Editing Jason Alexander (section)

==Early life and education==
[[File:Jason-Alexander-1977.jpg|thumb|Alexander as a senior at [[Livingston High School (New Jersey)|Livingston High School]] in 1977]]
Greenspan was born on September 23, 1959, in [[Newark, New Jersey]] to a Jewish family, the son of Ruth Minnie (née Simon), a nurse and health care administrator, and Alexander B. Greenspan, an accounting manager. Greenspan later borrowed his father's first name to create his stage name, Jason Alexander.<ref name="kevinpollakschatshow"/>

Alexander grew up in [[Maplewood, New Jersey|Maplewood]] and [[Livingston, New Jersey]], and is a 1977 graduate of [[Livingston High School (New Jersey)|Livingston High School]].<ref>Weinraub, Bernard. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E6D81039F931A15753C1A96F958260 "At the Movies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502175354/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E6D81039F931A15753C1A96F958260 |date=May 2, 2020 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 22, 1999. Retrieved February 24, 2011. "I was born in 1959 and grew up in [[Livingston, New Jersey]], but I felt I knew these people very well"</ref> Interested in magic from an early age, he initially hoped to be a magician, but while attending a magic camp was told that his hands were too small for card magic. He became interested in theater, eventually realizing, "Wait a minute—the whole thing's an illusion. Nothing up there is real" and that theater itself was "a magic trick". He then decided to pursue a theater career.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jason Alexander discusses how he got into acting and his early career- EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYhEp_sAfKE | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/dYhEp_sAfKE| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

After high school, he studied theater at [[Boston University]]. He wanted to pursue classical acting, but a professor redirected him toward comedy after noticing his physique, remarking, "I know your heart and soul are [[Hamlet]], but you will never play Hamlet."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Laskowski|first1=Amy|title=Seinfeld's Costanza Gives Master Class in Acting at CFA|journal=Bostonia|date=February 2015|page=4|publisher=Boston University}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Master Class with Alumnus Jason Alexander | date=October 9, 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_d-Ga2Ro1Y |access-date=2023-07-17 |language=en |archive-date=July 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717185058/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_d-Ga2Ro1Y |url-status=live }}</ref> Alexander left Boston University without a degree after his third year to take a full-time acting job in New York City. The university awarded him an honorary degree in 1995.