Hear our full chat on my podcast “Beyond the Fame with Jason Fraley.”
Legendary comedian George Wallace cracks up the D.C. Improv twice next week on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21.
However, he wants to make sure that folks don’t confuse him with the former 1960s governor of Alabama.
“I say laughter today, laughter tomorrow, laughter forever!” Wallace told WTOP, spoofing the governor’s infamous pro-segregation speech. “I’m George Wallace, I love you and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.”
He might even switch roles with WTOP Sports Director George Wallace, who loved his cameo in “Seinfeld.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice? I think he could do it,” Wallace said. “A lot of people don’t know that I was the real George (Costanza).”
Wallace added, “I’m the one that was (Jerry Seinfeld’s) roommate for 13 years, I’m the one that was best man at his wedding, I’m the one that was godfather of his children, best friends for 47 years. … I found Seinfeld at Catch a Rising Star [in New York City]. He was a little Jewish boy at the end of the bar and I was a little Black boy, it was only me and him.”
His one “Seinfeld” appearance saw him play a doctor distracted by the Eagles song “Witchy Woman,” which came as a punchline after an entire storyline about Elaine’s boyfriend being distracted by the song “Desperado.”
“That scene came by because when his son was circumcised — they call it a bris — I was holding one leg and Jerry was holding the other,” Wallace said. “The rabbi went ‘zip’ and circumcised the baby and the baby went crazy! To this day, when I walk into the Seinfeld house, that boy always looks at me like, ‘I know you from somewhere.”
Later this year, Wallace will star in the new sitcom “Clean Slate” on Amazon’s Freevee.
“I wanted to reboot ‘Sanford & Son,’ so I went to Norman Lear; basically, I just wanted to hear [the theme song],” Wallace said. “The basis of the show is I’m an old Black man living in Alabama, my son left my house after high school and went to New York City to do his thing. … 27 years later, a beautiful lady is at my door, she says, ‘Dad, it’s me.’ … My daughter is [played by transgender actress] Laverne Cox, so it’s gonna be a great show.”
Watch the full interview above or listen on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.”
