Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Betty (Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld, with his father having Hungarian Jewish descent and his maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni, being Syrian Jewish immigrants from Aleppo. He moved with his family, including his sister Carolyn, to suburban Massepequa, Long Island, at a young age.
Jerry's father, who possessed a terrific sense of humor, was a commercial sign maker. Jerry attended Oswego College in upstate New York, but later transferred to Queens College back in New York City. It was during his college days that he developed an interest in stand-up comedy, which he pursued after brief stints in college productions.
Following college graduation, Jerry went straight to the amateur night tryout at New York's Catch a Rising Star in 1976. He continued to perform in local clubs and Catskill Mountain resorts until his career gained momentum after appearing on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special in 1976.
His career took off after his first successful spot on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1981, at the age of 27. He also appeared on [error] and The Merv Griffin Show, as well as four times as Frankie on the sitcom Benson in 1979. After being abruptly fired from the show, Jerry swore never to do another sitcom unless he had greater control.
This opportunity emerged when he was invited to create a sitcom for NBC in 1989, teaming up with one-time stand-up colleague Larry David. The progression of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" into the long-running Seinfeld series phenomenon was ended by its co-creator and co-executive producer, Larry David.
At the time, Jerry was still unmarried and moved back to New York City into a new multimillion-dollar, multilevel apartment on Central Park West, just down the street from his small bachelor studio on West 81st.
