List of Seinfeld minor characters

The television show Seinfeld was known for featuring many characters with special quirks.

Secondary characters

Character frequency

Character # of episodes Actor Character description
Ruthie Cohen 101 Ruth Cohen A cashier at Monk's Café whom George once 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 features the interior of the cafe as a setting.
Newman 48 Wayne Knight Fellow tenant in Jerry and Kramer's apartment building. An overweight U.S. Postal Worker and Jerry's nemesis. He is a good friend of Kramer and an associate in many of his schemes, and likes Drake's Coffee Cake and Chunky Candy Bars, and has a strong distaste for broccoli, which he considers to be a "vile weed". A trademark of the show is that Jerry greets him with a contemptuous disdainful "Hello... Newman" each time they meet. In The Raincoats, Helen Seinfeld automatically addresses Newman with the same tone. In "The Revenge", only Newman's voice is heard, 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 actress/character, rather than any revelation of Newman's first name. Newman himself is petty and vindictive (and prone to hysteria), and often depicted as a stereotypical "evil genius", which is usually undermined in some way. Though he greatly resents Jerry, he is shown to be willing to work with him at times, but will return later to wreak havoc on his social life, though Jerry often gets the last word. Jerry's exasperation, or epiphany involving Newman will cause him to clench his fist and mutter "Newman!" under his breath.

Frank Costanza 29 Jerry Stiller, John Randolph George's Italian Catholic father. Utterly deranged and very quick to anger. Former cook in the Army and detests removing his shoes in other people's homes. Because of his work as a businessman traveling to Korea, he speaks Korean. He invents the holiday Festivus, as a reaction to cultural commercialism of Christmas, and of which George has few fond memories. He has a phobia of spending silver dollars. His lawyer wears a cape.
Estelle Costanza 29 Estelle Harris George's highly obnoxious and melodramatic Jewish mother. She constantly squabbles with Frank and George about their actions, but is the closest thing to reason in the Costanza household. Enjoys playing Mahjong. George claims she has never laughed, ever.
Susan Ross 29 Heidi Swedberg George's on-off girlfriend and later fiancee, and the daughter of wealthy parents. She 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 George bought during their engagement. George initially shows little remorse at her demise despite her devotion to him, which backfires when he is tied to a charity foundation dedicated to her and realizes had they been married, he would have inherited her considerable wealth and possess vast amounts of money.
Morty Seinfeld 24 Phil Bruns, Barney Martin Jerry's father. He has strong, if sometimes outdated convictions about business and the way of the world. Fittingly, he spent some time as a 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". He hates velcro because of "that tearing sound". He occasionally plays into the Jewish stereotype of being extremely mindful of money, once calculating the interest and lost value of $50 that was owed several decades ago. However, he engages in frequent disputes with Jerry over money, refusing to let his son pay for anything in his presence, particularly restaurant checks.
Helen Seinfeld 24 Liz Sheridan Jerry's mother. Often needed to provide reason to Jerry's and Morty's eccentric lifestyle, though overprotective of Jerry and often refuses point-blank to do anything that would place him at inconvenience. She is the only secondary character to appear in all nine seasons.
Jacopo "J" Peterman 22 John O'Hurley Elaine's boss and the founder of The J. Peterman Company. Eccentric adventurer and world-traveler. Once fired Elaine on suspicion of opium addiction after she failed a drug test because of a poppy seed muffin and again for her dislike for the film The English Patient. According to O'Hurley, Peterman's distinctive 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), Mitch Mitchell, Lee Bear George's boss. Depicted as a rambling, unpredictable and 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, whom he mentions at every opportunity. 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. He appears to suffer from symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
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). There is little ambiguity as to his status as 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. Loves Arby's. Known for his trademark line, delivered in monotone, "Yeah, that's right."
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. He becomes obsessed with Elaine and quits NBC to join Greenpeace in order to impress her. He falls off a small dinghy while chasing a whaling ship. His crewmates (one of whom was played by Larry David) cannot find him in the dark waters, and he subsequently perishes at sea.
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"). He has curious views on food, and is obsessed with eating dinner at Mendy's Restaurant.
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 going as far as taking photographs of her around town and even in her apartment with a telescopic lense. 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".
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 but highly efficient lawyer. Although very successful, he has had bad luck when representing Kramer. Favorite sayings are "Outrageous! Egregious! Preposterous!" Parody of Johnnie Cochran. After the group is convicted in the finale, Jackie confirms that Sidra, Jerry's ex-girlfriend, has physical features that are not only real, but also "spectacular".
Larry 6 Lawrence Mandley The sour 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.

Other characters appearing in 5 or more episodes

Characters appearing in 2 to 4 episodes

Unseen characters

Imaginary characters and pseudonyms

References

  1. ↑ Adventurer: Seinfeld's J. Peterman. Forbes.com Video Network. Retrieved Jun 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Seinfeld" The Stakeout (TV Episode 1990) - IMDb
  3. ↑ Somer, Jared; Somer, Adam. "Cousin Jeffrey: He Works for the Parks Department". Unofficial Seinfeld Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2012-06-30.

External links

Seinfeld at the Internet Movie Database