Wednesday 12 January 2011

Hats off to... Jack Klompus

All right-thinking people agree Seinfeld is the best telly programme ever - better even than that elephant pooing on Blue Peter.
As well as the excellent main cast - Jerry Seinfeld (himself), Jason Alexander (George Costanza), Julia Luis Dreyfus (Elaine Benes) and Michael Richards (Cosmo Kramer) - there are some brilliant support parts.
Do me a personal favour!
The best of a superb bunch are Jerry's parents Morty and Helen (played by the late Barney Martin and Liz Sheridan) and George's parents Frank and Estelle (Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris). Which is where Jack Klompus comes in.
Jack is Morty's nemesis (actually he has two, Frank Costanza is the other) at the Del Boca Vista retirement community in Florida. And he is part of what makes sitting down to a bit of the Seinfeld box sets a real luxury.
The character is brilliant - a petty, old nark - and the acting (Seinfeld excepted, which is part of the gag) is absolutely top drawer.
Played superbly by the late Sandy Baron, Jack made his first appearance in 1991's The Pen (1991) and pretty much stole the show with that 'take the pen!' bit.
He also appeared in The Raincoats (1994), The Cadillac (1996) and The Money (1997) and played some of, for me, the show's best scenes, especially when on screen with Morty. When those two were together the petty tensions that come from a lifetime of being friends, but horribly competitive with it, came roaring out.
Enough yack, there's a dearth of Jack bits on YouTube but here's the bit I'm on about from The Pen




2 comments:

  1. My underrated character from Seinfeld was Kenny Bania. I often say "The best, Jerry, the best!" to see if I get an acknowledgement of my Seinfeld appreciation. I never do.

    Jackie Chiles is boss as well. "Lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous!"

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  2. she's flaunting society's conventions!
    banya's excellent - 'i'm huge!'

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