Seinfeld

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld is a “show about nothing” that revolves around the daily lives of four Upper West Side friends, Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld), George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Jerry Seinfeld plays a fictionalized interpretation of himself and most of the storylines and characters are based on experiences and acquaintances of the writers.

Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) is a neat freak, stand-up comedian who enjoys breakfast cereal and Superman. While he is incredibly picky with women, he is typically the voice of reason among his friends. Seinfeld is very close to his friends but has one known enemy, Newman (Wayne Knight), who lives down the hall.

Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), often called “Kramer,” lives in the same apartment building as Jerry and Newman, his close friends. Kramer has a lot of quirks, including an odd personality, strange hairstyle and bizarre clothing choices, but his friends see past his eccentricities. He is surprisingly good with women and makes new friends easily. Lacking a real job, Kramer often falls for “get rich quick” schemes that backfire. He enjoys milkshakes and fears clowns.

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Main Cast

Character	Actor
Jerry Seinfeld	Jerry Seinfeld
George Costanza	Jason Alexander
Elaine Benes	Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Cosmo Kramer	Michael Richards

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Additional Cast

Character	Actor	Years
Ruthie Cohen	Ruth Cohen	1992-1998
Newman	Wayne Knight	1992-1998
George Steinbrenner	Larry David	1991-1998
Susan Ross	Heidi Swedberg	1992-1997
Man on Sidewalk	Norman Brenner	1990-1998
Estelle Costanza	Estelle Harris	1992-1998
Frank Costanza	Jerry Stiller	1993-1998
Helen	Liz Sheridan	1990-1998
J. Peterman	John O’Hurley	1995-1998
Morty	Barney Martin	1991-1998
Uncle Leo	Len Lesser	1991-1998
Angry Man	Deck McKenzie	1991-1997
Waitress	Peggy Lane	1992-1996
Wilhelm	Richard Herd	1995-1998
Lippman	Richard Fancy	1991-1998
David Puddy	Patrick Warburton	1995-1998
George Steinbrenner	Lee Bear	1994-1998
Waitress	Lauren Bowles	1991-1998
Mr. Pitt	Ian Abercrombie	1994-1998
Beck	David Blackwood	1990-1994
Mickey	Danny Woodburn	1994-1998
Dugan	Joe Urla	1996-1998
Bania	Steve Hytner	1994-1998
Manager	Lawrence Mandley	1993-1996
Don Tyler	Pete G. Papanickolas	1993-1997
Comedy Club Emcee	Randy Carter	1995-1997
Russell Dalrympie	Bob Balaban	1992-1993
Tim Whatley	Bryan Cranston	1994-1997
‘Crazy’ Joe Davola	Peter Crombie	1992-1993
Carol	Lisa Mende	1992-1997
Mr. Ross	Warren Frost	1992-1998
Jackie Chiles	Phil Morris	1995-1998
Jay Crespi	Peter Blood	1992-1998
Stu	Kevin Page	1992-1998
Mrs. Ross	Grace Zabriiskie	1992-1998
Customer	David Richardson	1993-1997
Man at Rehearsal	Peter Mehiman	1992-1996
Counter Guy	Jeff Bye	1993-1998
Juror	Darin Henry	1993-1998
Kruger	Daniel von Bargen	1997-1998
Jake	Marty Rackham	1992-1995
Sue Ellen	Brenda Strong	1996-1997
Morgan	Tom Wright	1994-1995
Jack Klompus	Sandy Baron	1991-1997
Dr. Reston	Stephen McHattie	1992
Walter	Wayne Wilderson	1997-1998
Joanne	Lisa Pescia	1993-1994
Doris	Annie Korzen	1991-1996
Receptionist	Julie Claire	1992-1996
Doctor	Victor Raider-Wexler	1993-1998
Poppie	Reni Santoni	1994-1998
Ping	Ping Wu	1991-1993
Marla	Jane Leeves	1992-1998
Tommy	Steve Skrovan	1992-1993
Woman	Judy Kerr	1995-1997
Farmer	David Mandel	1995-1997
Crowd	Karen Wilkie	1991-1997
Man in Hallway	Larry Charles	1991-1993
Man at Bookstore	Tom Gammill	1993-1996
Herb	James Lansbury	1994-1996
Wyck	Bruce Davison	1996-1997
Tina	Siobhan Fallon	1991-1994
Dana Foley	Gina Hecht	1992-1993
Nana	Billye Ree Wallace	1994-1995
Deena	Mary Jo Keenen	1995-1996
Cedric	John Paragon	1995-1998
Bob	Yul Vazquez	1995-1998
Renee	Veralyn Jones	1993
Babu	Brian George	1991-1998
Michael	Hiram Kasten	1993-1994
Rachel	Melanie Smith	1994
Guard	David Dunard	1991-1998
Mrs. Choate	Frances Bay	1996-1998
Malcolm	Tucker Smallwood	1991-1997
Keith Hernandez	Keith Hernandez	1992-1998
Alice	Nancy Balbrier	1994-1997
Homeless Man	Ron Ross	1992-1993
Cabbie	Bob Shaw	1993-1995
Rabbi	Bruce Mahler	1995-1998
Tia	Jennifer Campbell	1992-1993
Allison	Kari Coleman	1993
Mel	Brian Doyle-Murray	1992-1998
Sidra	Teri Hatcher	1993-1998
Event Guard	Jeff Miller	1995-1997
Donald	Jon Hayman	1992-1998
Barbara (Bank Employee)	Carol Leifer	1995-1996
Cab Driver	Steve Koren	1997-1998
Man on Set	Jeffrey Yerkes	1993-1994
Vanessa	Lynn Clark	1990
Lt. Martel	Peter Murnik	1992
Karen	Lisa Edelstein	1993
Jeannie	Janeane Garofalo	1996
Waitress	Anita Wise	1990
Leslie	Christine Dunford	1991-1994
Kelly	Tracy Kolis	1991-1994
Audrey	Suzanne Snyder	1992-1994
Sid	Jay Brooks	1991-1992
Mike	Lee Arenberg	1992-1997
Rita	Anne Twomey	1992-1993
Mrs. Sokol	Rae Allen	1992
Helene	Elmarie Wendel	1992
Kevin	Tim DeKay	1996
Ava	Teri Austin	1991
Landis	Gail Strickland	1994-1995
Ada	Vicki Lewis	1994
Noreen	KIelly Coffield Park	1994
Mario Joyner	as himself	1995-1998
Mr. Thomassoulo	Gordon Jump	1997
Joe	Robert Hooks	1994-1995
Lloyd	Matt McCoy	1995-1997
Maestro	Mark Metcalf	1995-1996
Katie	Debra Jo Rupp	1995-1996
Sally	Kathy Griffin	1996-1998
Beth	Debra Messing	1996-1997
Jenna	Kristin Davis	1997
Maryedith	Maryedith Burrell	1992-1993
Carrie	Carol Ann Susi	1992
Dolores	Susan Walters	1993-1996
Peggy	Megan Cole	1997
Lt. Coleman	Vaughn Armstrong	1992
Hostess	Jessica Lundy	1992
Vet	Rick Hall	1996-1997
Izzy Mandelbaum	Lloyd Bridges	1997
FBI Man	George C. Simms	1990-1991
Roberta	Kate Benton	1991-1992
Lindsay	Jessica Hecht	1994
Danny Tartabull	Danny Tartabull	1994
Homeless Man	Jon Gries	1995-1998
Evelyn	Ann Morgan Guilbert	1991-1996
Roger McDowell	as himself	1992
Farkus	Patrick Cronin	1993-1995
Ricky	Sam Lloyd	1993-1994
Jiffy Dump Guy	Chaim Girafi	1996-1997
Earl	O’Neal Compton	1995-1997
Father Curtis	Henry Woronicz	1997-1998
Party Guest	Kate Mulligan	1991-1995
Kramer’s Girlfriend	Carissa Channing	1992-1993
Michael	Stephen Prutting	1992
Ellen	Christa Miller	1993-1995
Robin	Melanie Chartoff	1994-1998
Mailman	Benjamin Lum	1990-1993
Joan	Mary Scheer	1995-1998
Pop	Sandy Ward	1995-1996
Gail	Monica Allison	1996-1998
Joey	Todd Bosley	1996
Mrs. Zanfino	Diana Castle	1996
Izzy Mandelbaum Jr.	Gene Dynarski	1997
Matthew	John Christian Graas	1992-1993
Cop #2	David Graf	1992
Bobby	Thomas Dekker	1994-1995
Mr. Clotworthy	Clive Rosengren	1995
Rebecca	Sonya Eddy	1997-1998
Boss	Mark Christopher Lawrence	1992-1994
Jesse	Michael McDonald	1995-1996
Judge	Al Fann	1992
Tall Woman	Melanie Good	1992
Remy	Diana Theodore	1994-1995
Todd’s Mother	Jane A. Johnston	1996-1997
Gail	Jill Talley	1996-1997
Alison	Bonnie McNeil	1996-1998
Lisa	Jill Holden	1996-1997
Sid Luckman	Edgar Small	1997-1998
Lola	Donna Evans	1993-1998
Deensfrei	Robert Katims	1995-1998
Leslie	Wendel Meldrum	1993-1998
Babs	Sheree North	1995-1998
Marcelino	Miguel Sandoval	1997-1998
Soup Nazi	Larry Thomas	1995-1998
Robin	Ann Talman	1992
Sid	Bill Erwin	1993
Cheryl	Maggie Han	1993
FDR	Michael McShane	1997-1998
Glenda	Patrika Darbo	1991-1993
The Drake	Rick Overton	1993
Calvin	Nicholas Hormann	1992-1993
Rushdie	Tony Amendola	1993
Fred Yerkes	Fred Stoller	1995
Allison	Elizabeth Dennehy	1993
Glenn	Brian J. Williams	1997
Miss America Pageant Announcer	Regis Philbin	1994
Judy	Coby Turner	1995
Driver	Bill Masters	1992-1993
Ellis	Marc Hirschfeld	1993-1998
Director on ‘Jerry’ Set	Tom Cherones	1998
Man in Church	Eugene Lew	1996-1997
Answering Machine	Rick Corcoran	1997-1998
Juror	Spike Feresten	1997-1998
George Steinbrenner	Mitch Mitchell	1997
Dental Assistant	Andrea Ragsdale	1997
Man Outside Stadium	Andy Robin	1997

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Trivia

Jerry Seinfeld married his wife, Jessica Sklar, on Christmas Day in 1999. They have three children together, two sons and a daughter.

Jason Alexander’s real name is Jay Scott Greenspan.

One of the most repeated Seinfeld phrases is “yada, yada, yada.” TV Guide ranked it number one on the 2005 list of “TV’S Top 20 Catchphrases.”

The character “soup Nazi” is based on a take-out soup business owner in Manhattan.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ grandfather, Pierre Louis-Dryfus, flew 88 missions for “Charles de Gaulle’s Free French Air Force” in World War II as a member of the French Resistance.

One of Jerry’s most talked about girlfriends was “man hands.” The infamous hands belonged to one of the producers.

Jason Alexander won the role of George Costanza over Nathan Lane, Danny DeVito and Steve Buscemi.

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Seinfeld ran for nine seasons. Jerry Seinfeld turned down NBC’s $110 million offer for a tenth season because, in part, “The Beatles” broke up their very successful band after nine years too.

Jerry Seinfeld owns 500 pairs of white sneakers.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has has starred in multiple television series, Seinfeld, Watching Ellie, The New Adventures of Old Christine and “Veep, but none have been as successful as Seinfeld.

Jason Alexander is no stranger to Broadway musicals, he even won a Tony Award in the category of Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Jerome Robbins Broadway.

Michael Richards returned to stand-up comedy after Seinfeld ended but retired from in 2007 after using a racial slur toward an African American heckler. He later apologized on the Late Show with David Letterman, and called both Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to express his regret over the incident. He was banned from performing at the Laugh Factory.

Julia Louis Dreyfus was pregnant during part of the series and used different props to disguise her growing belly.

In TV Guide’s list of “50 Shows that were Chosen by TV Guide Editors,” Seinfeld was voted number one, followed by I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners.

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Jerry Seinfeld is a longtime believer in Transcendental Meditation. He also supports the David Lynch Foundation, which uses Transcendental Meditation to treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won many awards throughout her career; most impressively, she is the only woman to have won three Emmy Awards for three different sitcoms. She also holds the female record for most Emmy Award nominations (sixteen total), behind her is Lucille Ball.

In 2013, Seinfeld was named the second best written television series of all time by the “Writers Guild of America” behind The Sopranos. That same year Seinfeld was called the third best television series of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Michael Richards won more Emmy Awards than all other members of the cast.

Poker player Jason Alexander has been in numerous poker tournaments, and even won the final table on season eight of Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, winning $500,000 for his charity, “The United Way of America.” He also participated on the very popular World Series of Poker, and Poker after Dark.

Catchphrases from the show, like “no soup for you,” “yada, yada, yada,” “sponge worthy” and “re-gifter,” are often referred to as “Seinlanguage,” which is also the name of Jerry Seinfeld’s book on humor.

In the history of American television, only three shows remained in the top slot for their whole and final network season: I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld.

Photo Courtesy of Rolling Stone

Jason Alexander was the only main character on the show to never win an Emmy during the show’s run.

Jerry Seinfeld collects Porsches. He is said to have 46 of them (unconfirmed), in different makes and colors, including a rare Porsche 959 that he had imported “for exhibition purpose” only because the car was not “street legal.” Under the “Show and Display” law of 1999, the $700,000 car became legal. He also owns the very first and the very last air-cooled Porsche 911s (according to Discovery’s Chasing Classic Cars.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ father is a billionaire. In 2006, i>Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $3.4 billion dollars.

One of the most popular episodes is called “The Puffy Shirt.” The shirt from the episode is now in the Smithsonian.

The Seinfeld series finale was one of the most watched episodes in all of television history. It came in third place, beaten out by Cheers and M*A*S*H.

Avid “Star Trek fan Jason Alexander met his childhood hero, “Captain James T. Kirk” (William Shatner), during a birthday dinner surprise from his friends.

Photo Courtesy of NBC

Jerry Seinfeld has been ranked 12 of 100 on the list of the “Greatest Comedians of All Time” by Comedy Central.