Larry David Wouldn't Discuss His Jewishness — His Biographer Did Anyway

Larry David cooperated with his first biography for six years, appeared alongside his biographer in the finale of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" — and still declined to talk about what being Jewish means to his comedy. That gap is the central tension of "Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David" by Blake J. Harris, published last month by HarperCollins imprint Dey Street Books.

Harris told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that David simply never framed his work that way. "He's too smart of a guy to not, you know, be aware of the association," Harris said. "But I don't 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."

How do you land a subject who "doesn't believe he's book-worthy"?

The project began in 2020, while Harris was writing an oral history of "The League." Through that show's co-creator, Jeff Schaffer — a writer and director who worked on both "Seinfeld" and "Curb" — Harris floated the biography idea. Schaffer liked it but warned that David guards his privacy and "doesn't believe he's book-worthy."

Enter Alan Zweibel, the early "Saturday Night Live" writer, whom Harris calls "a real mensch." Harris ran what he calls "a George Costanza-style scheme": Zweibel would assure David that the first conversation would involve no questions about his shows — only the New York Yankees, a shared obsession. The book reproduces the email exchange in which David ultimately agreed to cooperate.

What followed were countless phone and Zoom calls during the pandemic, then trips to Los Angeles. Harris spent extensive time on the set of "Curb's" final season and appeared as an extra in the finale.

What does the book say about David's Jewish roots?

Plenty, even without David's own commentary. He was born at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in July 1947. As a Hebrew school student he was frequently sent to the rabbi's office. His father, Morty, worked for a clothing business connected to Murder, Inc., the infamous Jewish organized crime group.

Harris — who describes himself as a "proud Jew" — traces David's comedic influences: Mel Brooks and Woody Allen above all, plus Nat Hiken, the midcentury Jewish TV writer who created "The Phil Silvers Show," starring the Jewish comedian as the conniving Sgt. Bilko. David's circuit also ran through Jerry Seinfeld, Carol Leifer (later a writer and story editor on "Seinfeld"), and Richard Lewis, born in the same hospital the same week as David and first met at summer camp at age 12. The two co-starred on "Curb" until Lewis's death in 2024, shortly before the series ended.

The stand-up years supplied raw material. In one routine, David processed the discovery that Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz was Jewish: "You know, sure, there are Jew crooks and Jew gangsters… but a serial killer? Never! Impossible! Then, we found out he was adopted." On the short-lived ABC sketch show "Fridays" in the early 1980s, he played an Orthodox rabbi and kung fu master on a public-access parody called "Matzoi!" — opposite Michael Richards, the future Kramer.

"Too New York" — and a 76-million-viewer finale

Getting the "show about nothing" on air was not guaranteed. NBC executives worried "Seinfeld" was "too New York," often a euphemism for "too Jewish." Rick Ludwin, the NBC executive who championed the show, said at the time, according to the book: "I'm not from New York, and I'm not Jewish. But I thought it was funny, I thought it could work." The gamble paid off: the May 14, 1998 finale drew 76 million Americans.

Harris told JTA he was intrigued by David's mid-career shift into playing himself — starting in 2000, when HBO first aired "Curb," with David starring as a rich Hollywood kvetch. That show repeatedly mined rabbis, synagogues, Jewish country clubs, Holocaust survivors and seder guest lists. The 2011 "Palestinian Chicken" episode, in which Larry dates what the book calls "a sexy Jew-hating Palestinian woman," even proposed a Mideast fix: if Israelis tasted the restaurant's chicken, "They'd take down all those settlements in the morning."

That humor reads differently 15 years later. Harris recently had dinner with David, who doesn't use social media and was surprised to learn some people consider the episode racist. "How is that racist? I [expletive] a Palestinian woman," David told him. David hasn't abandoned the topic: in a recent Air Mail piece, he satirized the Democratic Socialists of America as a pretend member, proposing Israel "relocate to Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific."

How close is TV Larry to the real one?

"I think there's a lot of overlap between TV Larry and real-life Larry," Harris said. "That said, there are many differences, and even if I were to say it was, you know, an 85 to 90% similarity, those 10 to 15% are important… First and foremost, real-life Larry actually has a heart." Unlike the childless character, David has two daughters — columnist Cazzie and oral historian Romy — whom Harris calls "the most important thing in the world to him." When Harris mentioned three former "Seinfeld" writers, David said, "I love those guys." As Harris puts it: "The character on the show never really talks about loving anyone."

Harris also counts himself lucky to have interviewed Jewish comedy figures who have since died: Lewis, Richard Belzer, and George Shapiro, Jerry Seinfeld's manager and a "Seinfeld" producer. Fans will spot real-life stories later adapted for the shows — including David's stint as a bra salesman — and the phrase "beloved aunt" within the book's first few pages.