Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld
(born April 29, 1954) is an American comedian, actor and writer, whose style is often described as observational comedy. He is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy, Seinfeld
, (1989–1998), which he co-created, helped write and, in the show's final two seasons, executive produced. In his first major foray back into the media since the finale of Seinfeld
, he co-wrote and co-produced the film Bee Movie
, also dubbing the title role of Barry B. Benson. In February 2009, it was announced that Jerry Seinfeld will be participating in a reality TV series tentatively called Marriage Ref
on NBC. Jerry is rumored to work behind the scenes, mainly operating as creator and executive producer, but may also make cameo appearances. Jerry is also going to be on an episode of the Starz Original series, Head Case
. In March 2009, it was announced that Jerry and the entire cast of Seinfeld
will be appearing on Larry David's HBO original series Curb Your Enthusiasm
.
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Early life
Seinfeld was born in
Brooklyn,
New York. His father, Kálmán, was of
Hungarian Jewish background and owned a sign making company;
[1] his mother, Betty, is of
Syrian Jewish descent. Jerry's
paternal grandfather, Simon Seinfeld, arrived to
Ellis Island from
Stanislau (formerly the
Austro-Hungarian empire, now called Ivano-Frankivsk and located in
Ukraine) in 1903.
[2] [3]. His
maternal grandfather, Selim Hosni, arrived from
Aleppo,
Syria aboard the S.S. Hudson in 1909 as a 26 year old carpenter, also to Ellis Island; his wife Salha and infant daughter Orizia (Jerry's aunt) followed the consequent year.
Jerry grew up in
Massapequa, New York; in September 1959, Betty enrolled Jerry at Eastlake Elementary School, from where he continued to
Massapequa High School.
[4] At the age of 16, he spent a short period of time volunteering in
Kibbutz Sa'ar, in
Israel.
[5] He went to
SUNY Oswego, and after his sophomore year he transferred and graduated from
Queens College, City University of New York with a degree in communications and theater.
He developed an interest in stand-up comedy after brief stints in college productions.
[6] Right after graduation from Queens College, he tried out at an open mic night at New York City's
Catch a Rising Star in 1976. Soon after, he appeared in a
Rodney Dangerfield HBO special.
When he first started doing stand-up comedy, his mother and sister said he would never be as funny as his father.
Seinfeld had a small recurring role as "Frankie", a mail delivery boy who had comedy routines that no one wanted to hear, on the
Benson
sitcom in 1979 but he was abruptly fired from the show due to creative differences.
Seinfeld has said that he was not actually told he had been fired until he turned up for the read-through session for an episode and found that there was no script for him.
In May 1981, Seinfeld made a highly successful appearance on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
, impressing Carson and the audience, and leading to him becoming a regular on that show and others, including
Late Night with David Letterman
and
The Merv Griffin Show
.
Seinfeld
Seinfeld created
The Seinfeld Chronicles
with
Larry David in 1989 for
NBC. The show was later renamed
Seinfeld
to avoid confusion with the short-lived teen
sitcom The Marshall Chronicles and, by its fourth season, had become the most popular and successful sitcom on American television. The show left the air in 1998; as of 2009, it is still receiving heavy airplay in
syndication. The show also starred
Saturday Night Live
veteran
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as experienced actors
Michael Richards and
Jason Alexander. On the show, Seinfeld played a
caricature of himself. He has said that his show was influenced by the 1950s sitcom
The Abbott and Costello Show
. Citing
Jean Shepherd as an influence in his commentary for "
The Gymnast" episode on "Seinfeld, Season 6," he said, "He really formed my entire comedic sensibility--I learned how to do comedy from Jean Shepherd." Seinfeld also holds the distinction of being the only actor to appear in every episode of the show.
[7]
From 2004–2007, the former
Seinfeld
cast and crew recorded audio commentaries for episodes of the DVD releases of the show. Seinfeld himself provided commentary for numerous episodes.
Post-Seinfeld
1998–2006
After his sitcom ended, Seinfeld returned to
stand-up comedy instead of pursuing a film career as most other popular comedians have done. In 1998, Seinfeld went on tour and recorded a comedy special entitled
I'm Telling You for the Last Time
. The process of developing and performing new material at clubs around the world was chronicled in a 2002 documentary,
Comedian
, which focused also on fellow comic
Orny Adams, directed by Christian Charles. He has written several books, mostly archives of past routines.
In the late 1990s,
Apple Computer came up with an advertising slogan called "
Think different" and produced a 60-second commercial to promote the slogan which showed people who were able to "think differently", like
Albert Einstein,
Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King and many others. This commercial was later cut short to thirty seconds and ended up paying tribute to Jerry Seinfeld. This commercial aired only once, during the series finale of
Seinfeld
.
[8]
In 2004, Seinfeld also appeared in two commercial
webisodes promoting
American Express, entitled
The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman
, in which he appeared together with an animated rendering of
Superman, who was referenced in numerous episodes of
Seinfeld
as Seinfeld's hero, voiced by
Patrick Warburton, who had portrayed
David Puddy on
Seinfeld
. The webisodes were aired in 2004 and directed by
Barry Levinson. Seinfeld and "Superman" were also interviewed by
Matt Lauer in a specially-recorded interview for the
Today
show.
On November 18, 2004, Seinfeld appeared at the
Smithsonian Museum where the "Puffy Shirt" he wore in the famous
Seinfeld
episode
of the same name, was being donated. He also gave a speech when presenting the "Puffy Shirt", claiming humorously that "This is the most embarrassing moment of my life."
Seinfeld had a special appearance on May 13, 2006
Saturday Night Live
episode as
Julia Louis-Dreyfus' assassin. Louis-Dreyfus was the host of that episode and in her opening monologue she mentioned the "
Seinfeld Curse". While talking about how ridiculous the "curse" was, a
stage light suddenly fell next to her. The camera moved to a
catwalk above the stage that Seinfeld was standing on, holding a large pair of bolt cutters. He angrily muttered, "Dammit!", apparently angry that Louis-Dreyfus is not cursed. Louis-Dreyfus then continued to say that she is indeed not cursed.
On an episode of
The Daily Show
, host
Jon Stewart remarked on the fact that Seinfeld did not change his name for the purpose of show business, but then went on to ask what he would call himself if he did change it. Jerry jokingly replied, "Well, I would keep my last name, so as not to offend my parents and I would have to go with
Jesus."
2007
On February 25, 2007, Seinfeld appeared at the
79th Academy Awards as the presenter for "Best Documentary". Before announcing the nominations he did a bit of a stand-up comedy routine about the unspoken agreement between movie theater owners and movie patrons. One of the winners of the award was Larry David's now ex-wife, Laurie.
On October 4, 2007, Seinfeld made a brief return to NBC, guest-starring in the episode "
SeinfeldVision" of
30 Rock
as himself.
[9]
During an interview in relation to his appearance on
30 Rock
, Seinfeld stated that this was his first time as a guest star on a sitcom. In fact, Seinfeld has guest starred or had cameos in
NewsRadio
,
Mad About You
,
Curb Your Enthusiasm
and
The New WKRP in Cincinnati
.
On November 1, 2007, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on
Larry King Live
and got sarcastically upset during the interview. King apparently had his facts mismanaged about Seinfeld's sitcom, not being sure if it was cancelled instead of just simply ending.
[10]
2008
On February 24, 2008, Seinfeld appeared as the voice of his
Bee Movie
animated character Barry, at the
80th Academy Awards as the presenter for "Best Animated Short". Before announcing the nominees, he showed a montage of film clips featuring bees, claiming that they were some of his early work (as Barry).
Amidst his spring 2008 tour Seinfeld made a stop in his hometown of
New York City for a one-night-only performance on June 2, 2008 at the
WaMu Theater at
Madison Square Garden to benefit Stand Up for a Cure , a charity aiding lung cancer research at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In August 2008, the
Associated Press reported that Jerry Seinfeld would be the pitchman for
Windows Vista, as part of a $300 million advertising campaign by Microsoft. The ads, which were intended to create buzz for Windows in support of the subsequent "I'm a PC" ads, began airing in mid-September 2008 and were cut from television after just 3 installments, Microsoft opting instead to continue with the "I'm a PC" advertisements,
[11] and instead continued running the Seinfeld ads on the Microsoft website as a series of longer advertisements.
[12]
2009
In March 2009, it was announced that Jerry and the entire cast of
Seinfeld
will be appearing in
Larry David's
HBO series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
.
Seinfeld appeared on an episode of the
Starz original series
Head Case
. Like many of his previous guest appearances on sitcoms he played himself.
Books
Seinfeld is also a bestselling author, most notably for his book
Seinlanguage
. Released in 1993, the book went on to become a number one New York Times bestseller. The book, written as his television show was first rising in popularity, is primarily an adaptation of the comedian's standup material. The title comes from an article in
Entertainment Weekly
listing the numerous catch-phrases the show was responsible for.
In 2003, he wrote a children's book titled
Halloween
. The book was illustrated by
James Bennett. There are also several books about both the sitcom and Seinfeld himself, though many of them are not written by Seinfeld.
Seinfeld wrote the forewords to
Ted L. Nancy's
Letters from a Nut
series of books and
Ed Broth's
Stories from a Moron
. Both authors were rumored to be pseudonyms for Seinfeld or a friend of his. Neither Nancy nor Broth have been seen publicly, although Seinfeld is heavily involved in pitching their books for television.
In promoting Broth's book, Seinfeld hosted a toast in the author's honor. Broth did not attend.
[13]
Seinfeld also wrote the foreword to the
Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook
, from his favorite sandwich shop in
New York City.
Lawsuit
On January 7, 2008, Missy Chase Lapine, author of "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals", sued Jerry Seinfeld and wife
Jessica Seinfeld for
plagiarism, or
copyright and
trademark infringement in the
Manhattan,
U.S. District Court. Richard Menaker, the Seinfelds' counsel, accused Lapine of seeking publicity on the book's sales. In October 2007,
HarperCollins had published Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food."
Personal life
When he was in his late thirties, Seinfeld began a romantic relationship with then-seventeen year old high school student
Shoshanna Lonstein.
[14] After which he dated
Carol Leifer, who was the model for Elaine's character on
Seinfeld
, for a short time. A while later, after meeting
Jessica Sklar at the Reebok Sports Club, he began dating her. Sklar, a
public relations executive for
Tommy Hilfiger, had just returned from a three-week honeymoon in
Italy with
Eric Nederlander, a theatrical producer and scion of a theater-owning family. Sklar divorced Nederlander and married Seinfeld on December 25, 1999.
[15] Comedian
George Wallace was the best man at the wedding. After the nuptials, Seinfeld bought
Billy Joel's
Amagansett house for $32 million in March 2000.
Seinfeld and his wife have three children, one daughter and two sons. Daughter Sascha was born on November 7, 2000 in New York City,
[16] son Julian Kal on March 1, 2003 in New York City,
[17] and Shepherd Kellen was born on August 22, 2005 at New York's
Cornell Medical Center.
[18] [19] His son Julian's middle name is Kal, which is the first name of Seinfeld's father. Kal is also the first name of Seinfeld's hero
Kal-El (
Superman). Seinfeld's best friend is fellow comedian
Larry Miller.
In 2000, Jessica Seinfeld launched Baby Buggy, a charity that provides clothing and gear for underprivileged women and children. She is the author of the best-seller
Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
, released by
HarperCollins in October 2007.
[20]
Seinfeld is recorded as having made several political contributions, including
George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000 and subsequently to four Democratic primary candidates in 2000 and 2004.
[21]
Seinfeld periodically calls
Steve Somers' show on
WFAN-AM, a
sports talk radio station, as "Jerry from Queens."
[22]
On March 29, 2008, Seinfeld was driving in
East Hampton, New York when the brakes on his 1967
Fiat 500 [23] [24] [25] failed. After trying to stop the car using the emergency brake, which also failed, he swerved to keep the car from entering an intersection with a highway and ended up rolling the car onto its side, stopping yards from the highway. The wreck was attributed to mechanical failure. Seinfeld did not require medical attention and returned to his East Hampton home.
At some point in the 1970s, Seinfeld was introduced to
scientology by his high school auto mechanics teacher and took a couple of courses. In spite of not having continued since then, he claims that scientology had taught him important things about communication.
[26] [27]
Personal income
According to
Forbes
magazine, Jerry Seinfeld's annual earning from
Seinfeld
, in 1998, was $267 million, making him the highest-earning celebrity that year.
[28] Seinfeld
still generates more revenue than most current shows, through
syndication. He reportedly turned down $5 million per episode, for 22 episodes, to continue the show beyond
its final season.
[29] He earned $100 million from syndication deals and stand-up appearances in 2005 and $60 million in 2006.
[30] [31] He also earned $10 million for appearing with
Bill Gates in Microsoft's 2008 ads for Windows.
[32] Between June 2008 and June 2009, Seinfeld earned $85 million dollars, making him the highest-paid comedian during that twelve-month period.
[33]
Car collection
Seinfeld is an avid automobile enthusiast and collector and is rumored to own one of the largest
Porsche collections in the world. He rented out a hangar at the
Santa Monica Airport, in
Santa Monica,
California, for an extended period of time during the 1990s, for storage of some of the vehicles in the collection. After his return to New York City he was involved in an extended dispute with several neighbors over the proposed building of a $1.4 million multi-story garage to contain the cars.
A current tally puts Seinfeld at 46 Porsches. Reporter Paul Bannister reports that his collection includes
Porsche 911s from various years, 10
Porsche Boxsters each painted a different color and the famous 1955
Porsche 550 Spyder, the same model and
pearl-grey color that actor
James Dean was driving when he crashed and died in September 1955 near
Cholame,
California. The centerpiece is a $700,000
Porsche 959, one of only 337 ever built. To his initial despair, he was not allowed to drive it as US emission and crash tests were never performed because Porsche refused to donate four Porsche 959s for destruction tests, rendering the car "not
street-legal". He imported the car "
for exhibition purposes", which stipulates the car may never be driven on American roads.
[34] The car was made US street legal in 1999 under the "Show or Display" federal law.
[35] [36]
In several episodes of
Seinfeld
, Seinfeld drives a
Saab 900 (NG) convertible, but a Porsche-themed painting, depicting a
Porsche 904 GTS race car competing in the 1964
Targa Florio race in
Italy, is visible on a wall in his apartment, as well as a Porsche racing poster featuring a 550 Spyder depicting the 1958 Targa Florio. In another episode, he is seen hiding behind a red Porsche 911RS parked on the street. In addition, an issue of
Excellence
, a Porsche-centered publication, is featured prominently on an outdoor magazine rack in one episode and on at least one occasion he is seen reading an issue of
Road and Track
magazine from circa 1990 with a cover article on the
Porsche 964. He also wrote an article for the February 2004 issue of
Automobile
, reviewing the
Porsche Carrera GT. For the story he was awarded Road Pest - Silver at the 2004 International Automotive Media Awards.
In 2008, it was reported that Seinfeld joined the newly built Monticello Motor Club in Sullivan County, NY.
Credits
Film
| Year
| Film
| Role
| Notes
|
| 1984
| The Ratings Game
| Network Rep
|
|
| 1999
| Pros & Cons
| Prison Man #2
|
|
| 2002
| Comedian
| Himself
|
|
| 2004
| A Uniform Used to Mean Something
| Himself
|
|
| Hindsight Is 20/20
| Himself
|
|
| 2007
| Bee Movie
| Barry Bee Benson
| Voice, Producer
Nominated — Producers Guild of America Award for Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award - Animated
|
Television
| Year
| Title
| Role
| Notes
|
| 1980
| Benson
| Frankie
|
|
| 1989 - 1998
| Seinfeld
| Jerry Seinfeld
| American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (1992, 1993)
Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (1993)
Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1995, 1997, 1998)
Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (1996, 1999)
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1996)
|
| 1997
| NewsRadio
| Himself
|
|
| 2000
| Dilbert
| Comp-U-Comp
|
|
| 2004
| Curb Your Enthusiasm
| Himself
| (cameo)
|
| 2007
| 30 Rock
| Himself
| ("SeinfeldVision")
|
| 2008
| "Hannah Montana"
| Himself
|
|
Writing Credits for Seinfeld
The list below only includes episodes mainly written by Seinfeld, as Jerry and Larry David rewrote the drafts for each episode.
Season 1
- The Seinfeld Chronicles (with Larry David)
- Male Unbonding (with Larry David)
- The Stake Out (with Larry David)
- The Stock Tip (with Larry David)
Season 2
- The Ex-Girlfriend (with Larry David)
- The Pony Remark (with Larry David)
- * Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (1991 - Episode "The Pony Remark")
- The Busboy (with Larry David)
- The Jacket (with Larry David)
- The Chinese Restaurant (with Larry David)
- The Phone Message (with Larry David)
Season 3
- The Stranded (with Larry David and Matt Goldman)
Season 4
- The Shoes (with Larry David)
Season 5
- The Sniffing Accountant (with Larry David)
- The Raincoats (with Larry David, Tom Gammill, and Max Pross)
- The Opposite (with Larry David and Andy Cowan)
Season 6
- The Kiss Hello (with Larry David)
Season 7
- The Cadillac (with Larry David)
References
- Jerry Seinfeld's Biography
- The Paper Trail of Jerry Seinfeld Leads Back to Ellis Island and Beyond
- Jerry Seinfeld's NYC roots started at Ellis Island
- Kornfeld, Michael. "A Single Comedian Is Returning to His Roots", ''The New York Times'', July 23, 1989. Accessed march 6, 2008.
- American Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld in Israel to promote new movie
- Seinfeld's Kibbutz Days
- Jason Alexander did not appear in "The Pen"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus did not appear in the pilot, "The Trip, Part 1", or "The Trip, Part 2"; and Michael Richards did not appear in "The Chinese Restaurant" or "The Pen".
- Seinfeld's commercial
- Seinfeld to Guest Star on 30 Rock - ComingSoon.net
- [1]
- Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/watchtheads/video/newfamily/
- USATODAY.com - A famous funnyman proposes a toast to Broth?
- Toronto movies city arts music clubs food style fun classifieds EYE WEEKLY
- Seinfeld, Sklar Tie Knot - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- Seinfeld: And Baby Makes Three - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- Jerry Seinfeld's a Daddy Once More - Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- A boy for Jerry - People - Entertainment - theage.com.au
- Jerry Seinfeld & Wife Welcome Third Child - Birth, Jerry Seinfeld : People.com
- ''Deceptively Simple'' at HarperCollins.com
- "Jerry Seinfeld's Federal Campaign Contribution Report", ''Newsmeat - America's most popular campaign donor search engine''. Accessed 10 May, 2008.
- Steve Somers bio from ''WFAN.com,'' accessed 7 Oct 2008.
- Kahn, Robert M. "Fiat just part of Seinfeld's fleet", ''Newsday'', April 3, 2008. Accessed April 4, 2008.
- Jennings, Jean. "The real story about Jerry Seinfeld's Mystery Car Crash", ''Automobile Magazine'' Web site, April 5, 2008. Accessed April 6, 2008.
- Chang, Richard S. "Final Word On Seinfeld’s Fiat", ''The New York Times'' Web site, April 9, 2008. Accessed April 23, 2008.
- http://www.tmz.com/2007/10/20/jerry-seinfeld-scientology-made-me-funny/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/19/jerry-seinfeld-on-sciento_n_69104.html
- ''Forbes'' list
- CNN- Seinfeld to end show
- The Celebrity 100 - Forbes.com
- The Celebrity 100 - Forbes.com
- ''TV Guide,'' 7 Sep 2008.
- [1]
- The Comedians
- William Gates III
- How To Import A Motor Vehicle For Show Or Display