“ | For I am Costanza, lord of the idiots. | „ |
~ George Costanza |
“ | Well, the jerk store called. They're running out of you. | „ |
~ George to Reilly. |
“ | George is getting upset! | „ |
~ George, speaking in third person |
George Louis Constanza is one of the two deuteragonists (alongsde Elaine Benes) of the sitcom Seinfeld. He is Jerry Seinfeld's best friend and a friend of Elaine and Cosmo Kramer. George throughout the series is proven to be a selfish and deceitful misanthrope often showing little to zero remorse for his actions and the lives of others.
He was portrayed by Jason Alexander who also Eric Tiberius Duckman in Duckman, Philip Stuckey in Pretty Woman, Henry Grace in Criminal Minds, Zutho in The Legend of Tarzan, Catbert in Dilbert, Lil' Lightning in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, Boris Badenov in Rocky & Bullwinkle, Jacob Marley in the 2004 made-for-TV musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Nome King in Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz and Abis Mal in Aladdin: The Return of Jafar and the Aladdin TV Series.
Biography[]
George was born to Frank and Estelle Costanza presumably in New York. He is heard mentioning having a brother several times on the show, yet he is never seen nor given a name. Later on in his life he had attended John F. Kennedy High School alongside Jerry Seinfeld and had graduated in 1971. Based on that he was most likely born in 1953. As an adult, George is often seen as anger-prone (a trait he gets from his father), cowardly and neurotic who has had several jobs and sometimes is seen to be living with his parents.
Appearance[]
George is shown to be a "short-stocky bald man" as he is regarded to by several characters on the show including himself. He stands at 5'5, although in one episode he is mentioned to being 5'6.
Although in earlier episodes he had more hair and even admits in Season 9 to have had a full head of hair back in 1989.
Personality[]
George is a selfish, cowardly, unintelligent, misanthropic, immature, spiteful, lazy, petty, and greedy man. Often showing no remorse or consideration for the terrible things he's done to people. The worst example of this is how nonchalantly he reacted to Susan's death where instead of mourning over his dead fiancée, he rather then with Jerry, Elaine and Kramer went to the coffee shop.
His fear of being alone can also drive him to make impulsive decisions, such as proposing to Susan, but when his head clears, he is filled with regret; however, since he is such a coward and weak-willed, he lacks the nerve to renege on his proposal, instead sticking with it, wallowing with self-pity and misery, while also treating Susan with toxic behavior, such as passive aggression and disinterest - not merely to "punish" her, but trying to indirectly manipulate her into calling off the engagement herself so that he won't be "blamed" for its failure.
Despite it not being mentioned or really explored, George shows many instances of psychopathy throughout the series due to his selfish nature and constant disregard for other people, with his worst instance is his response to Susan Ross' death, with the attending physician noting that George not only didn't display grief, rather he had ecstatic glee. Also, despite all of the members of the main cast showing selfishness and borderline anti-social personality disorder, George is really the only one who is repeatedly called out on his behavior.
Villainous Actions[]
- Accessory to Murder/Negligence - While going out to buy wedding invitations with his fiancée Susan Ross, he picks the cheapest envelopes which the store clerk tells him that the envelopes were discontinued because the glue is adhesive, George shakes this off and when being told the the envelopes would need more stick in order to be sealed he rubs it off and says that they'll pick up some Elmer's glue. Later on, Susan licks the envelopes and dies. So while unintentional, he could indirectly be responsible for Susan's death.
- Public Urination - He is sent to a parking lot police station for peeing in a parking lot.
- Charity Fraud - He is shown giving out fake donations to "The Human Fund" for Christmas presents.
- Lying to Authorities - In "The Fire", he is shown lying to firefighters.
- Sexual Harassment - He willingly walked into Jerry's girlfriend's (at the time) room while she was changing after being told by Elaine that she was getting changed in there. He also got caught staring a teenage girl's cleavage.
- Removing an IV/Endangerment - He removed his girlfriend's (at the time) ex-boyfriend's IV while at the hospital which could've severally injure him further.
- Conspiracy and Aiding and Abetting - He is shown formulating schemes and helping other people with theirs, often to his own benefit.
- Theft - He is shown stealing things such as him stealing umbrellas from coffee shops and stole a girl's clock to score a second date with her.
- Attempted Shoplifting - He attempts to steal stuff at a store.
- Child abuse and Elder abuse - While there is a fire in his girlfriend's apartment, he knocks down children and his girlfriend's grandmother to get out of the door first.
- Identity Theft - He claims to be O'Brien to get a limo ride to a Yankees game.
- Parking in a Handicap Spot - He is shown parking in a handicap spot in the episode "The Handicap Spot", although it was Kramer's idea for George to do so.
- Occupation Fraud - He has lied about his occupation several times.
- Adultery - While engaged, he tries to score a date with Marisa Tomei after Elaine gave him Tomei's phone number.
- Voyeurism - He alongside Jerry and Kramer are seen staring at a woman changing in another apartment and seem to enjoy it.
- Property damage - He accidentally breaks a couple bottles of wine in a wine store. He also throws two kids' boom box into the ocean which most likely caused the boom box to no longer work.
- Drugging - He slips a mickey in his boss' drink for revenge after being fired.
- Animal Cruelty - While unintentional, his animosity with pigeons drove him to stomp through them to make them leave, but many just get crushed.
- Incrimination - He unintentionally gets Kurt arrested for harboring an escaped convict.
Enemies[]
- Officer Matt Vogel
- Mr. Lippman
- Lola
- Dr. Wexler
- Donald Sanger
- Howie
- Robin
- Marla Penny
- Babu Bhatt
- Mike Moffitt
- Timmy
- Donald O'Brien
- Eric the Clown
- George Steinbrenner
- Frank Costanza
Quotes[]
“ | You know, we're living in a SOCIETY! We're supposed to act in a civilized way! | „ |
~ One of George's most infamous breakdowns |
“ | You're giving me the "it's not you, it's me" routine? I invented "it's not you, it's me"! | „ |
~ George breaking up with Gwen |
Trivia[]
- This is Jason Alexander's most iconic role.
- He was based on the co-creator of Seinfeld, Larry David, who's also known for writing and starring in the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm.
- In a episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, he was shown as Frank Reynolds in a untrue story that the Gang have had experienced. Coincidentally, Danny DeVito was one of the people in mind to play George before Jason Alexander was cast.
- He is the only member of the main cast to not be deemed a hero, although arguably his best deed of saving a beached whale had been done from peer pressure of him continuing the lie of him being a marine biologist that Jerry had started.
- His favorite alias seems to be Art Vandelay. It worked against him rather than his favor when him and his friends faced the real Arthur Vandelay during their trial.
- Despite being one of the main "heroes" of the show, George has committed the most crimes of any character in the show (even those who play more villainous roles).
- Despite all four members of the main cast being bad people, George is often considered to be the worst, albeit some people believe that title would go to Elaine.
External Links[]
- George Costanza in the WikiSein
- George Costanza Soundboard
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