David, recalls Kramer,
was a smash success. "The
next day, he rings my bell.
`Hey, Kramer, you want to
get some lunch?' And we'd
have lunch for the next 10
years."
Finding a niche in show
business is not always easy.
Who knew that audiences
would gobble up the
"Seinfeld" brand of...
nothing?
"What happened was
much the same thing that
they showed on the series
with Jerry and George pit-
ching NBC on a show about
nothing," says Kramer.
Initially, in real life, NBC
said nothing doing. "The
pilot didn't test well,"
recalls Kramer, who would
dart in and out of David's
apartment — much like TV's
Kramer — while Seinfeld
and David worked on the
script.
The comedy eventually
sold, and is now one of the
medium's landmark series.
So how come Kramer isn't
playing Kramer?
"Larry said he was going
to base the character on me.
I said, 'I'm flattered. I'm
flattered.' "
Flattery can't be cashed in
at the bank, however. "I lob-
bied to play Kramer," says
Kramer.
The Manhattan resident
was told he wasn't right for
the part, just like Richards'
character was told on an art-
imitates-life episode last
season. "I said, 'It's based on
me. He has my philosophy,
my ideas on life — and I'm
not right for the part?' "
But maybe David was
right, concedes Kramer. "If
you look at Michael
Richards, you can't doubt
that Larry made the right
decision," says Kramer, a
fan of the actor.
Lean and lanky, Kramer
leans into an interview with
a towering grace and gentili-
ty. His TV alter ego is a prat-
fall waiting to happen, an
inspiration of acrobatics and
aggravation.
"Richards plays me with
understated elegance," says
Kramer tongue-in-cheek of
the actor who has just
received an Emmy Award
nomination.
"He richly deserves it,"
says the real Kramer with a
chuckle of appreciation for
the actor he calls "prob- ably
the greatest physical come-
dian around today."
Not that Kenny Kramer
has given up on being .. .
Kramer. "I have licensed the
rights to the basic
character," says Kenny, who
received money from
KRAMER page R56

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