Larry Charles

Larry Charles
Larry Charles at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1956-12-01) December 1, 1956 (age 60) Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Other names	Rene Fonatine
Occupation	Screenwriter, director
Notable work	Seinfeld Borat Religulous Brüno The Dictator

Larry Charles (born December 1, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer.

Charles is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first five seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines. He has also directed the mockumentary comedy films Borat and Brüno, the documentary film Religulous, and comedy film The Dictator.

Charles was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York to a Jewish family. He was raised in the housing project Trump Village, located between Brighton Beach and Coney Island in Brooklyn.

After graduating from John Dewey High School, he attended college at Rutgers University in New Jersey, but he left school to perform comedy routines.

Larry Charles performed stand-up comedy during the 1970s until he was hired to write for the short-lived sketch comedy show Fridays, where he worked with Larry David, who would later give him a job as a writer on Seinfeld and director on Curb Your Enthusiasm. This began Charles' career in television writing that included The Arsenio Hall Show and eventually Seinfeld.

Although series co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld wrote the bulk of the show's episodes during the first five seasons, Charles was their second in command during this period. Charles had met Seinfeld co-creator Larry David when he was part of the writing staff of the ABC sketch show Fridays, on which David and Michael Richards were also part of the show's ensemble cast. Charles had been unable to write for the show's first season, as he had been writing for The Arsenio Hall Show during its production.