Character Guide to Seinfeld

In 2004, renowned sit com king Jerry Seinfeld made a contribution to the exhibits at the National Museum of American History. This museum contains, among other things, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired F.S. Key to pen the American National Anthem, a sword belonging George Washington and a Vietnam era helicopter.

What donation could a stand up comic make to these culturally and historically significant artifacts? A shirt. A puffy shirt.

The puffy shirt joins a large assemblage of items, phrases, and goofy ideals spawned from Seinfeld, the beloved show that ran from 1989 to 1998. Yada Yada, marble rye bread, Junior Mints, a high-talker, the red dot, Pez, the bubble boy, non-fat yogurt, the Big Salad and Drake's Coffee Cake all are but a sampling of Seinfeld's far reaching phenomena. The addition of the puffy shirt to pop-culture lore is an example of the show's sweeping popularity and recognition.

The eponymous series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, who starred as a fictionalized version of himself. The show was predominantly set in an apartment block on New York City's Upper West Side, and was named by TV Guide in 2002 as the "greatest American television program of all time." Not bad for a show about "nothing."

Here is a brief character guide of the primary and some reoccurring supporting roles.

Jerry Seinfeld, as Himself

Jerry plays a single and fairly successful comedian living in New York City. Jerry and his close companions, Elaine, George and Kramer, neurotically go through every day life, encountering situations we all can relate to. Jerry questions the diminutive tidbits of daily living, fixatedly analyzing each situation and each person, without ever getting too close emotionally. Jerry's apartment is the epicenter for a variety of discussions and debates over what Elaine once called the "excruciating minutia" of daily life.

He is a self proclaimed "clean-freak," and despite an obvious attempt to be the "voice of reason" among the chaotic incidents in his friend's lives, he is both immature and self-centered.

Jerry's romantic involvements are well documented. Most of his female connections are superficial and relatively short, as Jerry's short-sighted and narcissistic thinking eventually cause him to either look for reasons to break off the relationship, or cause him to get dumped. Despite his inability to carry on a meaningful relationship with the opposite sex, he has maintained a close friendship with Elaine, and manages to remain optimistic about most things.

Elaine Marie Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)

Elaine is Jerry's sole female constant, and dated Jerry at one time. They remain close friends, and together they set up a system of rules that would allow them to have guilt-free sex. Elaine is clever and sharp, yet makes poor life choices, especially in the area of finding a suitable boyfriend. At times, Elaine tries to elevate herself out of the juvenile arena that Jerry, George and Kramer are caught in, only to find herself falling right back into the mix with her self-indulgent and silly friends.

Unlike the other three main characters, Elaine is not native to NYC. She grew up in Baltimore, MD. Elaine has had a variety of jobs, including an editor at a publishing company, a personal assistant and a contributor to a catalog clothing company. She has strong opinions on matters such as abortion and animals rights, but her convictions conflict with her misanthropic personality. She is also a very, very bad dancer.

George Louis Costanza (Jason Alexander)

Like any sit-com or cartoon sidekick, George is the subordinate cohort to Jerry. They are close friends, perhaps best friends, having gone to grade school together and carried that association into adult life. George has been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted bald man." He is an excellent liar, even crediting his ability to be dishonest on the spur of the moment as a seemingly virtuous quality. George always tries to make himself out to be better than he really is, but his pretenses always come up short, leaving him depressed and unhappy.

George is overanxious, phobic and lacks self esteem. No doubt his parents, Frank and Estelle, have played into this. George is subjugated by his parents, demoted into a childish role when around them. Nevertheless, George did find some financial success while being employed with the New York Yankees as an "Assistant to the Traveling Secretary." This was after he explored employment as a real estate agent, hand model and bra salesman. He also worked with a playground equipment and an industrial smoothing company. Like Jerry, he has had numerous relationships of varying success, the most notable being Susan Ross, whom he was briefly engaged to.

Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards)

Kramer is Jerry's neighbor. Their relationship is essentially based on Kramer's mooching and vicarious association with Jerry, and Jerry's tolerance of Kramer's antics. Kramer is unschooled, energetic and clumsy. At times, it is also revealed that he can be compassionate and even poetic. His personality is the most diverse of the four main characters. He has no visible means of support, having inherited some type of funds from an unrevealed source.

Kramer is known for his extreme and brutal honesty, and his corresponding lack of tact. His clothing and sense of style is clearly vintage, both a source of ridicule and an apparent attraction to some women. He is known for his extravagant entrances into Jerry's apartment, his bazaar beliefs, his inventions, and the lumbering, ungainly way he carries himself.

He is a problem gambler, and is always looking to litigate in order to cash in on any trivial wrongdoing. Kramer is also an aspiring actor, having left the city for a time to pursue that field in Los Angeles.

Newman (Wayne Knight)

Newman is also Jerry's neighbor from down the hall. He is Jerry's rival in many ways, although the source of their feud was never revealed. The two share a troublesome relationship; however they have collaborated on occasion. Newman maintains his job with the U.S. Postal Service throughout the show, but is lazy and unmotivated in his work and in his life.

Newman is a slob and a tattle-tail, but is consulted at times as a source of wisdom by both Kramer and Elaine. He is closest to Kramer, has a crush on Elaine and has very little to do with George.

Morty and Helen Seinfeld (Phil Bruns / Barney Martin, Liz Sheridan)

Morty and Helen are Jerry's Jewish parents. They are retired, and live in Florida for the majority of the show. They are both concerned for Jerry financially, and try to help him in various ways, which offends Jerry. Morty is a retired raincoat salesman. He is crotchety at times, but always sticks up for his son. Helen is in many ways a very normal motherly figure, feeling that her son can do no wrong.

Frank and Estelle Costanza (John Randolph / Jerry Stiller, Estelle Harris)

Frank and Estelle are George's peculiar parents. They are both known for their frequent arguments and eccentric beliefs. Frank and Estelle raised George as an only child, and their pesky nagging continues to irk George. Frank is loud and abrasive, served in the Korean War, speaks Korean, and has an acute fear of rodents. Estelle is bossy and insufferable. Both Frank and Estelle feel that Morty and Helen are snobbish; Morty and Helen equally dislike the Costanzas.

Uncle Leo (Len Lesser)

Helen's brother and Jerry's annoying Uncle. Leo puts much importance on greetings, and is often heard complaining that Jerry did not say hello to him. He is eccentric as well, and has a fixation that others are anti-Semitic towards him. Leo frequently brags about his son who works for the Parks Department, although he was never seen in the show.

Susan Biddle Ross (Heidi Swedberg)

Susan was an NBC executive who dated George, agreed to marry him, and then died from licking a toxic adhesive on cheap wedding invitation envelopes that George picked out. After initially dating George, Susan experimented with a lesbian relationship, much to George's concern. Susan comes from a wealthy family, something that George did not fully understand until after her death and once he was forcibly appointed to a board position for a foundation created in her honor.

Jacopo Peterman (John O'Hurley)

Elaine's one time boss and owner of the J.Peterman line of catalog clothing. He is pompous yet fun, and likes to think of himself as an exotic traveler, searching the world for different styles and fabrics. Elaine briefly took over the catalog after Peterman suffered a nervous breakdown and fled to Burma.

David Puddy (Patrick Warburton)

Puddy is Elaine's intermittent boyfriend. Elaine is attracted to him because of his manly looks, yet frequently disgusted at the same time due to his dense personality and idiocy. Because of this, Puddy and Elaine break up and reunite frequently, which becomes a recurring theme throughout the show. Puddy is an auto-mechanic, has firm religious beliefs that surprise Elaine, and is a recovering "germaphobe."

Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris)

An attorney and Kramer's lawyer, known both for his ostentatious personality and turgid way of speaking. Chiles represents Kramer in four different suits, against a coffee company, the heiress to O'Henry candy bars, the tobacco companies and in the series finale when the four main characters are accused of breaking Massachusetts Good Samaritan Law.

Kenny Bania (Steve Hytner)

A fellow comic along with Jerry. Kenny rides Jerry's coattails not only in the comedic field but in other areas of life as well. Jerry calls him a "hack," and yet at one point decides to take him under his wing as his protégé. Kenny is annoying, and is known to enthusiastically label things as the "worst," the "best" or "gold."

Other notable characters who have at least five appearances on the show are Sue Ellen Mischke (Brenda Strong), the "braless wonder" and O'Henry heiress, Mickey Abbott (Danny Woodburn), Kramer's little person acting buddy, George Steinbrenner (voiced by show co-creator Larry David), New York Yankee owner, Justin Pitt (Ian Abercombie), Elaine's demanding boss, Tim Whatley (Bryan Cranston), Jerry's dentist, Mr. Wilhelm (Richard Herd), George's supervisor from the Yankees, Mr. Lippman (Harris Shore / Richard Fancy), Elaine's boss at Pendant Publishing, Russell Dalrymple (Bob Balaban), NBC President, and Larry (Lawrence Mandeley), the manager and cook at Monk's Cafe.