George Costanza

Lore & Background

George is a son of Frank and Estelle Costanza, and is an only child. Lloyd Braun is a childhood nemesis who George feels was the son his parents always wanted. George's best friend Jerry Seinfeld described Frank and Estelle as "psychopaths", and said in "The Chinese Restaurant" that, if they had divorced when George was young, he "could have been normal". George's father is Italian American. Although never stated explicitly, it is implied that he is Jewish on his mother's side. His mother refuses to ride in a German car, and it is noted that the Costanza household smells like kasha. George also demonstrates casual familiarity with Jewish culture, such as when he explains "shiksappeal" to Elaine and when he exclaims "sweet, fancy Moses!" upon seeing Elaine's dancing. One flashback shows that George had curly hair when he was in high school, resembling a Jewfro. In "The Junior Mint", George states he grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he went to a public school. In a previous episode he mentions he went to high school on Long Island. He met Jerry during their youth, and they remained friends from that point on. During their high school years, George and Jerry frequently hung out at a pizzeria called Mario's Pizzas, where the former, having the highest score "GLC", would play Frogger (although Frogger debuted in 1981, well after the pair's high school graduation). George was picked on by his gym teacher Mr. Heyman, who deliberately mispronounced his name as "can't stand ya" and gave him wedgies. He and Jerry then attended Queens College. Two of George's cousins appear on the show: Shelly, who briefly appears to visit Estelle in the hospital in "The Contest", and Rhisa, whom George plans to date in order to shock his parents in "The Junk Mail". George talks to his parents about his family in "The Money", during which it is revealed that he had an "Uncle Moe", who "died a young man" and an "Aunt Baby", who died at the age of seven of internal problems. It is also revealed that his mother has a "Cousin Henny". In "The Doll", it is revealed that Frank Costanza was born in Italy and has a cousin, Carlo, who still lives there.

Reader's Guide

George becomes engaged to Susan Ross, an executive at NBC who approved his and Jerry's show-within-a-show sitcom pilot. George and Susan date, during which time commitment-phobic George is constantly trying to find ways to end their relationship without actually having to initiate the breakup with her. In "The Engagement", he proposes to her, despite him not having dated her for years. George tries repeatedly to weasel out of his engagement. In "The Invitations", she dies from licking the toxic glue in their wedding invitations. When notified of her death at the hospital, George displays a combination of shock, apathy, and relief. A few moments after being notified of Susan's death, he says to Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine, "Well, let's go get some coffee." Susan's parents appoint him to the board of directors of the Susan Ross Foundation. George is very bad at meeting women and even worse at maintaining his romantic relationships and, as a result, his relationships usually end badly. George's professional life is unstable, and he is unable to remain in any job for any great length of time before making an embarrassing blunder and getting fired, and thus he is unemployed for a large amount of time throughout the series.

Did You Know?

• The character was based on Seinfeld co-creator Larry David but is surnamed after Jerry Seinfeld's real-life New York friend, Michael Costanza.
• George refers to himself in the third person (a habit known as illeism) when under extreme stress, e.g. "George is getting upset!"