What The Cast Of Seinfeld Looks Like Today

It's been almost three decades since Seinfeld first went on air, and roughly two decades since 76 million viewers tuned in the for series finale. During its legendary run, the show did more than simply dominate the 1990s—it rewrote the rulebook about what could and couldn't be discussed on TV, with the main characters regularly and casually discussing sex, exhibiting promiscuous dating practices, and making wagers over who could go the longest without touching themselves. For "a show about nothing," there's a seemingly limitless number of quotable events, discussions, and characters.

When a show is so popular that it's never really been off the air—with a rerun-less future almost impossible to imagine—it's only natural that the cast of Seinfeld be forever associated with the sitcom. But what does the cast of (arguably) the most famous sitcom ever look like now, and what have they been up to since the turn of the millennium? Let's find out!

Most widely known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself on the show bearing his name—which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David—Jerry Seinfeld has since remained one of the top comedians alive today. In fact, after holding down second place on Forbes' highest paid comedian list in 2016, Seinfeld took over the top spot in 2017, raking in $69 million in one calendar year. Most of that money came from the coffers of content streaming giant Netflix, who signed Seinfeld for two new stand-up comedy specials while also purchasing the rights to the comedian's hit web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. "Jerry is known the world over as both a great TV innovator and beloved comic voice," said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix. "We are incredibly proud to welcome him to the Netflix comedy family."

Aside from his highly successful web series—which has featured everyone from Jay Leno to Kevin Hart to Barack Obama—Seinfeld's activity on both the big and small screen has been limited. Besides writing and voicing the protagonist in Bee Movie, the comedian also created the reality show and panel game The Marriage Ref. Neither venture was particularly successful, with Bee Movie meddling in mediocrity and The Marriage Ref getting canceled after two seasons. Regardless, Seinfeld—who knows the difference between being canceled and being number one—has remained a living legend on the comedy scene. Just don't try to give him a hug.

Always to be known as Kramer, Jerry's socially oblivious and eccentric neighbor, Michael Richards is almost solely responsible for portraying one of the most memorable characters in the history of sitcoms—a fact recognized by the Primetime Emmy Awards committee, who've awarded Richards three trophies for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. After Seinfeld, however, Richards' career stagnated. He immediately went on to star as detective Vic Nardozza in the ill-fated The Michael Richards Show, which was canceled almost as soon as it began, and also voiced Bud Ditchwater in Seinfeld's mediocre Bee Movie.

Unfortunately, Richards' post-Seinfeld career has largely been defined by one moment. During a stand-up routine at The Laugh Factory in 2006, the comedian all but ended his career. Frustrated by some hecklers, Richards launched into a rage-filled tirade of racial slurs, ultimately resulting in some deservedly negative media attention. The man behind Kramer rapidly fell out of favor, issued an apology, and exited show business for a few years. In 2009, he appeared on a few episodes Curb Your Enthusiasm with his Seinfeld costars, where his notorious tirade was lampooned. He also starred in TV Land's short-lived sitcom Kirstie, starring Kirstie Alley, which failed to impress.

With Richards' racist tirade forever marring the comedian's career, it's tough to imagine the actor landing many major roles in the future. They say that all publicity is good publicity... but not in this case.

Like virtually all of his Seinfeld cohorts, Jason Alexander is most widely known for the character he played on the famous sitcom. The actor, director, producer, and Broadway man played George Costanza, the oblivious but lovable loser who's short, bald, and claims to have invented the "it's not you, it's me" routine... among other things.

After Seinfeld, Alexander stayed busy. He voiced Poseidon in the animated series Hercules and Catbert in Dilbert, and has made cameo appearances in a number of shows including Star Trek: Voyager, Son of the Beach, The Twilight Zone, Malcolm in the Middle, Monk, Odd Job Jack, Campus Ladies, Everybody Hates Chris, The New Adventures of Old Christine (with former Seinfeld co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Criminal Minds, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Cleveland Show, American Dad!, Glenn Martin DDS, Franklin & Bash, Harry's Law, Dora the Explorer, Two and a Half Men, Community, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Drunk History, The Simpsons and, of course, Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He also has a bunch of directorial credits under his belt and has worked as the executive producer of Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments, Agent Cody Banks, and others.

Alexander's latest venture is his new, not-so-family-friendly, family show Hit The Road, which aims to take advantage of Audience Network's commercial-free structure and allowance for more mature material. You can keep up with George on Twitter @IJasonAlexander.

When deciding which Seinfeld cast member has enjoyed the most success after the show's finale, the case can easily be made for Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Arguably most famous for playing Elaine Benes—Jerry's ex-girlfriend-turned-best-friend who pushes hard, extorts soup Nazis, and can't dance—the born-into-billions actress has enjoyed a remarkable post-Seinfeld career.

Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most decorated primetime actresses of all-time, with a whole slew of Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Awards and nominations. The 23-time Emmy Award nominee has most notably played the title character in The New Adventures of Old Christine, while also making cameo appearances on 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Simpsons, and Arrested Development. However, her most famous role in recent years is unquestionably that of Selina Meyer on HBO's political satire Veep, for which she won five straight Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In response to the show's directors choosing to have Veep distance itself from what's really going on inside the White House, Louis-Dreyfus told The Hollywood Reporter that she wouldn't have it any other way. "I'm delighted to be as far away from the White House as possible," she said. "I don't think we can compete with that s*** show."

These days, Louis-Dreyfus can't escape her fame, even at her son's Northwestern University basketball games, where she finds herself on the Jumbotron more often than she'd like.

Wayne Knight might be most widely known as Newman—the frantic mailman, friend of Kramer, and least-favorite neighbor of Jerry on Seinfeld—but he's enjoyed a successful career since the show closed up shop.

After Seinfeld, Knight continued his role as Officer Don on 3rd Rock from the Sun, before playing Zack Mallozzi in Rat Race. He's made a whole slew of cameo appearances on popular television shows, including That '70s Show, Becker, The Twilight Zone, The Drew Carey Show, CSI: NY, How I Met Your Mother, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Nip/Tuck, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Bones, among others. He also has an extensive résumé of voice work, lending the voice of Newman to Grim & Evil, Justice League Unlimited, Xiaolin Showdown, Catscratch, Kung Fu Panda, The Penguins of Madagascar, American Dad!, Regular Show, and a ton of other animated shows. Most recently, however, you've probably seen Knight on TV Land's comedy series The Exes, where he plays the lazy roommate who sells stuff on the internet.

Speaking of the internet—in 2014, a rumor claiming Knight passed away was shared all over social media. "You get to see what the reaction would be if you were to die," he told USA Today. "It did increase my Twitter following while I was dead. When they found out I was alive, it fell off. ... It means now if I'm killed in a bus accident nobody is going to give a damn—they've already been through it; they've already seen it."

Estelle Harris is best-known for her on-screen performances as George Costanza's shrill-voiced mother, Estelle Costanza—but afterwards, you've likely heard that recognizable voice a whole bunch of places.

Most notably, Harris provides the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in Disney's Pixar-animated classics Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and Toy Story 4. She additionally lent her vocal talents to Hercules, The Wild Thornberrys, The Brothers Flub, Queer Duck, Family Guy, The Proud Family, Kim Possible, Dave the Barbarian, Phil of the Future, American Dad!, Futurama, Fanboy & Chum Chum, and many others. On screen, she's notably played Muriel on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Nana on Greetings from Home, while also making appearances on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Half & Half, Regular Joe, Mind of Mencia, ER, iCarly, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Exes.

Harris' favorite episode of Seinfeld is "The Contest," in which her son and crew compete to see who can "master their domain" the longest. That episode was also her first appearance on the series. "I looked at the script and I said to myself, 'Oh, that couldn't be,"' Harris claimed, recalling to CTV News the moment she realized what she'd catch George doing. "I asked them, 'What did he do?' and they all started laughing. I said, 'Oh, no, it's impossible. On TV? It's impossible.' But it was very possible, and it was funny."

Jerry Stiller is one of the only Seinfeld cast members who isn't most widely known for his role on the show, though many of the characters he played after the series wrapped were fairly similar. Stiller's post-Seinfeld credits include playing Maury Ballstein in Zoolander and Zoolander 2, Mr. Pinky in Hairspray, Doc in The Heartbreak Kid, and voicing Principal Stickler in Fish Hooks. However, his biggest claim to fame in recent years is his decade-long portrayal of Arthur Spooner in popular sitcom The King of Queens — a loud, quick to anger, aged parent of a sitcom character. In other words, Frank Costanza, more or less. Stiller was married to comedian Anne Meara, with whom he came to fame as Stiller and Meara, a comedy act that appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a whopping 36 times. (Their son is Ben Stiller, who often cast one or both of them in his projects.) Meara passed away in 2015, while Stiller died in 2020 at the age of 92.

Heidi Swedberg, who played Seinfeld's supporting character Susan Ross, was apparently the most difficult cast member to work with—which is why the show's creator decided to kill her off.

Jason Alexander had to act with Swedberg the most, since Swedberg played George's on-screen fianceé. "I couldn't figure out how to play off of her," Alexander said on The Howard Stern Show. "Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring. And she would do something, and I would go, 'OK, I see what she's going to do — I'm going to adjust to her.' And I'd adjust, and then it would change." According to Alexander, he wasn't alone in this opinion. The rest of the cast apparently agreed. "They go, 'You know what? It's f—ing impossible. It's impossible,'" said Alexander, "and Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] actually said, 'Don't you want to just kill her?' And Larry [David] went, 'Ka-bang!'" (Enter toxic wedding envelopes.)

Alexander's comments naturally created some controversy, and the actor quickly recanted, explaining that nobody on the cast had any problems with Swedberg personally. It was purely professional, which may explain why her post-Seinfeld acting career stagnated, with only some TV movies and a handful of one-off cameos rounding out her résumé... but she probably doesn't care. These days, the Hawaii-born actress is a fairly prominent ukulele player, fronting "Heidi Swedberg and The Sukey Jump Band." You can check out her ukulele lessons on YouTube, as well as some of her performances.

After his three-year run on Seinfeld ended in Burma (though you may "know it as Myanmar"), John O'Hurley went on to provide voice work for a whole slew of animated shows, including The Angry Beavers, Family Guy, Hey Arnold!, Kim Possible, Stripperella, Duck Dodgers, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, The Looney Tunes Show, Gravity Falls, Gothball, Archer, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Powerpuff Girls and—most notably—Phineas and Ferb. He also played Roger Heidecker on The Mullets, Kit Sterling on four episodes of All My Children, Dr. Christopher Neff on Devious Maids, and Bam Wallets in Malibu Dan the Family Man. However, all that pales in comparison to his other business venture.

In perhaps one of the craziest post-Seinfeld twists, O'Hurley went from playing J. Peterman to actually working for the real J. Peterman Company, which many Seinfeld fans don't even know exists. After Seinfeld ended, the clothing company experienced financial difficulties. When the real-life John Peterman asked O'Hurley to help save the floundering company, the entertainer couldn't resist joining forces with his very real on-screen persona. 

"It's been a wonderful learning curve for me to learn another business outside of entertainment," O'Hurley, now a part-owner, told Rolling Stone. "And there's something so interesting and so theatrical about it. There's something about the J. Peterman idea of things, the idea of searching for life as you wish it could be. It makes it fun." That's not hard to believe.

Though many Seinfeld cast members provided voice work once the series ended, none can touch the instantly recognizable voice of Patrick Warburton—widely recognized as Elaine's mechanic-turned-car-salesman boyfriend, who likes Arby's, stole Jerry's "move," and loves a good high five.

Warburton most notably voices Joe Swanson in Family Guy, and has also voiced Brock Samson in The Venture Bros., Flynn in the Skylanders video games, Sheriff Stone in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Lok in Tak & the Power of Juju, Mr. Steve Barkin in Kim Possible, and Kronk in both The Emperor's New Groove and The Emperor's New School... though he's provided extensive voice work for many other shows. 

Warburton's career hasn't been confined to just voice work, however. He also played Johnny Johnson on NewsRadio, Steven Stone in Scream 3, the titular character in The Tick, Agent Tee in Men in Black II, Nick Sharpe in 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Jeb Denton in Less Than Perfect, Jeff Bingham in Rules of Engagement, Governor Bennett in Sequestered, Mike Moore in Crowded, and Lemony Snicket in A Series of Unfortunate Events. In short, both Warburton's voice and person have been all over the big and small screen, and he's showing no signs of slowing down. You can follow Elaine's face-painting ex-boyfriend on Twitter @paddywarbucks. (Though he claims his parents run his account.)

Actor and comedian Steve Hytner's most iconic role will always be that of Kenny Bania, the super-stoked smiler who desperately wants to be Jerry's friend.

Hytner landed the small but memorable role by thinking outside the box. "I read for three or four different roles before getting Kenny Bania," Hytner recalled to Rolling Stone. "The character description just said 'the most annoying guy in the world,' and I remember thinking, 'I don't really have a feel for this guy.' I remember hearing other people auditioning, and that's when it hit me: What if he's not annoying for the sake of it, what if he just so desperately wants to be Jerry's friend that he comes off annoying? So I made him an upbeat annoying guy. That seemed to make all the difference in the world. Jerry [Seinfeld] and Larry [David]... just exploded in laughter."

Hytner hasn't landed any major roles since playing Jerry's excitable competition, aside recurring roles on Working, Roswell, and The Bill Engvall Show. He has, however, made a bunch of cameos and played small roles on the likes of Friends, Dharma & Greg, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The King of Queens, CSI: NY, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, That's So Raven, Boston Legal, Hung, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Two and a Half Men, Modern Family, and iZombie. Keep up with the "easily fooled" comedian on Twitter @hytner.

Len Lesser, who has hundreds of movie and television credits, was far more famous for his pre-Seinfeld roles than that of Jerry's annoying Uncle Leo. He notably acted with Doris Day and David Niven in Please Don't Eat the Daisies; with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in Papillon; and alongside Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, and Don Rickles in Kelly's Heroes. His television credits date back to the 1950s, and include Gunsmoke, Have Gun — Will Travel, Dragnet, Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, Ben Casey, Honey West, That Girl, Get Smart, All in the Family, The Mod Squad, Kojak, The Rockford Files, Remington Steele, and Falcon Crest.

After Seinfeld, Lesser made a handful of memorable cameo appearances, most notably as Nick Pappasmearos Jr. in Son of the Beach and Garvin in Everybody Loves Raymond. He also popped in for one-off appearances in Smart Guy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Just Shoot Me!, ER, Cold Case, and Castle.

Lesser passed away on February 16, 2011, from cancer-related pneumonia. He was 88 and is remembered fondly by the cast of Seinfeld. "Len was a tremendous guy," wrote Jason Alexander. "I enjoyed many wonderful conversations with Len who was so openly grateful to be part of our show and so humble about his stunning contribution to it." Indeed, the show wouldn't have been the same without Uncle Leo's iconic "hello!"