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<\/a><\/p>\nIn the 11th season of \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David feels obligated to clean a Klansman\u2019s robe. (John P. Johnson\/HBO)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Little wonder, then, that after he became a journalist and documentarian, he long dreamed of writing a biography of Larry David, the co-creator of \u201cSeinfeld\u201d and creator and star of \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm.\u201d After a six-year journey that included many FaceTime calls with David and even an appearance in the series finale of \u201cCurb,\u201d Harris wrote \u201cEmperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David,\u201d which came out last month.<\/p>\n
The resulting book traces David\u2019s roots from his Brooklyn Jewish upbringing and early encounters with Jewish comedy to the rabbis, mohels and cultural anxieties that became recurring material in \u201cSeinfeld\u201d and \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm.\u201d But David himself rarely talked about what being Jewish meant to him as a writer \u2014 or whether he saw himself as carrying on a distinctly Jewish comic tradition. That gap makes for one of the more intriguing threads in Harris\u2019s book.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s too smart of a guy to not, you know, be aware of the association,\u201d Harris said of David. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think that he ever felt any sense of mission with regard to being Jewish and being a writer and wanting to do or not do certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book project began in 2020. Harris met Jeff Schaffer, the Jewish writer and director who worked on both shows, while writing an oral history of \u201cThe League,\u201d the TV series Schaffer co-created. <\/p>\n
Schaffer liked Harris\u2019s idea for a David bio, though he acknowledged getting Larry on board would take some work, mostly because David values his privacy and \u201cdoesn\u2019t believe he\u2019s book-worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jewish comedy writer Alan Zweibel, an early \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d writer, played a key role in facilitating the first conversations between Harris and David. Harris called Zweibel \u201ca real mensch.\u201d In what he called \u201ca George Costanza-style scheme,\u201d Harris told Zweibel to assure David that he wouldn\u2019t ask him any questions about his shows when they first spoke, but would stick to a subject they both loved: the New York Yankees. <\/p>\n
The book reproduces the emails between Harris and David in which David ultimately agreed to cooperate with the project.<\/p>\n
What followed were countless phone and Zoom calls as the pandemic descended. Ultimately, Harris visited Los Angeles, met with David in person, spent a lot of time on the set of the final season of \u201cCurb\u201d, and even appeared as an extra in the show\u2019s finale. <\/p>\n
Harris, who describes himself as a \u201cproud Jew,\u201d said David didn\u2019t talk much about Judaism in their interviews. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously he was heavily influenced by Mel Brooks and Woody Allen more so than any other comedic voice,\u201d he said. Another influence was Nat Hiken, the midcentury Jewish TV writer who created what became \u201cThe Phil Silvers Show,\u201d starring the Jewish comedian as the conniving Sgt. Bilko. Still, David, constitutionally averse to talking about his legacy in general, declined to talk about the American Jewish comedy tradition.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the book includes quite a lot of Judaism. David was born at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in July 1947. Harris includes stories about Larry as a Hebrew school student who was frequently sent to the rabbi\u2019s office. David\u2019s father, Morty, worked for a clothing business that was connected to the infamous Jewish organized crime group Murder, Inc. <\/p>\n
Once David\u2019s showbiz career gets underway, first in the world of 1970s stand-up comedy in New York City and later in television, he crosses paths with famous Jewish performers, including Jerry Seinfeld and Carol Leifer, who eventually worked as a writer and story editor on \u201cSeinfeld.\u201d He also solidifies his friendship with Richard Lewis, who was born in the same hospital the same week as David, and whom he met at summer camp when they were 12. The two starred together on \u201cCurb\u201d until Lewis\u2019 death in 2024, shortly before the series concluded. <\/p>\n
In his stand-up comedy era, David occasionally mined his Jewish background and neuroses for bits. In one routine, he expresses shock about finding out David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer of the 1970s, was Jewish. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, sure, there are Jew crooks and Jew gangsters\u2026 but a serial killer? Never! Impossible! Then, we found out he was adopted,\u201d David would say.<\/p>\n