| Real Name: | Michael Anthony Richards |
| Birthday: | July 24, 1949 |
| Net Worth: | $30 million |
| Height: | 191 cm |
| Occupation: | American Actor, Writer, Television Producer, Comedian |
Born in July 1949, Michael Richards is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian. Michael started as a stand-up comedian, and his talent for comedy brought him bigger deals. Fans started recognizing him after a feature on the Billy Crystal cable TV special. From there, he started working as a series regular on ABC’s Fridays.
Michael had several guest appearances during his career, including Cheers. As for his movie credits, they include SO I Married an Axe Murderer, Young Doctors in Love, UHF, Trial and Error, Problem Child, and a few more.
But we remember him mostly for his part on Seinfeld. From 1989 to 1998, he portrayed Cosmo Kramer on one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. For his appearance in Seinfeld, he won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Following the end of Seinfeld, he started his own sitcom, The Michael Richards Show. But it got canceled after only two months.
Richards returned to stand-up comedy after Seinfeld. And he still does it. Let’s take a look at his career path, as well as his net worth. Do you want to know the net worth of Michael Richards? Let’s find out.
Quick Bio
Born in Culver City, California to a Catholic Family, Richards graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. His parents have Italian and Scottish and English descent. He had a rough start to his childhood. Michael’s father died in a car crash when he was just two years old. His mother never remarried.
In 1968, at the age of 19, he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game. Yet, he did not get chosen for the date. In 1970, he got drafted into the United States Army. Richards trained as a medic and went to West Germany.
Following his honorable discharge, Michael used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enroll in the California Institute of the Arts. He got his BA degree in drama from The Evergreen State College in 1975.
Four years following his BA degree, Richards appeared on Billy Crystal’s first cable TV special. That got him nationwide recognition. Just one year later, he started working as part of the cast of ABC’s Fridays. Larry David worked as a writer on that show.
Fun fact: Before appearing on Seinfeld, he had a chance to play the titular character on another popular sitcom. ABC wanted to make Monk with an Inspector Clouseau-type character suffering from OCD. They wanted Richards to portray Adrian Monk, but he turned down the opportunity.
In 1989, he got his big start on the television screen, as part of Seinfeld. The show created an instant buzz. Portraying Cosmo Kramer remains his most successful role to this date.
After just a few seasons, the show grew to one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. Seinfeld ended its nine-year run in 1998 at No.1 in the Nielsen ratings.
For his portrayal of Cosmo, he won three Primetime Emmy Awards. One year after the end of Seinfeld, he starred in his own show, The Michael Richards Show. He worked as a co-writer and co-executive producer on the show. After the first pilot failed with the test audience, NBC ordered a more conventional sitcom. Few months and poor ratings later the show got canceled.
Following the failed project, Michael returned to what he does best, stand-up comedy. In 2006, he got into the center of attention, this time for his racist rant. He definitely wants to forget the 2006 Laugh Factory incident when he got recorded shouting the N-word a couple of times. He made a public apology three days after the incident.
Besides stand-up work, Michael appeared in a couple of movies and television shows in the late 2000s and 2010s. But he only got small and cameo roles.
As for his personal life, he got married to Cathleen Lyons in 1975. After 18 years of marriage and a daughter, they split up in 1992. In 2010, he got married again, this time to Beth Skipp. They started dating in 2002 and have one son together.
Michael Richards openly talks about his religious views as well. He views himself as a Freemason.
Net Worth
Michael Richards earned a lot of money during his career. His fortune as of January 2021 is $30 million. Most of the money comes from his Seinfeld days.
During the early seasons of Seinfeld, he didn’t have a high salary. Before season five, Richards, along with Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus asked for a raise or royalties. Because the studio refused royalties, they asked for an extremely high salary. Richards and his colleagues asked for $1 million per episode, eventually settling in for $600,000 per episode.
But the difference in salary and royalties between Jerry Seinfeld and the rest of the cast created a rift. That is one of the reasons they split after nine seasons.
Michael spent his earnings to buy a lavish home for himself. In 1996, when he got the big raise, he bought a 6,000 square-foot home in LA’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood for $1.75 million.
