Larry David Was Once In The Army And Faked A Mental Illness To Get An Early Discharge

Although he's now one of the most lauded comedians in Hollywood, Larry David never saw himself becoming a writer or a comedian. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1970, he was lost and had little direction from his parents, who wanted him to take a job as a mailman.

The future writer for "Saturday Night Live," co-creator of "Seinfeld" and creator of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" joined the Army Reserve for one very important reason: to avoid going to Vietnam. He regretted it almost immediately.

He had never held a weapon, and he was terrible at push-ups and sit-ups. Basic training did not go well for David. That wasn't even the worst part of it, he told Howard Stern in a 2015 interview.

"I had an apartment in New York and I would go to Brooklyn for the weekend, stay with my parents, and spend all Saturday and Sunday at Floyd Bennett Field in a freezing airplane hangar," he said.

He especially hated the monthly meetings in Brooklyn because his hair had grown out of regulations. His solution was a creative one: he and his fellow soldiers stuffed their big, curly 1970s-style "fro" into crew-cut wigs. David said his entire unit wore the same style of wig to the monthly meetings.

Our conversation about it starts at 36 minutes in. If they dont make this movie, we riot. Simple as that.