Overview (4)

Born September 23, 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, USA Birth Name Jason Scott Greenspan Nicknames Jay

Pretzel Boy Height 5' 4¼" (1.64 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Jason Alexander was born on September 23, 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, USA as Jason Scott Greenspan. He is an actor, known for Seinfeld (1989), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Pretty Woman (1990). He has been married to Daena E. Title since May 31, 1982. They have two children.



Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (1)

Often portrays neurotic and socially awkward characters



Trivia (27)



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

The son of Ruth and Alex Greenspan and half-brother of Karen Van Horn and Michael Greenspan, Jason reportedly took the professional surname of "Alexander" in part because of his father's first name. However, he has also said it helped him in auditions as call-backs were done in alphabetical order and he would know before other actors if he was still in the running for a particular part or role.



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





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 (1989), 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".



2005: Celebrity Judge for UCLA Spring Sing.



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.



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 (1989) to also direct an episode of the series.



A 1977 graduate of Livingston High School (in Livingston, New Jersey), one of his classmates was Julia Montgomery , with whom he appeared in numerous high school productions. Alexander's high school performing credits include such musicals as "Guys and Dolls", "The Odd Couple", and "Oliver". Alexander also played flute and percussion in the Livingston Lancer's Marching Band.



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 Seinfeld: How It Began (2004), a documentary for the Seinfeld (1989) 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!".



Appeared in a PSA for the ASPCA. Also appeared, with Valerie Bertinelli , on a commercial for "Jenny Craig". (In early 2010, he was named a celebrity spokesperson for Jenny Craig ). [2010]

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





Appeared, with Valerie Bertinelli , on a commercial for "Jenny Craig". [2010]

In 2004, Alexander joined "One Voice", an organization which tried to propose peace talks between Israel and Palestine. He first heard about the group from its main organizers during a meeting at the home of Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman in 2003. Organizers established an "Entertainment Council" to help mobilize actors, writers, producers, directors and others to back the project.



He visited Tel Aviv, Israel. Organizers planned to bring other celebrities to Israel to help promote the project and have established an "Entertainment Council" to help mobilize actors, writers, producers, directors and others to back it.



Runs his own company in Los Angeles called Angel Ark Productions. [February 2010]



He was nominated for the 2016 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performance Arts category. He was inducted in the 2018 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performing Arts category.





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 (1989), from 1990 to 1998. Alexander also directs and produces films.

Personal Quotes (14)

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



The greatest part of the job was... that was for nine years it was a pleasure to go to work.



I'm always more motivated by the pain of a funny character than by what makes him funny.



I would work with any one of them again in a heartbeat because it was joyous and incredibly easy.



I still don't know much about directing a movie.



But I didn't know much about directing a movie.



You know, because of the lack of budget, we had to find neighborhoods where time had stopped - kind of stuck in the '50s. And no place had that better than Staten Island.



The thing about For Better or Worse is the only thing that made me an okay director for that is that I have a sense of humor, and it was supposed to be funny.



But one set of grandparents lived on Davidson Avenue in the Bronx and one lived in Manhattan and I had an aunt and uncle in Queens, so in my heart I was a New Yorker.



Well, let's put in this way, I grew up in West New York, New Jersey.



We made a deal that was acceptable to us. We got paid very handsomely for our final season.



The show is like an Edwardian play - emotional life gets stepped on for the sake of accepted manners, and that's terrific for actors to play in.



[To Larry David, after writing him out of the episode 'The Pen'] If you ever write me out again, do it permanently.



[from Twitter] Ma, if u read this, I'm not the Jason Alexander accused of kiddie porn. Nor did I wed Britney Spears. There's a few JA's. I'm bald& ur son.



Salary (1)