The cast of 'Seinfeld': Where are they now?

Aside from cameos, Jerry Seinfeld’s biggest projects after “Seinfeld” were 2007’s “Bee Movie” (an animated comedy he co-wrote, co-produced and starring in), “The Marriage Ref” (a short-lived reality show co-created by Seinfeld)  and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” The latter — a talk show set in various cars and eateries — is slated to air its 11th season later this year. Seinfeld, often ranked among the top comics of all time, also returned to his stand-up roots as soon as his hit sitcom ended. In fact, he released an Emmy-nominated stand-up special, “I’m Telling You for the Last Time,” in the same year — and he continues touring to this day.

Jason Alexander had a hard time shaking off the iconic George Costanza character after “Seinfeld” wrapped in 1998, so he mostly did voice work on shows like “Hercules” and “Dilbert” as well as live-action roles on “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Friends” and “Malcolm in the Middle” and a few films like “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle” (2000) and “Shallow Hal” (2001). Alexander seems to find more work with each passing year, and recently he could be seen or heard on “The Simpsons,” “Drunk History,” “Kody Kapow,” “Young Sheldon,” “The Orville” and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (where he reprised the George character).

“Watching Ellie,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ first post-”Seinfeld” sitcom, was a total bust. However, her next sitcom, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (which earned Louis-Dreyfus an Emmy) and her occasional appearances on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” eventually landed the actress the lead on the HBO comedy “Veep.” "Veep" was an instant critical darling and fan favorite that has amassed 17 Emmys, including six straight Emmy wins for Louis-Dreyfus. The actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, but she beat the disease and filmed the seventh and final season of “Veep” in 2018, with the last episodes airing earlier this year.

Although the character of Cosmo Kramer was based on a real person, Michael Richards made him into the iconic figure we all know today. After winning three Emmys for the role, Richards seemed destined for a long-lasting career, but “The Michael Richards Show” was canceled after only a few episodes, and the funnyman’s return to stand-up was marred by a 2006 incident in which he hurled racial slurs at heckling audience members. Richards apologized and temporarily disappeared from the spotlight, only reemerging to poke fun at the incident on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” years later in 2009. Since then, his only roles have been cameos, playing a primary character on Kirstie Alley’s short-lived sitcom “Kirstie” in 2013 and a supporting role in the rom-com film “Faith, Hope & Love” earlier this year.

Before “Seinfeld,” Wayne Knight already owned a few big-name credits, including the films “Dirty Dancing” (1986), “JFK” (1991) and “Basic Instinct” (1992). After earning the role of Jerry’s nemesis Newman, Knight landed roles in the blockbusters “Jurassic Park” (1993), “Space Jam” (1996) and “Toy Story 2” (1999), in addition to numerous other films. He also had extended stints on “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “The Second Half,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “The Exes” as well as voice work on “Toonsylvania,” “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command,” “Xiaolin Showdown” and “Catscratch.” Now 63, Knight still acts regularly, mostly on TV, including a recent role on “Legend of the Three Caballeros” and the mini-series “The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.”

Jerry Stiller began his career in the “Stiller and Meara” comedy team alongside his late wife, Anne Meara. With a couple of exceptions, Stiller mostly had one-off TV appearances until playing George’s dad, Frank Costanza, on “Seinfeld.” He later starred in “The King of Queens” with Kevin James and Leah Remini, in addition to dozens of other TV credits and films like “Zoolander” (2001), “The Heartbreak Kid” (2007) and “Zoolander 2” (2016) alongside his son, Ben Stiller. Jerry Stiller doesn’t act anymore, but he’s alive and well at age 92.

Despite beginning her career in 1977, Estelle Harris only appeared in a handful of films and TV shows before getting cast as George’s mother on “Seinfeld.” Showing off her bubbly personality and unique, high-pitched voice on a major sitcom subsequently earned her a ton of both live-action and voice roles, including playing Muriel on “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” the voice of Lula on “Dave the Barbarian” and Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise. Harris turned 91 earlier this year and recently broke out of retirement by reprising her aforementioned role for “Toy Story 4.”

Prior playing Jerry’s dad on “Seinfeld,” Barney Martin was known best for his role in Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” and his tenures on “The Tony Randall Show,” “Zorro and Son,” “Sydney,” “Murphy Brown” and “Life Goes On.” He was also an Air Force navigator and an NYPD officer for 20 years! After “Seinfeld,” Martin only had four more acting roles: He appeared in the TV movie “I Married a Monster” and on the shows “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command,” “Noah Knows Best” and “Center of the Universe.” In 2005, Barney Martin died at the age of 82. 

Liz Sheridan owned dozens of film and TV credits before being cast as Jerry’s mom on “Seinfeld.” She continued to act for another decade and added another dozen roles to her career after the sitcom concluded, including stints on “ALF,” Numb3rs” and “American Dad!” Sheridan retired from acting in 2010 and recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

Unsurprisingly, John O’Hurley began his acting career in multiple soap operas before getting cast as Elaine’s eccentric boss, J. Peterman, on “Seinfeld.” His repertoire subsequently expanded to include comedies, and O’Hurley has been working steadily ever since. In addition to live-action roles, the actor does plenty of voice work and often handles hosting duties for various shows and events — including “Family Feud” for four years and the National Dog Show every year since 2002.

Larry David was, of course, the co-creator of “Seinfeld” along with fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld, but David also had a few cameos on the show — such as playing Frank Costanza’s cape-wearing friend and the cashier who wouldn’t accept George’s lipstick-adorned $20 bill — and he routinely provided the voice of George Steinbrenner. After “Seinfeld,” David moved to HBO and created and starred in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” another incredibly popular sitcom about nothing, which will air a highly anticipated 10th season in 2020.

Len Lesser was an established character actor who first broke into Hollywood with bit parts in a staggering number of films and TV shows, including classics like “Get Smart,” “The Rockford Files,” “The Munsters” and “All in the Family.” People today know him best for playing Uncle Leo on “Seinfeld” and possibly as Garvin on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” although he continued to find plenty of work even while shooting these shows. Lesser’s final role was a 2009 appearance on the ABC crime series “Castle.” He died two years later at the age of 88.

Richard Herd appeared in dozens of films and TV shows like “The Rockford Files,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “M*A*S*H,” “Dallas,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and a major role on “T.J. Hooker” prior to playing George’s boss and New York Yankees executive Mr. Wilhelm on “Seinfeld.” Herd’s career continued to stay busy during and after “Seinfeld” and included roles on “Star Trek: Voyager,” “NYPD Blue” and “Desperate Housewives.” More recently, Herd could be seen on “Shameless” and “Hawaii Five-0” as well as in Jordan Peele’s film “Get Out” (2017) and Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” (2018).

When he was cast on “Seinfeld” as Elaine’s boyfriend David Puddy, Patrick Warburton also just landed a major role on the CBS sitcom “Dave’s World.” However, some of his biggest gigs were yet to come, as Warburton is now well-known for playing Jeff on “Rules of Engagement,” The Tick on the short-running Fox sitcom “The Tick” and the voices of Joe on “Family Guy,” Brock on “The Venture Bros.” and Kronk in the film “The Emperor’s New Groove” (2000). More recently, Warburton could be seen playing Lemony Snicket on the Netflix show “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” which released its third and final season earlier this year. The 54-year-old funnyman also donned his famous New Jersey Devils face paint for an appearance at a Devils home game during the 2018-19 season.

Remember Elaine’s other boss, Doubleday executive Mr. Pitt? He was played by Ian Abercrombie, an actor whose career dated back to 1963 and included shows like “General Hospital,” “Get Smart,” “Fantasy Island” and “Dynasty” as well as movies like “Army of Darkness.” After playing Pitt, Abercrombie mainly stuck to TV, such as extended turns on “Days of Our Lives,”  the Batman series “Birds of Prey,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Green Lantern: The Animated Series.” He also voiced Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which ran until 2014 — two years after Abercrombie died at the age of 77.

If fictional NBC President Russell Dalrymple looked familiar, that’s because actor Bob Balaban had early career roles in “Catch-22” (1970), “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), a couple of “Miami Vice” episodes in 1985 and 1986 and “Bob Roberts” (1992), among many other gigs. He later appeared in four Christopher Guest films (1996’s “Waiting for Guffman,” 2000’s “Best in Show,” 2003’s “A Mighty Wind” and 2006’s “For Your Consideration”) as well as a one-off appearance as Phoebe’s dad on “Friends.” He also earned a Tony Award nomination in 1979 for “The Inspector General” and an Oscar nod for co-producing the 2002 film “Gosford Park.” More recently, Balaban had a major role in the Netflix miniseries “Wormwood,” he stars on the Audience Network’s “Condor” and you can see him on Netflix’s “The Politician” later this year.

Primarily a stage actor, Danny Woodburn only had a handful of TV credits before landing an occasional role on “Seinfeld” as Kramer’s friend Mickey Abbott. His career took off afterward, and the 54-year-old actor now has nearly 100 credits to his name, including regular roles on the shows “Conan the Adventurer,” “Special Unit 2,” “Crash & Bernstein,” “Passions” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” as well as the films “Jingle All the Way” (1996), “Death to Smoochy” (2002), four “Air Bud” sequels (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018) and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2014).

Bryan Cranston had some three dozen roles since starting his acting career in 1980, but his five-episode tenure on “Seinfeld” as dentist Dr. Tim Whatley from 1994 to 1997 was, at the time, his biggest role to date. Or course, most people are familiar with his career after “Seinfeld.” Cranston was a minor character on “The King of Queens” (1999-2001) and a major one on “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000-2006), but he didn’t have a true breakthrough until playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” which earned him six Emmys and is often named as one of the greatest dramas in TV history. Cranston has since established himself as a leading man on the big screen, earning an Oscar nomination for “Trumbo” (2015), as well as numerous Broadway productions. In addition to a Tony Award win for “All the Way” in 2014, Cranston won for “Network” earlier this year.

Actor Phil Morris already had a solid career before getting cast as minor character Jackie Chiles on “Seinfeld.” Among other TV appearances, Morris had regular roles on “The Young and the Restless,” “Marblehead Manor,” “Mission: Impossible” and “WIOU.” Since playing Kramer’s Johnnie Cochran-esque attorney in a handful of “Seinfeld” episodes, Morris went on to add stints on “Love Boat: The Next Wave,” “The PJs,” “Justice League,” “Danny Phantom,” “Kim Possible,” “The Secret Saturdays” and “Smallville.” He currently plays Silas Stone on the DC Universe streaming series “Doom Patrol.”

One of Larry Thomas’ first acting roles was playing Yev Kassem, aka “The Soup Nazi,” who first appeared in a season 7 “Seinfeld” episode of the same name. Despite very limited screen time (only two episodes, including the finale), the Soup Nazi became a pop culture phenomenon, with Thomas making countless cameos as the character on TV, in movies and at sporting and other public events. Although Al Yeganeh (the soup shop-owner who inspired Kassem) was initially outraged over the “Seinfeld” spoof of himself, he eventually came around and even invited Thomas to help promote his soup brand. However, it’s worth noting that Thomas’ career involves more characters than just the Soup Nazi.