David Shankbone · Public domain

Larry David co-created Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld in 1989, then spent nine seasons proving that a sitcom could run almost entirely on petty grievances and social miscalculation rather than warmth — a formula he pushed further, and more nakedly autobiographical, in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, which he wrote and starred in on and off for 25 years. He began as a stand-up who flopped often enough that he quit mid-set more than once, and later found an unlikely second act impersonating Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live.