Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld has been married to author and philanthropist Jessica Seinfeld since December 25, 1999. They have three children: daughter Sascha and sons Julian and Shepherd. Comedian George Wallace was the best man at their wedding.

Seinfeld's parents were Betty Hesney and Kalman Seinfeld, a commercial sign maker with a strong interest in humor. He has an older sister, Carolyn. His family moved from Brooklyn to Massapequa on Long Island during his childhood, and he later attended Massapequa High School.

Seinfeld developed an interest in comedy during childhood and studied comedians closely. He attended the State University of New York at Oswego before transferring to Queens College of the City University of New York, where he earned a degree in communications and theater in 1976.

After graduating, he made his stand-up debut at an open-mic night at New York City's Catch a Rising Star. He continued performing in clubs and Catskills resorts, and an appearance on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special helped raise his profile. His appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1981 gave him his first national exposure, and by the late 1980s he was one of the most prominent stand-up comedians in the United States.

In 1988, Seinfeld teamed with fellow comedian Larry David to create The Seinfeld Chronicles for NBC. The series was renamed Seinfeld and premiered the following year. Seinfeld played a fictionalized version of himself and also served as a producer, writer, and co-creator.

The sitcom centered on loosely structured stories and seemingly ordinary events in Manhattan life. Its main ensemble included Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, Jason Alexander as George Costanza, and Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer. Seinfeld ran for nine seasons, became one of the most watched and acclaimed sitcoms in the United States, and helped move catchphrases and plot elements into popular culture. Seinfeld was the only actor to appear in every episode.

The series earned Seinfeld a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy. The cast later reunited with Larry David for a multi-episode story in the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

After Seinfeld ended in 1998, Seinfeld returned to stand-up comedy and toured clubs and theaters. His work during this period was documented in the 2002 film Comedian. His stand-up specials include Stand-Up Confidential (1987), I'm Telling You for the Last Time (1998), Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017), and 23 Hours to Kill (2020).

Seinfeld wrote SeinLanguage in 1993, the children's book Halloween in 2002, and Is This Anything? in 2020. The latter collected comedic material from across his career. He also co-wrote and produced Bee Movie (2007), providing the voice of Barry B. Benson.

He created and produced The Marriage Ref, which ran from 2010 to 2011, before launching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee in 2012. The series featured Seinfeld speaking with comedians including Larry David, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Eddie Murphy, and Barack Obama. It first aired on Crackle and later moved to Netflix, where it received three Webby Awards.

In 2024, Seinfeld made his feature-film directorial debut with Unfrosted, a satirical comedy about the creation of Pop-Tarts. He co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the film as Bob Cabana, appearing alongside Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, and Hugh Grant.

His other screen appearances include the documentary Comedian, guest roles as himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, and 30 Rock, and the voice role of Barry B. Benson in Bee Movie. He also returned to Curb Your Enthusiasm in its final season, reuniting with Larry David.

Seinfeld's comedy is centered on observational humor, with routines about everyday behavior, social awkwardness, popular culture, and ordinary frustrations. His clean, often deadpan style helped make small details of daily life a central subject of mainstream stand-up.

The approach also shaped Seinfeld, whose stories treated minor conflicts and mundane situations as the basis for comedy. The series influenced later comedians and television writers, while performers including John Mulaney, Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Gaffigan, Issa Rae, Nate Bargatze, and Mark Normand have identified Seinfeld's work as an influence.