Michael Richards as Kramer

Cosmo Kramer, commonly refered to as his last name Kramer is a fictional character on the US television sitcom Seinfeld (1989-1998). He was played by Michael Richards. In the original pilot, The Seinfeld Chronicles, he was known as "Kessler" because the man the character was based on, Kenny Kramer (a neighbor of co-creator Larry David), had not given his consent to use his name yet. Larry David also knew that if they used the name Kramer in the show, the real Kramer would take advantage of this, which he did by making the Kenny Kramer Reality Tour. Kramer was the wacky neighbor and friend of Jerry Seinfeld. His other main friends are George Costanza and Elaine Benes.

The only known steady job Kramer had throughout the entire series was in episode #166 "The Strike" when he went back to work at H&H Bagels after being on strike for a number of years. He only worked there for one episode before he was fired. During the time he was working at the bagel shop, he went on strike again because of having to work on Festivus. That strike ended quickly once he had to use H&H Bagels' washroom, a problem which faced the first strike also. He also worked part-time as a department store Santa before being fired for spreading Communist propaganda to young children. He had a variety of ways to get money to live, including gambling, working in various theater projects, acting out illnesses at a medical school, getting a spot on the show Murphy Brown, and pitching ideas for inventions like his Coffee Table Book, a book about coffee tables and celebrities with their coffee tables that featured a cup-holder on the cover and legs on the bottom to make the book itself a little coffee table. Kramer also received money from J. Peterman for his various stories, and developed a reality bus tour as "The Real J. Peterman."

Kramer also participated in lawsuits against various people and companies. He won lawsuits (though received no monetary compensation) against a coffee company whose beverages were too hot (a reference to a famous real-life lawsuit brought against McDonalds), and a tobacco company whose products aged him prematurely. His lawyer was Jackie Chiles, a parody of Michael Jackson's and OJ Simpson's defense lawyer, the late Johnnie Cochran. Kramer also saved money by appropriating items from Jerry, most notably food. Jerry's apartment was Kramer's second home; he had his own key to the apartment and rarely bothered to knock. Kramer's own apartment was sub-letted from documentarian Paul Buchman from Mad About You. Kramer's apartment was the subject of numerous radical experiments in Interior Design, including "levels" (no furniture), a reconstruction of the set of a 1970s daytime talk show, and other bizarre schemes.

Kramer was perhaps the most social of the group, and seemed to have more friends and associates than any of them. One notable friend was Bob Sacamano, an oft-referred to, but never seen character. Newman, played by Wayne Knight, was a regular of Kramer's friends on the show. Although they seemed to get into many fights, Newman often participated in many of Kramer's invention and money making ideas, such as the time they decided to get homeless people to pull rickshaws around New York City. Kramer participated in schemes with George's father, Frank Costanza, like the invention of the Bro (a bra for men, also called the manssiere) and the return of Festivus. He was popular with Jerry's parents, and even briefly lived in the same retirement community in Florida as they did.

"A Loathsome Brute"

Once described by an artist as "a loathsome brute," he could be shallow, callous, and indifferent. He could also be 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. In the episode "The Handicap Spot" (episode #62) he convinces George to buy a wheelchair for an injured handicapped woman. He also got his friends into trouble by talking them into things such as parking illegally in a handicapped space (episode #62 "The Handicap Spot") or urinating in a parking garage (episode #23 "The Parking Garage").

He was also known for his extreme honesty, and lack of tact; like in episode #26, "The Nose Job", he told George's girlfriend that her nose was too big. Instead of being horrified, many of these people ended up thanking Kramer for his honesty. Kramer never got in trouble for his honesty, but often times his friends did.

Kramer's signature on the show was entering a room sliding in, much like the character Ed Norton on 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.

Like the other three characters, Kramer had a pseudonym he used in various schemes; H. E. Pennypacker and Dr. Martin van Nostrand were the most popular.

Known only as "Kramer" for many years, not even Jerry knew his real first name. It was George Costanza who found out his unusual name through an encounter with Kramer's mother, Babs.

Kramerica Industries

A fictitious company thought up by Cosmo Kramer as a way to develop his ideas. First mentioned in the episode Male Unbonding where Kramer dicusses the idea of the make-your-own-pizza pie restaurant (when he answers his phone he says "Kramerica Industries"). The company didn't really take shape until later when he and an intern developed a bladder system for oil tankers. In theory, this bladder system would prevent the release of oil after an accident. Unfortunately, Kramer was not successful in his attempts and abandoned the project. Kramer had only one employee, Darren, who was an intern from New York University.

Classic Kramer Moments

• Has admitted he would want to name his son Isosceles Kramer.

• Tried to install illegal cable in Jerry's apartment while Elaine was holding a baby shower.

• His ex-girlfriend accurately described him as a "hipster doofus".

• Has helped Elaine and Newman kidnap a noisy Yorkshire Terrier.

• Hit golf ball into the ocean, which clogged a whale's blowhole.

• Sold the stories of his adventures to J. Peterman for Peterman's autobiography. Then started the "J. Peterman Reality Tour" to show people who the real J. Peterman is in J. Peterman autobiography.

• Kramer's kissing of a lab scientist led to a miscalculation of Rudy Giuliani's cholesterol.

• Met with Calvin Klein to discuss a men's cologne called "The Beach", which mimicked the scent of the seashore. Klein later marketed an identical scent called "Ocean", and stiffed Kramer on the royalty payments.

• Caused an international incident by trying to procure cigars from the Cuban Embassy.

• While lighting a Cuban cigar via Jerry's stove, he lit his hair on fire.

• Prepared a delicious meal in the garbage disposal he installed in his shower drain. He then revealed to his dinner guests that he was nude and showering at the time, much to their disgust.

• Tried to save a "Pig Man" from genetic testing at an area hospital, but found out that he was just a "fat little mental patient". He also helped the Pig Man steal George's car. In the same episode (The Bris) he also tried to stop a bris from happening. Because of his concern for their son, the baby's parents made him godfather over Jerry and Elaine.

• A nun in the Latvian Orthodox church questioned her faith after falling in love with Kramer. The priest Kramer talked to claimed he had the "kvorka" or "the lure of the animal" and provided some remedies to ward off women (including ten cloves of garlic). It worked and the nun realized she had made a big mistake. (The Conversion.)

• One of his invention ideas was the roll out tie dispenser. If you spilled some food onto your tie, you could tear the soiled tie off and roll out a clean tie.

• Kramer manages only with great difficulty to dump a large amount of concrete into a washing machine. "The Revenge."

• In order to have fresh eggs to eat, Kramer purchased a chicken he thought was a hen but turned out to be a rooster. He named it "Little Jerry Seinfeld" and agreed to let Little Jerry participate in cockfighting so that a bounced clown check of Jerry's could be removed from a neighborhood store.

• Bitten in the arm by Jon Voight.

• Was involved in a license-plate snafu with the state of New York, when he was issued vanity plates that read "Assman." He later finds out that the plates belong to a proctologist.

• He and Newman got a rickshaw & had homeless people pull it, until one of them stole it.

• Kramer "installed" an air-conditioner in Jerry's window, which soon fell off. Kramer grabbed the cord, but it broke off & crushed a rabid rottweiler that had bitten Elaine a few days earlier.

• Personally harshly admonished by the Postmaster General for his scheme to "boycott mail."

• Turned his apartment into a micro-hotel for Japanese tourists, bedding them down in cabinet drawers.

• Planned a New Year's party to celebrate the coming of the new millennium, only to find that Newman had scheduled his own party at the same time. Both parties were scheduled for the 31st of December 1999, missing the turn of the millennium by a full year.

• Turned his apartment into a talk-show set, using discarded remnants of The Merv Griffin Show, and held mock interviews similar to those of the disturbed Rupert Pupkin in the 1983 film The King of Comedy.