Jerry Seinfeld
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Quirk, conventional wisdom, and the embrace of life’s 
conundrums were cornerstone to the show everyone loves—Seinfeld. Not just a “show about nothing”, the Seinfeld series was charming, silly, spastic and, of course, funny. Jerry Seinfeld, co-creator of the show, comedian, and actor, influenced the show’s premise and contributed significantly to the comedic nature of the show. Jerry, as character and as cast, arguably anchored the show and made Seinfeld the sitcom spectacular hit of the 90s.
Jerry Seinfeld as his character on Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld (also mistakenly referred to as “Jerry Sienfeld” or “Jerry Sienfeld”) played a self-absorbed, loveable 30-something comedian living on Manhattan. He was just another quirky, charming comic showing promise on the New York City circuit. Seinfeld’s knack for the idiotic made audiences across the globe fall in love with his reasonable-yet-willowy character. Normally to be despised, Jerry Seinfeld related to audiences in ways other characters of the 90s simply could not. Was it so unrealistic to think viewers were just as self-focused, impractical, and yet completely normal?
Jerry’s idiosyncrasies
Jerry is one of the most “normal” characters on the show. He shows reasonable behavior and is generally
considered the voice of reason among other chaotic characters. He is fairly well-balanced and more or less successful in his career, love life, and friend life.
However, in “The Bizarro Jerry”, viewers get another glimpse of Jerry’s personality. In this episode, Jerry’s insecurities become evident when Kramer takes up a fake job and finds little time to join in the group’s misadventures. Jerry’s panic becomes even more obvious when Elaine declares “The whole system is breaking down!”
In another episode, “The Rye”, Elaine gets exasperated with Jerry’s perceived simplicity in life. After all, perception is reality, is it not? Elaine exclaims, “You know, one of these days, something terrible is going to happen to you!” Jerry, in his calm delivery, replies, “No, I’ll be fine.”
The overall “Jerry”
Jerry Seinfeld, the character, lived in a wonderfully worn-in apartment on his own in Manhattan. The love of his life was comedy alone—that’s not to say he didn’t have whirlwind, albeit funny, romances. Jerry was the voice of reason among his four supporting friends: George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer.
Jerry was able to view the chaos around him, yet remain objective while misadventures took place around him. Not an angry character, Jerry was generally satisfied with his life and felt grounded in his beliefs and surroundings.
Jerry Seinfeld as a cast member
Jerry Seinfeld was also a comedian in real-life; therefore, it was hard to differentiate the lines between Jerry Seinfeld as a character with the authentic Jerry Seinfeld as a person. Therefore, his semi-fictionalized character was blurred with his real-life persona—all the more fun for fans of the show.
Jerry pre-Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld was born April 29, 1954 in Massapequa, Long Island (as Jerry would say, Indian for “by the mall”). Just as his character in Seinfeld, Jerry spent a great deal of time traveling as a stand-up comic following the New York City circuit, and then touring nationally.
Prior to his comedic career, Jerry was a television actor—albeit briefly—for a show named Benson in the early 80s. After he was thoughtfully dismissed from the show, Jerry returned to his love of stand-up comedy. In little time, he became wildly followed, which paved the way for his pilot sitcom television show—you got it, Seinfeld—that followed a few short years later.
Jerry post-Seinfeld
In his career, Jerry has been successful in other showbiz productions including The Bee Movie, which was a hugely popular children’s animated feature film that premiered in 2007. Bee Movie was an inspirational heartstring-tugger that brought to light human affect on the bee population of the world. The movie was well-received by most critics, even though a few whistleblowers criticized the film for being “non-Seinfeld” in quirkiness or idiocy.
Is there any chance for one last episode of Seinfeld? Curb Your Enthusiasm fans are begging, but they’ll have to settle for the aforementioned show as a quick fix. In 2000, Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld, launched Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s a funny show, and many Seinfeld fans have become diehard fans. But, is it a Seinfeld quick fix? No—but we’ll settle for the band-aid nevertheless.
