Michael Richards Reveals What the Real Kramer Is Up to Today

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On the beloved sitcom Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer was known for barging into scenes with a flourish and leaving in a swirl. It seems fitting then that actor Michael Richards — who won three Emmys

for the role — has titled his candid new memoir Entrances and Exits. Richards, 74, tells AARP that he didn’t shy away from writing about his 2006 racist outburst onstage at L.A.’s Laugh

Factory, and he shares how he feels about aging, taking on new roles and what he thinks Kramer would be up to these days.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Did you find writing about your life to be easy or difficult?

I had to find my voice. I know it was there, because I have 40 years of journals that really inspired me to get a book [out] at my age. I was 70, and I was reviewing my journals and I

thought, Gee, there’s so many stories here. It’s taken me four years. I got to a point where I could write the way I speak. ... The journals I was writing to myself, and here I have to reach

an audience. I wrote the book as if I was talking to my son [Antonio, 12, with wife Beth Skipp] who gave me that note. He was reading something I was writing, and he says, “Hey, Dad, just

say it like you’re talking to me.”

What did you think when you read what Jerry Seinfeld wrote for your book’s foreword?

Jerry wrote a beautiful foreword. It made me cry when I read it, because it’s so true how close we were, still are.

playing quirky Cosmo Kramer on the popular TV comedy "Seinfeld." Joseph Del Valle/Getty Images

We asked your Seinfeld costars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander what Elaine and George would be up to now. What would Kramer be doing in 2024?

It’s funny, because Kenny Kramer [the real person whom Richards’ character was based on] is running a bus tour in New York [Kramer’s Reality Tour] where he goes to a lot of the sites that

are represented in the show. And I think that’s exactly what Kramer would be doing — going to all the spots, because he’s a know-it-all. He could show you some very interesting places in New

York. Of course, the trouble that ensues along the way, well, that’s the journey you’re going to take with Kramer.