George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander.

He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic relationships through his own fear of being dumped.

He is also relatively lazy; during periods of unemployment he actively avoids getting a job, and while employed he often finds ingenious ways to conceal idleness from his bosses.

George was picked on by his gym teacher Mr. Heyman, who deliberately mispronounced his name as "can't stand ya" and gave him wedgies.

[18] George is neurotic, self-loathing, mostly selfish, and dominated by his parents, yet also prone to occasional periods of overconfidence that invariably arise at the worst possible time.

Throughout Seinfeld's early seasons, despite doing poorly on his SATs and being afraid of embarrassing himself on an IQ test (as depicted in "The Cafe"), George is depicted as moderately intelligent – he mentions interests in the Civil War[19] and musical theatre,[20] and in some early episodes appears almost like a mentor to Jerry – but becomes less sophisticated, to the point of being too lazy even to read a 90-page book (Breakfast at Tiffany's), preferring to watch the movie adaptation at a stranger's house instead.

In "The Abstinence", it is discovered that George has what would appear to be genius-level intelligence but can never access it because his mind is always so completely focused on sex.

[21] George exhibits several negative character traits, among them dishonesty, insecurity, anxiety and being extremely careful with money, many of which seem to stem from a dysfunctional childhood with his eccentric parents Frank and Estelle, and often form the basis of his involvement in various plots, schemes, and embarrassing social encounters.

Episode plots frequently feature George manufacturing elaborate deceptions at work or in his relationships to gain or maintain some slight or imagined advantage or (pretend) image of success.

George flees a burning kitchen during his girlfriend's son's birthday party, knocking over several children and an old woman so he can escape first in "The Fire".

The one relationship he holds long-term, with his fiancée Susan, is the one about which he is seemingly least enthusiastic, as shown by his ongoing attempts to postpone, and later cancel, their wedding, and his rather nonchalant reaction when she dies.

In "The Voice", he admits that one of the reasons he is staying at a job his boss has asked that he resign from (for feigning a disability) is that it gives him "private access to one of the great handicapped toilets in the city".

He proves this in "The Bizarro Jerry", when he directs Kramer to "the best bathroom in midtown" at the offices of Brandt-Leland, even describing the layout, marble, high ceiling, and toilets that flush "like a jet engine".

His original job when the series starts is as a real estate agent; he ends up quitting and getting re-hired, but he is fired immediately afterward for drugging his boss.

He briefly works with Elaine at Pendant Publishing but is fired for having sex with the cleaning woman on his desk in "The Red Dot".

When seeking another job, the interview gets interrupted in the middle and George does not know if he is hired or not, so he decides just to show up anyway, and is soon asked to work on a "Pensky File" that he knows nothing about.

At one point, George works briefly as a hand model in "The Puffy Shirt", and also for his father selling computers in "The Serenity Now".

George has balding hair, which is less noticeable in "The Seinfeld Chronicles" or a flashback in "The Slicer", but gets thinner as the series progresses.

In "The Red Dot", George tells Elaine's boss that he frequently reads books by Art Vandelay, who he describes as a "beatnik, from the Village."

In "The Boyfriend", George tells the unemployment office that he is close to getting a job at "Vandelay Industries", a latex manufacturer ostensibly located at Jerry's address.

[27] In the first draft of the show's pilot script, called Stand-Up at the time, George's name was "Bennett" and he, like Jerry, was a comedian.

[29] Although he is often asked whether he wanted to play the character, Larry David has said that he was only interested in writing the show, and doubted that NBC would have approved of his being cast.

In 1998, Michael Costanza sued the show for US$100,000,000, claiming that he never gave permission for his name to be used and that, because of the character's appearance and behavior, he was not treated with respect.

[38] In a list of the "50 Greatest Sidekicks" compiled by Entertainment Weekly, George was placed third, behind Robin from the Batman franchise and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson co-host Ed McMahon.

[42] British comedian Ricky Gervais and Guardian columnist Marina Hyde have both called George "arguably the greatest sitcom character of all time".

[48] In addition, Alexander was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards—in 1993,[49] 1994,[50] 1995,[51] and 1998[52]—in the Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television category, but never won the award.