Larry Charles
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Larry Charles (February 20, 1956) is an American writer, director and producer. He is most well known as a staff writer for the American television sitcom Seinfeld, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines, and as director of the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Born in 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, Charles performed stand-up comedy in the 1970s until he was hired to write for the short-lived sketch comedy show Fridays. This began a career in television writing which included The Arsenio Hall Show and eventually Seinfeld.
Although series co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld wrote the bulk of the show's episodes during the first five seasons, Charles wrote a lot of episodes, including:
- "The Baby Shower", featuring a dream sequence in which undercover agents shoot and kill Jerry for stealing cable
- "The Library", in which Jerry is hunted down for a 20-year overdue copy of Tropic of Cancer
- "The Subway", where George skips a job interview for a woman (played by Barbara Stock) he meets on the subway, who ends up tying him up and robbing him.
- "The Heart Attack", where George has an allergic reaction to an alternative medicine and literally turns purple.
- "The Limo", where Jerry and George are misidentified as neo-nazis.
- "The Trip", where Kramer is sought by police in connections to a serial killing.
- "The Opera," where Jerry and Elaine are stalked by a psychotic man with a love for Pagliacci.
- "The Outing," the episode in which Jerry and George are mistaken for gay lovers, popularizing the phrase "not that there's anything wrong with that"
Charles went on to write for such shows as Mad About You and Entourage, as well as directing and producing episodes of Larry David's new series Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Charles served as executive producer on two critically-acclaimed but short-lived programs, The Tick (where he wrote 2 episodes), and the Dilbert animated series (where he wrote 1 episode).
Charles directed and co-wrote the film Masked and Anonymous, starring Bob Dylan, and is involved in the production of a yet to be released National Lampoon film This is America.
Currently, Larry Charles is still serving as executive producer of the hit HBO show Entourage, and his controversial mockumentary film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, released in November 2006, has grossed over $230 million.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the Seinfeld Notes for the episode "The Implant", Larry's tonsils grew back.
- Larry Charles is said to be a fan of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and the crime show Dragnet, which was the inspiration for Lt. Bookman, in "The Library".[citation needed]
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charles, Larry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American television writer, director and producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1956 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
