Richards began as one of the castmembers for ABC's Friday's television show, but he really didn't start making a name for himself until he portrayed "Stanley Spadowski" in Weird Al Yankovic's UHF movie in 1989.
Also that year, he became "Cosmo Kramer" in the television series Seinfeld, which was created by fellow Friday's cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The show would soon become one of the most popular sitcoms in American history.
In 2000, Richards made an attempt to start a show of his own, with The Michael Richards Show, but ratings were poor and the show did not survive.
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