive knowledge of the original "Star Trek" (1966) episodes and had aced a series of skill testing questions about the show on "Howard Stern" (1994)'s radio show. However, that "backfired" on his "Bob Patterson" (2001) ABC-TV series when William Shatner guest starred on an episode and Bob Patterson (Alexander) is traumatized.

Fall 2002: Set to teach acting on the faculty of the University of Southern California as the first-ever George Burns Distinguished Visiting Professor in Performance.

Started losing his hair at the age of 16.

One year for his birthday, his friends took him to a diner. They told him to close his eyes. When he opened them, William Shatner, aka Captain James T. Kirk, was in front of him. Captain Kirk was Jason's childhood hero.

While filming "Seinfeld" (1990), was always fitted with a suit one size too small, to make his character look "uncool"

Says he took on the role of Duckman because Duckman was "the anti-George Costanza".

Being a great fan of "Star Trek" (1966), he was finally given the opportunity to play a "Trek" role, himself, in 1999: he played the character "Kurros" in the "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995) episode, "Star Trek: Voyager: Think Tank (#5.20)" (1999). That same year, he was the host for the "Star Trek Viewers' Choice" VHS, notably for his Capt. Kirk impersonations.

2005: Celebrity Judge for UCLA Spring Sing.

Not only took the last name "Alexander" because of his father's first name, but it also helped him in auditions since the call backs were done in alphabetical order and thus he knew immediately if he was still in the running, or not, for parts.

The only of the four main actors (Michael Richards, Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) from "Seinfeld" (1990) not to win an Emmy for their work on the show

4/30/06: Debuted as a "professional magician" at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles. His act is based on studying and predicting behavioral patterns with his subjects.

Beat out Danny DeVito, Steve Buscemi and Nathan Lane for the role of "George" on "Seinfeld" (1990).

Won the 1989 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Musical for "Jerome Robbin's Broadway".

The only major cast member of "Seinfeld" (1990) to also direct an episode of the series.

[January 6, 2010] Named a celebrity spokesman for Jenny Craig.

Attended the same high school (Livingston High School in Livingston, New Jersey) as Chelsea Handler, Julia Montgomery and Charles Milano.

Won $250,000 on a celebrity episode of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (2002) after he correctly identified Gerald Ford as the President who said "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over". However, his question for $500,000 asked how Harry Crosby got his nickname of "Bing". He did not know, and walked away with the $250,000 that was divided amongst three charities.

He lent his voice to the "Family Guy" (1999) album "Live in Las Vegas" during the number 'All Cartoons Are F***kin' Dicks'.

In How It Began (2004) (V), a documentary for the "Seinfeld" (1990) DVD, Alexander said that he had no idea that 'George Costanza (character)' was based on Larry David until he said of a script to David, "this could never happen to anyone, and even if it did, no human being would react like this" to which David replied, "What do you mean? This happened to me once, and this is exactly how I reacted!".

Personal Quotes

I'm not really bald. I shave my head to keep in character with George.

Salary

"Seinfeld" (1990)

$125,000/episode (1996)

Where Are They Now

(March 2003) Rehearsing to play Max Bialystock in The Producers at the Pantages Theatre in LA beginning May 2.

(February 2004) A leader of "One Voice", an organization which tries to propose peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Visited Tel Aviv, Israel for a few weeks.

(February 2010) Runs his own company in Los Angeles called Angel Ark Productions.

(2010) Appeared, with Valerie Bertinelli, on a commercial for "Jenny Craig".

(2010) Appeared in a PSA for the ASPCA.