Neighbor:

Jerry Seinfeld - Comedian

By David Lion Rattiner

Jerry Seinfeld is a cultural icon and the ultimate comedian, whose stand-up acts have transformed from open mic nights in Queens to the most watched television show in history. Luckily for us, Seinfeld decided to pop back up onto the show business radar and write and star in the new DreamWorks hit movie Bee Movie, which is now in theaters. The new movie has been filling box office seats across the country and not surprisingly getting rave reviews from critics.

Seinfeld also loves the Hamptons. After having tremendous success with the super-hit television show "Seinfeld," he, along with his wife Jessica Sklar and their three children, daughter Sascha and two sons Julian Kal and Shepherd Kellen, came to East Hampton in 2000 and bought Billy Joel's estate on Further Lane for $32 million in a record setting real estate transaction. The house, in true Seinfeld fashion, sports a baseball field, which has been a cause for zoning issues with the town. He also loves Porsches, having what is believed to be the largest Porsche collection in the world.

His life began in New York City but he grew up in Massapequa, on Long Island, where he attended the Birch Lane Elementary School and Massapequa High School. He attended SUNY Oswego but transferred and graduated from Queens College. It wasn't until after college that he decided he would dedicate his life to becoming a professional stand-up comedian. To make money while developing his craft, he sold light bulbs over the telephone and practiced stand-up techniques with customers. It was documented in his official biography that he thought that this was a hysterical way to make money and that he was one of the top selling sales reps for the light bulb telemarketing company. Even when selling light bulbs Seinfeld could make jokes.

His rise to fame was slow and steady, similar to his work ethic. Seinfeld was known for having a feverish, entrepreneurial-like work ethic when it came to comedy. His father was also an entrepreneur as a sign maker in Massapequa and Seinfeld viewed comedy as something that he loved, but also something that he knew he had to work extremely hard at to become successful.

After appearing at an open mic night at the club Catch a Rising Star in New York City, Seinfeld began to catch little stints of work with HBO and landed a small part on the sitcom "Benson" as a recurring character named Frankie that was not well received by the public.

After he was fired from that role, Seinfeld did not back down from show business. His "can do" attitude, which has been well documented throughout his career, has had a tremendously positive impact on his life and career. He simply kept going and got funnier as his career progressed. In 1981 he made an appearance on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson, who gave Seinfeld a thumbs up after his stand-up routine. It is said that this performance was his major breakthrough and Seinfeld has stated in interviews that seeing the thumbs up from Johnny Carson was a major moment in his life. His appearance led him to other gigs and connections, which made him a regular on "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Merv Griffin Show."

In 1989, the television show "The Seinfeld Chronicles" was created with Seinfeld's long time friend Larry David. The show went on the air with NBC and began with a small following, then grew into tremendous popularity by its fourth season. The combination of David and Seinfeld's comedy has been described as similar to the combination that Paul McCartney and John Lennon brought to the Beatles. However, all good things must come to an end, and the last episode aired in 1998. Re-runs can still be watched today on TBS.

Seinfeld reportedly turned down a $5 million per episode deal to continue for another season, much to the disappointment of viewers. While some of his fans hope to see a new episode just one more time, there was little hope until recently, when Seinfeld hinted on "The Daily Show With John Stewart" while promoting Bee Movie, that it might be possible to get the cast together for one last episode of the series, but that there were no actual plans of doing so. John Stewart, who is a huge "Seinfeld" fan and has a summer home in Sag Harbor, encouraged the idea.

When his series ended, Seinfeld could not stop himself from performing and returned to his true passion of stand-up comedy, hitting the road and doing gigs all over the country in a show titled "I'm Telling You For The Last Time." In 2002, a documentary was made about this experience called Comedian. In 2004, Seinfeld dedicated the infamous "puffy shirt" to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC where it still stands today, and he made special appearances on "Saturday Night Live." He also became an established author, having written the children's book Halloween and the book Seinlanguage.

Today, you can take your kids to go see Bee Movie starring one of the greatest comedians and one of the greatest comedic minds of our time, who just so happens to like the beaches and the sprawling open vistas of the Hamptons as much as you do. Hopefully, he will be telling us stories for the last time for years to come.

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