Actors - Cosmo Kramer

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	Actors - Cosmo Kramer

Cosmo Kramer (usually referred to as just Kramer) is a fictional character of Polish descent on the US television sitcom Seinfeld
(1989–1998), played by Michael Richards. Kramer is the wacky neighbor of main character Jerry Seinfeld. Of the series' four central characters only Kramer has no visible means of support; what few jobs he holds seem to be nothing more than a lark. His trademarks include his humourous upright bouffant hairstyle and vintage wardrobe, the combination of which led to his categorization as a 'hipster doofus'; his various bursts through Jerry's apartment door and other comedic attributes. Cosmo was known only as "Kramer" for many years. It was George who found out his unusual name through an encounter with Kramer's mother, Babs (played by Sheree North), on the season six episode, The Switch.

The real-life Kramer

Kramer is based on the real-life Kenny Kramer, a neighbor of co-creator Larry David. At the time of the shooting of the original Seinfeld pilot called The Seinfeld Chronicles, Kenny Kramer had not yet given consent to use his name, and so Kramer's character is known as "Kessler".

David was hesitant to use Kenny Kramer's real name because he suspected that Kramer would take advantage of this. David's suspicion turned out to be correct – Kramer created the "Kramer Reality Tour," a New York City bus tour that points out actual locations of events or places featured in Seinfeld. The "Kramer Reality Tour" is itself spoofed on Seinfeld – when Cosmo receives money from catalog sales company owner J. Peterman for the use of his various stories in Peterman's biography; he develops a reality bus tour and touts himself as "The Real J. Peterman." Kenny Kramer also made both monetary and non-monetary demands on Castle-Rock Entertainment – all of which were met.

The "backwards episode", The Betrayal, explains that Kramer's original name, "Kessler", is just a misspelling on his mailbox.

"A Loathsome Brute"

Kramer has many conflicting personality traits. Described by an art patron as "a loathsome, offensive brute," he is often shallow, callous, and indifferent. On the other hand, he is often caring and friendly, going out of his way to get his friends to help others and to do the right thing even when they don't want to. Kramer is known for his extreme honesty and, conversely, his lack of tact; in The Nose Job, he tells George's girlfriend that she "needs a nose job". Instead of being horrified, many of these people end up thanking Kramer for his candor. Kramer never gets into trouble for it, but often his friends do. He also gets his friends into trouble by talking them into things such as parking illegally in a handicapped space (The Handicap Spot) or urinating in a parking garage (The Parking Garage).

Kramer is perhaps the most social of the four main characters, and seems to have more friends and associates than any of the others, some of whom are just as eccentric, if not more so, than he is. This includes Bob Sacamano, an oft-referred to, but never-seen character, as well as Newman, played by Wayne Knight. Although they seem to get into many fights, Newman often participates in many of Kramer's inventions and money-making ideas. Kramer is popular with Jerry's parents: he calls them once a week, and even briefly lives in the same retirement community in Florida as they do. He participates in schemes with George's father, Frank Costanza, such as the invention of a male brassiere (the "man-ssiere" or the "bro").

Kramer was known to embrace opposite and reverse philosophies and rejected acceptable social behaviors or established facts. For example, he once insisted that you have to eat before undergoing surgery because "you need your strength," even though people should never eat before being operated for safety reasons. He is also vehemently opposed to circumcision.

In The Opera Kramer admits that he suffers from coulrophobia (fear of clowns).

Kramer's signature on the show is entering a room sliding in, much like Art Carney's character in The Honeymooners. This reportedly first became a recurring gag when Richards was late for a cue; trying to save the scene, he burst into the room, much to the delight of the audience.

George Costanza once commented, upon hearing that Kramer had gone to a baseball fantasy camp, that Kramer's whole life was a fantasy camp. "People should plunk down two thousand dollars to live like him for a week. Do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors, and have sex without dating; that's a fantasy camp."

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Actors - Cosmo Kramer

The real-life Kramer

"A Loathsome Brute"

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