text: After Jason Alexander revealed why the showrunners killed off his fiancee in "Seinfeld," adding that it was hard to "play off" actress Heidi Swedberg, he took to Twitter today to apologize. 
   
   "Ok folks, I feel officially awful. Yesterday on @Sternshow, I retold a story I had told years ago about my personal difficulties and insecurities in playing George against the Susan that Heidi Swedberg created. The impetus for telling this story was that Howard said, 'Julia Louis Dreyfuss told me you all wanted to kill her' So I told the story to try and clarify that no one wanted to kill Heidi." 
   
   Swedberg played Susan Ross, George's fiancee, who eventually dies by poisoning after licking all the envelopes on their wedding invitations. 
   
   "And again I say, I and the cast really liked and like Heidi. She is a kind, lovely person who undoubtedly worked really hard to create Susan and that character was clearly what Larry and Jerry wanted her to be for George. I just felt I was on uncertain ground in how to play off that character and I was always concerned that it wasn't working. And that's what I would voice concern about. But because the scenes were playing the way they were, the relationship with George and Susan sustained a whole season. People clearly liked the interplay even though I believed I was 'off,'" he continued. 
   
   "Larry and Jerry were not sure how that relationship would end. They didn't really want George married but all the alternatives seemed predictable. They were always looking for an inventive end to the engagement. So when the comment was made about 'killing', no one was talking about the actress - they were talking about the character. And that made a creative light bulb go off apparently," he wrote. 
   
   But Alexander didn't want to put the burden of the character on Swedberg. 
   
   "Heidi would always ask if there was anything in the scenes she could do or if I had any thoughts. She was generous and gracious and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her," he added. "If I had had more maturity or more security in my own work, I surely would have taken her query and possibly tried to adjust the scenes with her. She surely offered. But, I didn't have that maturity or security. And, Larry and Jerry would probably have killed me as it was all playing exactly as they wanted. Clearly Susan and George were coming off just the way they wanted." 
   
   He closed by personally apologizing to the actress and writing, "You are a sweetheart. I actually launched into this on Stern to defend you. But this is why I'm not a lawyer." 
   
   This apology came after Alexander explained the back story to one of the show’s key moments during a Wednesday appearance on “The Howard Stern Show.” 
   
   Alexander appeared on the show ahead of his turn in the Broadway comedy “Fish in the Dark,” replacing Larry David, the co-creator of “Seinfeld.” 
   
   The seventh season of “Seinfeld” features an arc involving George’s engagement. George is initially optimistic about the engagement, but later seeks to sabotage the relationship by taking up smoking, asking for a prenuptial agreement and pursing a coffee date with actress Marisa Tomei. 
   
   In the season’s final episode, “The Invitations,” Susan dies after licking poisonous, inexpensive envelopes for their upcoming wedding, a nod to Costanza’s stinginess, and symbolizing the relationship’s toxic impact on Susan’s life. 
   
   Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images 
   
   According to Alexander, 55, the deadly finale was borne from the actors’ troubles to connect. 
   
   “I love [Swedberg]. She’s a terrific girl. I love her … I couldn’t figure out how to play off of her,” Alexander told Stern. “Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring. And she would do something, and I would go, ‘OK, I see what she’s going to do, I’m going to adjust to her,’ and then I’d adjust, and she’d change. 
   
   “I had done three episodes with her, and Larry calls me up at the beginning of the season and goes, ‘Good news: I’ve got a great arc for you this season – you’re gonna get engaged.’ Oh, that’s great! Who do I get engaged to? Susan. And I went, ‘Oh, great. Who’s playing George?’ Because it was such a disaster,” Alexander said. 
   
   Following filming, Alexander said, the core cast would go to dinner, and Alexander complained about his lack of chemistry with his on-screen fiancee. Initially, Alexander said, his fellow stars Julia Louie-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld brushed aside his concerns. But after they started sharing scenes with Swedberg, they too acknowledged similar issues , and openly pondered the character’s fate, Alexander said. 
   
   “Julia said, ‘I know, don’t you want to just kill her?’ And Larry went, ‘Kebang,’” Alexander said. 
   
   “Every time I tell this story, I cringe,” Alexander admitted to Stern. “Heidi is the sweetest.” 
   
   Following Swedberg’s arc as Susan, she continued picking up acting roles, appearing in such shows as “ER,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Bones.” These days, the Hawaii native plays and teaches ukulele music and performs as the lead in the Sukey Jump Band. ||||| Turns out it wasn't just bad wedding invitations that killed Susan Ross. In fact, it was the actress' complete lack of comedic chemistry with the Seinfeld cast that led to the death of George Costanza's fiancé. 
   
   Jason Alexander revealed the details surrounding Susan's untimely demise during a visit to the Howard Stern Show on Wednesday. When Stern steered the topic toward rumors that Alexander couldn't stand actress Heidi Swedberg, the actor was quick to clarify: "She's a terrific girl...I couldn't figure out how to play off of her." 
   
   Alexander explained that though he often had trouble finding the right comedic tone with Swedberg, his cast mates were hard pressed to believe him. It wasn't until Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus performed extensive material with Swedberg in Season 7 that they took Alexander's concerns seriously. 
   
   "Julia actually said, 'I know, don't you want to just kill her?,'" Alexander said, which he says gave show runner Larry David the perfect plot line for his then-undecided season finale. Cut to the end of Season 7 and poor Susan dies after licking poison envelope glue. 
   
   Harsh? Maybe, but don't worry too much about Swedberg — she's living the dream life of an accomplished ukulele teacher. 
   
   UPDATE, June 4, 10:56 A.M. ET: Alexander issued a response that further clarifies his comments on the Howard Stern Show. 
   
   He writes that no one on the cast disliked Swedberg, and that it was his intention to defend her from rumors when he told the story on Wednesday's show. 
   
   He also clarified that when comments were made about killing off Susan, they were directed strictly toward the character and not toward Swedberg herself, who Alexander writes, "was generous and gracious and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her." 
   
   He closes out his statement with an apology: "To Heidi, I personally apologize. You are a sweetheart. I actually launched into this on Stern to defend you. But this is why I'm not a lawyer. Now everybody, calm down and just enjoy the reruns and think, 'why did he think this wasn't working? This is great.'" 
   
   Hear Alexander's entire story in the clip below:
target: – In Seinfeld's seventh season, George Costanza's fiancee, Susan, was killed by toxic glue on their wedding invitations—and the man who played Costanza has now revealed that the cast had plotted to have her killed. Jason Alexander told the Howard Stern Show yesterday that while Heidi Swedberg, who played Susan, is a "terrific girl," there was a serious lack of chemistry between her and other cast members, Mashable reports. "I couldn't figure out how to play off of her," Alexander explained. "Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring." Alexander says he complained about Swedberg and discussed her character's fate at dinners with show co-creator Larry David and other cast members who were finding Susan scenes difficult, ABC reports. Julia Louis-Dreyfus said, "I know, don't you want to just kill her?' And Larry went, 'Kebang,'" Alexander recalled. "Every time I tell this story, I cringe. Heidi is the sweetest." After her character's cruel death, Swedberg had roles in shows like Bones and is now a ukulele teacher, reports ABC. In the same interview, Alexander said other actors up for the Costanza role included Chris Rock, Paul Shaffer, Steve Buscemi, and Danny DeVito, who was offered it but turned it down, reports Entertainment Weekly.