Frank Costanza

Frank Costanza
Gender	Male
Family	Wife: Estelle Costanza Sons: George Costanza & Unnamed Son Cousin: Carlo Niece: Shelly
First appearance	The Handicap Spot
Last appearance	The Finale
Occupation	Retired
Former occupations	Christian relic salesman United States Chef during the Korean War
Portrayed by	Jerry Stiller (1993-1998) John Randolph (1993)

Frank Costanza is George Costanza's father in Seinfeld.

About

Though currently retired, we learn in "The Understudy" that Frank once worked as a salesman selling Christian 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 with the "Fighting 103rd" 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' 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 to Christmas known as Festivus, featured in "The Strike". Frank was also the co-creator of the "Bro" (he proposed the name "Manssiere"), a male bra he developed 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, where it is common to give away big screen TV's.

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 (on more than one occasion, George mentions that he wears them in the pool) because he believes that his feet have bad odor.

Frank Costanza portrayed by John Randolph

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. Frank appears to have a strong taste for traditional Eastern-European food, such as kasha and rye bread.

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 seems impartial to the situation, instead demanding to know why Steinbrenner traded Yankees player Jay Buhner away for Ken Phelps.

As shown in "The Cigar Store Indian", Frank and Estelle live at 13-44 Queens Boulevard.

Notes About Nothing

• In Frank's first appearance, in the season 4 episode "The Handicap Spot", 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 for syndication with Stiller playing the role.
• Frank Costanza spent all of Festivus performing "feats of strength".
• Frank seems to not like Mr. Kruger.