Larry David

Everything about Larry David's first 20 years in show business implied that his success lay behind the scenes. He embarked on a stand-up career in the 1970s, which led to a gig as a writer and performer on the late-night sketch show Fridays. After a handful of small film roles and a fruitless one-year stint as a Saturday Night Live writer, David cocreated one of the most beloved and influential sitcoms of all time, Seinfeld, in 1990. After leaving the show, the disgruntled humorist wrote and directed the movie Sour Grapes, which turned out to be a bomb, before wisely returning to his small-screen roots with the 1999 HBO special Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show was so successful that it spawned an offbeat, semi-improvised, wince-inducing series that finally turned the fiftysomething, balding neurotic into an on-camera star. However, it wasn't the first time that David's personality ended up on the small screen: according to Seinfeld lore, he was the primary inspiration for the character of George Costanza. ~ Rovi