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Jerome Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an
American comedian, actor, and writer from Massapequa, New York, a large
community on the south shore of Long Island. Seinfeld is often described as an
observational comedian. He is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of
himself in the long-running sitcom Seinfeld, which he co-created (with Curb Your
Enthusiasm star Larry David) and executive produced.
****
Birth name Jerome Seinfeld
Born April 29, 1954 (age 52)
Brooklyn, New York
Height 5' 11" /1m80[1]
****
Early
life
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents, a
father of Hungarian Jewish background and a mother of Syrian Jewish background.
Seinfeld attended the Birch Lane Elementary School and Massapequa High School.
He then attended the State University of New York at Oswego in upstate New York,
but he transferred out after a few semesters. During his time in college, he was
an amateur wrestler who called himself "The Jewish Terror." Right after
graduation from Queens College, he tried out at an open mic night at New York's
Catch a Rising Star in 1976. He was known for his incredibly dedicated and
devoted work ethic (it is said that Seinfeld traveled in an intense snow storm
to a comedy club just to find it empty). Soon after, Seinfeld appeared in a
Rodney Dangerfield HBO special.
Seinfeld had a small recurring role as "Frankie," a
mail delivery boy who had a slew of comedy routines that no one wanted to hear,
on the Benson sitcom in 1979, but he was abruptly fired from the show.
A few years later, in May of 1981, Seinfeld made a
highly successful appearance on The Tonight Show. Seinfeld then became a regular
on similar shows, 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 and, by its fourth
season, became the most popular and successful sitcom on American television.
The show left the air in 1998. As of 2007, the show 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 inspired by the 1950s sitcom The Abbott and Costello Show.
About his influences, Seinfeld, in his commentary for "The Gymnast" episode on
"Seinfeld, Season 6," said, "He really formed my entire comedic sensibility--I
learned how to do comedy from Jean Shepherd."
Post-Seinfeld
In 1998, Seinfeld went on tour and recorded a
comedy special entitled I'm Telling You for the Last Time. An album of the same
name was also released that year and it featured samples of his stand-up
performance.
After his sitcom went off the air, Seinfeld
returned to stand-up comedy. The process of developing and performing new
material at clubs around the world was chronicled in a 2002 documentary,
Comedian, directed by Christian Charles. His stand-up routine is highly
acclaimed and Jerry was ranked #12 in Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest
Stand-ups of All Time. Jerry Seinfeld has written a few books, mostly archives
of past routines.
Shows like episode 16, "The Chinese Restaurant",
where all that happens is Jerry, George and Elaine wait for a table, would seem
on the surface to support Seinfeld's own charmingly disingenuous statements that
his show is about nothing. On the contrary, in the tradition of "Leave It to
Beaver" or the works of Noel Coward and Jane Austin, "Seinfeld" is a comedy of
manners exploring the foibles of the human condition and has set the tone for
the next generation of sitcoms. Imitators, however, lack an important
ingredient, that of Seinfeld himself. Refusing to play characters and do
impressions from the very beginning of his stand-up career concentrated his
energies on a strong presentation of self, and by allowing the other members of
the sitcom's ensemble to shine brighter, this Everyman comic has become arguably
the greatest straight man since Lou Abbott. In the absence of new episodes,
"Seinfeld" junkies must content themselves with 120 existing shows that may run
forever in syndication.
Seinfeld also appeared in two commercial
'webisodes' promoting American Express Credit Cards, entitled "The Adventures of
Seinfeld and Superman," in which he appeared together with an animated rendering
of Superman (who was referenced in numerous episodes of Seinfeld as Jerry'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 is, in
fact, a true Superman fan in real life.
Apple Computer in the late 1990s 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.[citation needed] This commercial aired only once, during the
series finale of Seinfeld.
Seinfeld had a special appearance on the May 13,
2006 Saturday Night Live episode as Julia Louis-Dreyfus's 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 Jerry Seinfeld was standing on, holding a large pair of
bolt cutters. He angrily muttered something about the curse (apparently angry
that Louis-Dreyfus is not cursed). Louis-Dreyfus then continued to say that she
is indeed not cursed. Seinfeld's look here was different from that on his
sitcom; he sported short hair and a pair of glasses.
He is lending his voice to the DreamWorks project
Bee Movie, which is slated to be released in fall of 2007.
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.
More recently, he wrote a children's book titled
Halloween (2002). The book was illustrated by James Bennett. There are also
several books about both Seinfeld the man and Seinfeld the TV show, but not
written by Jerry Seinfeld himself.
He completed the forewords to Ted L. Nancy's
Letters From A Nut series of books and Ed Broth's Stories From A Moron. Both
authors are rumored to be pseudonyms for Seinfeld or a friend of his. Neither
Nancy or 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, although Broth did not arrive to the event. [1].
Seinfeld also wrote the foreword to the Peanut
Butter & Co. Cookbook, from his favorite sandwich shop in New York City.
Family
He was born into a Jewish family, and he considers
himself a secular Jew despite a short involvement with Scientology.
He began dating Jessica Sklar after they met at the
Reebok Sports Club, even though she had just married Eric Nederlander, a scion
of the Broadway theater-owning family. Seinfeld and Sklar married on December
25, 1999. They have three children: daughter Sascha (born November 7, 2000), son
Julian Kal (born March 1, 2003), and son Shepherd Kellen (born August 22, 2005).
His son Julian's middle name, Kal, is the first name of his father, Kal
Seinfeld.
On an episode of The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart
remarked on the fact that Jerry didn't 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 then jokingly said, "Well, I would keep my last name, so as not to
offend my parents, and I would have to go with Jesus."
Personal income
Seinfeld received US$267 million during 1998
according to Forbes magazine ([2]), making him the highest-earning celebrity
that year. Even though the sitcom ended in May 1998, Seinfeld still generates
more revenue, through syndication, than most current shows. It is believed that
Jerry has earned more money for the portrayal of a single character than any
other actor. [citation needed] He reportedly turned down $5 million per episode
(for 22 episodes) to continue the show beyond its final season.
Car
collection
Seinfeld is an avid automobile enthusiast and
collector. However, unlike fellow comedian Jay Leno, he is far more focused—he
is rumored to own one of the largest Porsche collections in the world. He rented
out an entire 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 he was involved in an extended
dispute with several neighbors over the proposed building of a massive $1.4
million multistory garage to contain the cars.
A current tally puts Seinfeld at 47 Porsches.
Reporter Paul Bannister reports that Seinfield’s collection includes 911s from
various years, 10 Boxsters each painted a different color, and the famous (some
would say infamous) 1955 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[citation needed]. The center piece is a $700,000 Porsche
959, one of only 200 ever built. To Seinfeld's despair, he is not allowed to
drive it as U.S. emission and crash tests were never performed because Porsche
refused to donate four 959s for destruction tests (rendering the car "not street
legal"). Seinfeld imported the car "for exhibition purposes", which stipulates
the car may never set rubber on American roads (Paul Bannister, The Comedians,
p.74-75).
In several episodes of his sitcom he uses a Saab
900 (NG) convertible, but a Porsche themed painting (depicting a 904 GTS race
car competing in the 1964 Targa Florio race in Italy) is visible on a wall in
his apartment. In addition, an issue of Excellence magazine, a Porsche-centered
publication, is featured prominently on an outdoor magazine rack in one episode,
and on at least one occasion Seinfeld 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 February 2004 issue of Automobile Magazine, reviewing the Porsche
Carrera GT. For the story Seinfeld was awarded Road Test - Silver at the 2004
International Automotive Media Awards (no Gold award was given).
Trivia
Seinfeld is also an avid New York Mets fan and
often calls into Steve Somers on WFAN as Jerry from Queens.[citation needed]
According to the DVD commentary, Jerry, in real
life does eat a significant amount of cereal as he does in the show.
At one time while in his 30's he dated 17 year old
high school student Shoshanna Lonstein.[3]
He also has the largest sneaker collection[citation
needed], supposedly he has worn a different sneaker pair in every Seinfeld
episode[citation needed]. His collection is thought to be over 300
pairs.[citation needed]
References
1.
http://www.celebheights.com/s/Jerry-Seinfeld-1137.html
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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