For most people who follow the entertainment industry closely, it is fascinating to learn about stories of famous actors who missed out on the role of a lifetime. However, in almost every case, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference if the actor who missed out on the role was the person that starred in the film. The reason for that is that a lot of Hollywood actors are similar enough that they are pretty interchangeable. For example, it is easy to imagine the most famous Hollywood Chrises taking on each other’s roles.
Unlike most of the major film and television stars, Larry David is an entirely unique figure in the Hollywood ecosystem. An actor who is not afraid of being true to himself in the slightest, David’s work has entertained the masses for decades at this point. Even though millions of viewers are delighted to watch David’s antics play out on their screens, most of those same people would find it hard to fathom spending their lives with the man. With that in mind, it is fascinating to think about who the two women who married David are and what they do.
David’s First Wife
From 1993 until 2007, Larry David was married to his first wife, Laurie David. During that time, David created the show that would make him much more famous, Curb Your Enthusiasm. As fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm will no doubt remember, David’s fictional wife in the show played by Cheryl Hines is a staunch environmentalist. As it turns out, that aspect of the fictional character was based on Laurie David as she has spent her adult years crusading for environmental issues.
A professional producer, Laurie David has played a pivotal role in several documentaries about environmental and societal issues. For example, Laurie produced films like An Inconvenient Truth, GMO OMG, Fed Up, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, and The Social Dilemma. In addition to her work as a producer, Laurie has also helped several celebrities campaign for the environment including Sheryl Crow and Al Gore.
In the years since she got divorced from Larry in 2007, Laurie David has mostly stayed out of the headlines aside from when the press is covering her environmental efforts. However, in 2010, Star Magazine posted an article that suggested that former Vice President Al Gore split from his longtime wife in part due to Laurie. In response, she spoke to Time magazine’s NewsFeed blog to deny she was had an affair with Al Gore. “The rumor is completely and totally untrue. I adore Al and Tipper and consider them part of my family. I’m in a committed relationship and couldn’t be happier.”
Larry’s Second Wife
While talking to the New York Times, Larry David revealed how he met his second wife, Ashley Underwood. As it turns out, David and Underwood were set up to meet at a party thrown by their mutual friends Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen. “We were seated next to each other, I think with that in mind.” After immediately hitting it off with Underwood, David did something right out of the book of his Seinfeld counterpart, George Costanza, he left her wanting more. “Much to her surprise I left before dessert. I was doing so well, banter-wise, I didn’t want to risk staying too long and blowing the good impression.” Clearly, David making a swift exit worked out well for him and Underwood.
Considering that Larry David, Isla Fisher, and Sacha Baron Cohen are all famous actors, it isn’t surprising that they all met and became friends. That is especially true since Cohen has worked extensively with Larry Charles, a writer, director, and producer who got his big break after David hired him to work on Seinfeld. That said, some people may be left wondering how Ashley Underwood met Fisher and Cohen. As it turns out, Underwood is a producer who helped shepherd Cohen’s show Who Is America? And the movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm into existence.
After Larry David and Ashley Underwood first got involved in 2017, they decided to move in together in 2019 at the height of pandemic living. If that wasn’t intense enough, David’s daughter Cazzie also moved into the house where they were living at the same time. Of course, most adult daughters would struggle to live with their father again, let alone if his new girlfriend was in the mix. While talking to the New York Times, David was frank and funny about the tension that living situation caused in his life. “There’s not a moment in the day when there isn’t friction between at least two of us.”
Despite the friction that Larry David and Ashley Underwood went through when they moved in together, they didn’t get sick of one another. After all, David went on to marry his producer significant other in 2020. Considering that they could survive pandemic living with his adult daughter, David and Underwood seem to have a good chance of going the distance.