The television show Seinfeld was known for featuring many characters, each with their own special quirks.
Contents |
Character | # of episodes | Actor | Character description |
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Ruthie Cohen | 101 | Ruth Cohen | A middle-aged cashier at Monk's cafe whom George accused of stealing a $20 bill from him. She can be seen in the background as the cashier at Monk's in almost every episode that has Monk's cafe in it. |
Newman | 48 | Wayne Knight | Fellow tenant in Jerry and Kramer's apartment building. Overweight U.S. Postal Worker and Jerry's nemesis. Associate in many of Kramer's schemes. Likes Drake's Coffee Cake and Chunky Candy Bars. Jerry greets him with a disdainful "Hello, Newman" each time they meet. In The Raincoats, Helen Seinfeld speaks to Newman with the same tone. In "The Revenge," we hear only Newman's voice, which was originally voiced by Larry David and rerecorded for syndication. His first name appears to be known by none of the characters, even his employer -- in The Package his business card gave his name merely as "NEWMAN". A minor character calls him "Norman" in "The Bottle Deposit", but this is usually assumed to be a mistake on the part of the character, rather than a revelation of Newman's first name. |
Frank Costanza | 29 | Jerry Stiller (John Randolph) | George's father. Eccentric and very quick to anger. Former cook in the Army and detests removing his shoes in other people's homes. Speaks Korean. Inventor of the holiday Festivus. Co-creator of the manssiere. Hired a lawyer who wears a cape. |
Estelle Costanza | 29 | Estelle Harris | George's obnoxious and melodramatic mother. Constantly questions Frank and George's actions. Enjoys playing Mahjong. George claims that she has never laughed. |
Susan Ross | 29 | Heidi Swedberg | George's fiancee. Daughter of rich parents. Briefly experimented with lesbianism, and worked for NBC before getting fired, both apparently results of her relationship with George. Died from licking cheap, toxic wedding invitation envelopes that George bought. |
Morty Seinfeld | 24 | Barney Martin (Phil Bruns) | Jerry's father. Has strong convictions. Fittingly, he spent some time as politician in his Florida retirement community. During his working years he sold raincoats with Harry Fleming and was the inventor of the "belt-less trench-coat." Hates velcro because of "that tearing sound". |
Helen Seinfeld | 24 | Liz Sheridan | Jerry's mother. Often needed to provide reason to Jerry's and Morty's eccentric lifestyle. The only Secondary Character to appear in all nine seasons. |
Jacopo Peterman | 22 | John O'Hurley | Elaine's boss and the founder of The J. Peterman Company. Eccentric world-traveler. Once fired Elaine on suspicion of opium addiction after she failed a drug test due to a poppy seed muffin and again for her dislike for the film, The English Patient. According to O'Hurley, Peterman's manner of speaking is inspired by "'40s radio drama, combined with a bit of a bad Charles Kuralt."[1] |
George Steinbrenner | 16 | Larry David (voice), Lee Bear | George's boss. Depicted as rambling, hard-nosed owner of the New York Yankees whose face is never seen. |
Uncle Leo | 15 | Len Lesser | Jerry's uncle. Brother of Helen Seinfeld. A bit of an old coot. Has a son, Jeffrey, who works in the NYC Parks Department. Is very keen on Jerry stopping to say "hello." Often when something doesn't go the way he wants it to, he attributes it to anti-Semitism. He was once convicted of a "crime of passion." |
Matt Wilhelm | 12 | Richard Herd | George's supervisor at New York Yankees. Briefly abducted by a carpet-cleaning cult (by the name of S-men), Wilhelm later leaves the Yankees to become head scout for the New York Mets. |
David Puddy | 11 | Patrick Warburton | Elaine's on-again-off-again boyfriend. Unflappable and calm, yet can be a surprisingly passionate individual at times (usually as a result of something Elaine has said). A bit of an airhead and likes to stare into space. Used to be an auto mechanic (considered by Jerry as the only honest mechanic in New York) but later became a car salesman. Dislikes the term "grease monkey." A recovering mysophobe, Born again Christian, and a face painting New Jersey Devils fan. Also, he loves Arby's. |
Mr. Lippman | 11 | Harris Shore, Richard Fancy | Elaine's boss at Pendant Publishing. Later, he opens a bakery named "Top of the muffin to you!" that sells only the tops of muffins, stealing the idea from Elaine. Enjoys cigars and botches a big account with the Japanese due to a nasty cold and no handkerchief to sneeze into. |
Justin Pitt | 8 | Ian Abercrombie | Elaine's second boss. Extremely wealthy business owner. He is a very picky individual and nearly impossible to please. Eats his Snickers bars with a knife and fork and prefers to wear white knee socks. Fired Elaine after he became convinced she had tried to murder him using a deadly drug interaction, using Jerry as accomplice. |
Mickey Abbott | 7 | Danny Woodburn | A quick-tempered little person actor. Typically appears with his friend Kramer. Becomes violent if referred to as a "midget." Often appears in roles as children or elves (with Kramer at a department store). In The Race, it is revealed that he has two college-age children, and in "The Yada Yada" that he has been married three times. |
Russell Dalrymple | 7 | Bob Balaban | The president of NBC who works with Jerry and George on a television pilot. Had teenage daughter played by Denise Richards, who was ogled by George and Jerry. Becomes obsessed with Elaine and quits NBC to join Greenpeace in order to impress her. He falls off a small dinghy whilst chasing a whaling ship. His crewmates (one of which played by Larry David) cannot find him in the dark waters, and he subsequently perishes at sea. |
Crazy Joe Davola | 6 | Peter Crombie | Writer for NBC who suffers from mental problems. Attacked Kramer, blames Jerry for misfortunes, dated and stalked Elaine Benes. Depressed that Elaine rejected him, he dressed up like the clown from the opera Pagliacci and beats up several street toughs who antagonize him. Likes to leave his door open to "encourage intruders". |
Kenny Bania | 7 | Steve Hytner | Stand-up comedian considered a 'hack' by Jerry and other comedians. Jerry especially dislikes him because he uses Jerry's act to warm up his audience. Ovaltine is a main topic of his acts (Jerry- "He thinks anything that dissolves in milk is funny"). Obsessed with eating dinner at Mendy's Restaurant. |
Dugan | 6 | Joe Urla | Co-worker of Elaine at J. Peterman. Thinks that no one should make fun of pigs. |
Jackie Chiles | 6 | Phil Morris | Kramer's eccentric lawyer. A very successful lawyer, but has had bad luck when representing Kramer. Favorite sayings are "Outrageous! Egregious! Preposterous!" Parody of Johnnie Cochran. |
Larry | 6 | Lawrence Mandley | The manager and/or owner of Monk's Cafe, often antagonized by the foursome's antics. Occasionally brandishes a gold earring. |
Jack Klompus | 6 | Sandy Baron | Short tempered resident of Phase Two of the Pines of Mar Gables who seems to consistently have a grudge against Morty Seinfeld. Has a cool astronaut pen that he gives to Jerry out of duress. Gets a "sweetheart deal" from Jerry for Morty's Cadillac, then subsequently drives it into a marsh. |
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