Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Betty(Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld. His father was of Hungarian Jewishdescent, while Jerry's maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni,were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo). He moved with his family,including sister Carolyn, to suburban Massepequa, Long Island, at ayoung age. Jerry's dad, who had a terrific sense of humor, was acommercial sign maker.

Jerry attended Oswego College in upstate New York however transferredto Queens College back in New York City. Developed an interest in stand-upcomedy after brief stints in college productions. Went straight fromcollege graduation to amateur night tryout at New York's Catch a RisingStar, 1976.

Continued to perform in local clubs and Catskill Mountain resorts untilhis career was boosted by an appearance on aRodney Dangerfield HBO special, 1976.Career took off after first successful spot onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962),May 1981, at age 27. Appearances on[error]andThe Merv Griffin Show (1962)followed. Also appeared four times as Frankie onBenson (1979) sitcom. After he wasabruptly fired from the show, he swore never to do another sitcomunless he had greater control. This opportunity emerged when he wasinvited to create a sitcom for NBC in 1989 and teamed with one-timestand-up colleagueLarry David.

Progression of "The Seinfeld Chronicles" into the long-runningSeinfeld (1989) series phenomenonwas ended by its co-creator and co-executive producer,Larry David. Still unmarried, hemoved back to New York City into a new multimillion-dollar, multilevelapartment on Central Park West just down the street from his smallbachelor studio on West 81st.