Michael Richards

Richards was born in Culver City, California, to a Catholic family. He is the son of Phyllis (née Nardozzi), a medical records librarian. As a child Richards was told his father was William Richards, an electrical engineer, who died in a car crash when Michael was two. He later learned his mother's pregnancy was the result of a sexual assault, and she had considered abortion and adoption before deciding to raise him as a single mom. Richards was also raised by a grandmother who suffered from schizophrenia. Richards graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. In 1968, he appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game, but was not chosen for the date. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1970. He trained as a medic and was stationed in West Germany where he was a member of a theatrical group called The Training Road Show. He became interested in performing after taking a theatrical class in seventh grade. After being honorably discharged, Richards used the benefits of the G.I. Bill to enroll in the California Institute of the Arts and earned a Bachelor of Arts in drama from the Evergreen State College in 1975. He also had a short-lived improv act with Ed Begley Jr. During this period, he enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College and continued to appear in student productions.