Actor and comedian Michael Richards is promoting his new memoir, Entrances and Exits, which will be released on June 4.
And among the candid memories of his childhood is the admission that he was lied to about who his father was during his formative years.
first Seinfeld The star’s mother initially told him that his father died during World War II, and then, after he pressed her because the numbers didn’t add up, she changed the story and said that his father died in a car accident.
When he intensified his efforts and located a man he thought might be her father, she finally came clean and confessed that it had been the result of a sexual assault on her.
Elsewhere in his upcoming memoir, the actor also revealed a secret battle with prostate cancer and reflected on his 2006 racist tirade.
Michael Richards, 74, revealed in his new memoir Entrances and Exits that his conception into this world was the result of a sexual assault against his mother.
After learning the full story from his mother, Phyllis Nardozzi, she told him that she wanted to have an abortion, but that they were illegal when she was pregnant in 1949, so she decided to give him up for adoption, but ended up changing her mind and raising him as a single parent. .
Hearing this for the first time, Richards said he was devastated and it left him feeling unwanted.
It also explained why throughout his life he had feelings of being unlovable and filled with anger within him.
“I had to come to terms with knowing that I wasn’t wanted or that my mother wanted to get rid of me,” the Culver City, California, native said.
“It’s definitely something I’ve had to look into over the years to figure out how my anger stems from a feeling of inferiority,” Richards explained. “I have a bad temper and it comes from that undesirability, from not being acceptable, from not being understood, from not being good enough to be liked or even loved.”
It turns out that his last name, Richards, had been made up as part of the initial story his mother made up to hide traumatic details about his father.
Harboring thoughts of insecurity, the former Fridays star turned down a number of opportunities in the entertainment industry over the years because he didn’t feel worthy.
‘I said no to the offer of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it,” she admitted, before adding, “I said no to hosting Saturday Night Live twice because I didn’t feel good enough.”
The actor and comedian confessed that his mother initially told him that his father died during World War II, but when he pressed her because the numbers didn’t add up, she said that his father died in a car accident.
After learning how he was conceived and being told by his mother that she wanted an abortion but that it was illegal, Richards said it explained why he had lifelong feelings of not being lovable or worthy, which even carried over to when he played Kramer on Seinfeld
Those thoughts and feelings of not being good enough even wreaked havoc on his soul during the years he starred on Seinfeld.
“Every week during Seinfeld I felt like I was never really satisfied with my performance and that I could always do better.”
“And as the stakes increased, the pressure to always be good became more difficult,” he said.
“And accepting myself even when my audience loved me and awards, praise and all the offers came, sometimes it seemed almost impossible, too overwhelming.”
Richards continued: “I was like, ‘I don’t like me as much as they do.’ “They wouldn’t like me if they knew the real me, the person behind the character they’re laughing at.”
The man behind Cosmo Kramer’s iconic role on Seinfeld also revealed his health scare in 2018 when he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer.
“I thought, ‘Well, this is my moment. “I’m ready to go.” People quoted Richards. “But a few seconds later my son came to mind and I heard myself say, ‘I have a 9-year-old boy and I would like to be close to him.’
Richards’ new memoir, Entrances and Exits, will be published on June 4, but is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.
After undergoing a biopsy, Richards said his doctor recommended immediate surgery to remove the entire prostate.
“It had to be contained quickly,” said the California native. ‘I had to have full surgery. If he hadn’t, he probably would have died in about eight months.
Richards, who now lives a quiet life, enjoys being husband to actress Beth Skipp, 46, and father to their son Antonio.
While Richards’ new memoir, Entry and Exit, hits shelves June 4, it is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold.
