Why Elaine’s Father Only Appeared Once on Seinfeld

In the “Seinfeld” episode “The Jacket” (February 6, 1991), Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and George (Jason Alexander) host a dinner with Alton Benes (Lawrence Tierney), Elaine’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) father ). . Due to a drama involving towed cars, Elaine is late for dinner, and Jerry and George spend a long, painful time trying to converse with Alton, a gruff and grumpy character. Alton is a famous author and Jerry assumes he will be talkative and sociable, but he is quite the opposite; He resents the whiny behavior and delicate sensibilities of his peers and wears a permanent scowl of disapproval. When Jerry refuses to go for a walk in the snow to save his new suede jacket from water damage, Alton insists. As with many “Seinfeld” episodes, everyone feels uncomfortable by the end.

Lawrence Tierney gave an excellent performance and the cast was delighted to work with him. Tierney had acted professionally since the 1940s and had been a notorious wrestler and drinker for almost as long; The headlines of the time already recorded his disorderly conduct. Quentin Tarantino cast Tierney as crime boss Joe Cabot in “Reservoir Dogs,” and the director reported that Tierney was disorderly even then, having shot his nephew while drunk. Many of the people who worked with Tierney have stories about his brash, strange, sometimes funny, but sometimes intimidating behavior. Tierney battled alcoholism his entire life. A complete list of Lawrence Tierney’s wild and careless behavior would take up more space than we have here.

It seems like the cast of “Seinfeld” has their own stories too. It appears that while filming “The Jacket,” Tierney attempted to steal a prop knife from Jerry’s kitchen set. An included DVD interview with “The Jacket” It includes Seinfeld’s strange encounter with Tierney over the knife, which leads directly to the decision to never have him on the show again.

If not for this incident, it is likely that Tierney would have become a semi-regular character on the series.

“Seinfeld” co-creator Larry David admitted that the character of Alton Benes was inspired by real-life author Richard Yates. David was dating Yates’ daughter Monica many years earlier and agreed to meet Richard at the Algonquin for drinks and conversation…while wearing a suede jacket. And yes, just like in “The Jacket,” David ended up ruining his suede jacket when Yates insisted they go for a walk in the snow.

It seems that Tierney was perfect for the role, as Louis-Dreyfus described him as “a complete madman. (…) It’s a shame he was so mad because I’m sure he would have come back otherwise.” ” Alexander agreed, saying that Tierney played his role incredibly well and that there was every reason to believe he would return to play Alton Benes in future episodes. But he was too crazy. “We kept our eyes on Lawrence,” said Michael Richards (Kramer ).”Because Lawrence stole one of Jerry’s knives from the game.”

Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander and “The Jacket” director Tom Cherones recalled seeing Tierney removing a large butcher knife from Jerry’s knife block and stuffing it into his coat. Louis-Dreyfus recalls that Seinfeld confronted Tierney about the robbery, which she considered potentially dangerous. Alexander said Tierney, when confronted, tried to play it off, saying he stole the knife for comedic reasons. In fact, he pulled out the knife and lunged at Seinfeld, saying it would be fun to be attacked like in the movie “Psycho.” Tierney even sang Bernard Herrmann’s famous “Psycho” score while stabbing Seinfeld. The comedian, it seems, stood his ground. “That’s when we knew we were in the land of the sick,” Alexander said.

Everyone was scared. Cherones defended Tierney, saying that he was otherwise completely professional and treated everyone kindly (when knives weren’t involved). “But Larry David threatened to take it back if it wasn’t any good.” Tierney never returned to “Seinfeld.”