Frank Costanza

Infobox character | name = Frank Costanza


first = "The Handicap Spot"
last = "The Finale, Part II"
cause =
alias =
species =
gender = Male
age = 60s
occupation = Retired
title =
family = Sister (called Aunt Baby)
spouse = Estelle Costanza
children = George Costanza and an unnamed son
relatives =
portrayer = John Randolph (original version of "The Handicap Spot"
Jerry Stiller (all other appearances)
creator = Jerry Seinfeld

Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) is a fictional character on the American television sitcom "Seinfeld" (1989-1998). He was born in Tuscany, Italy, and moved at the age of four with his entire family (except his cousin Carlo) to the United States. He is the father of George Costanza and is married to Estelle Costanza. He is characteristically loud, irascible, neurotic, abrasive and eccentric. He speaks in a highly idiosyncratic, halting manner.

In Frank's first appearance in the episode "The Handicap Spot" of season 4, the character was played by John Randolph. At the urging of series creator Larry David, once Stiller had been cast for Frank Costanza, the scenes with Randolph were reshot with Stiller for syndication.

Though currently retired, we learn in "The Understudy" that Frank once worked as a salesman selling religious artifacts and that he is fluent in Korean. He also claims to have spoken to Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon. Frank is an exceptionally good chef (he spent time as an Army cook during the Korean War), as long as he can overcome his fears of accidentally poisoning people with his cooking (which showed the rebuttal in "The Fatigues", in which he destroyed his food after seeing Elaine Benes's co-worker at the J. Peterman Catalog, Eddie Sherman, choking).

His hobbies include listening to Latin American music on vinyl records and collecting issues of "TV Guide". He invented an alternative holiday known as Festivus and was co-creator of the "Bro" (also known as the "Manssiere" according to him) with Cosmo Kramer in "The Doorman." Perhaps before the character had been entirely established, Frank was in his first episode, "The Handicap Spot", a leading member of the United Volunteers.

Frank's several flaws include a paralyzing fear of mice, rats and other forms of household infestation. Even the mention of mice in his household horrifies Frank, as seen in "The Raincoats, Part 2" He also has a 'phobia' which disables him from spending his silver dollars, which he has collected since 18 years of age.Frank seems to have a predilection for squirrels. In The Conversion where George is considering converting to the Latvian Orthodox Church, Frank asks if this is the group that goes around mutilating squirrels and asks specifically that George stays away from squirrels. He reacts violently if someone asks him to take off his shoes (because he believes that his feet have bad odor). He also has large breasts, and in the episode The Doorman he and Kramer design a male bra to support them. He decides to call his invention the "manssiere" (Kramer had originally proposed the name "bro").

Estelle, while never referred to that way on the show, was said by both Larry David and Jason Alexander to be Jewish. They also said in numerous interviews that George was "half-Jewish," implying that Frank was not. In the episode "The Fatigues", it is implied that Frank is a member of the Knights of Columbus, an all-Catholic fraternal organization. However, a member must be "actively" Catholic, and Frank does not seem to fit that requirement.

In the episode "The Caddy", when New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner came over to tell Frank and his wife about their son's (apparent) death, Frank, out of nowhere, screamed,"What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for? He had 30 home runs and over 100 RBIs last year! He has a rocket for an arm! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING!"

Appearances

eason Four

*The Handicap Spot

eason Five

*The Puffy Shirt
*The Sniffing Accountant
*The Non-Fat Yogurt
*The Cigar Store Indian
*The Conversion
*The Raincoats
*The Fire
*The Opposite

eason Six

*The Chinese Woman
*The Doorman
*The Fusilli Jerry
*The Understudy

eason Seven

*The Engagement
*The Rye
*The Caddy
*The Shower Head
*The Doll

eason Eight

*The Little Kicks
*The Fatigues
*The Andrea Doria
*The Money

eason Nine

*The Serenity Now
*The Junk Mail
*The Strike
*The Finale