The Elusive Age of Jerry Seinfeld in Seinfeld: A Closer Look at the Characters' Ages and Continuity Errors

The Age of Seinfeld Characters

Even though the show ended decades ago, many still wonder how old Jerry Seinfeld was at the start and end of Seinfeld. Co-created by legendary comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, Seinfeld follows the everyday life of Jerry, his best friend George Constanza, ex-girlfriend and best friend Elaine Benes, and eccentric neighbor Cosmo Kramer, as they deal with the nuances of life in New York City and the painstaking process of dating throughout adulthood.

The Age of Seinfeld Characters

While most sitcoms navigating city life and a small group of friends pin the characters' ages quite close together, Seinfeld's protagonist characters vary widely in age — though the age of Jerry in Seinfeld is elusive. Elaine is the youngest of the group, being 27 years old when the 1989 premiere season began, and a year younger than her Emmy-winning actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. George is next, with his birthday putting him at 31 years old when the show starts. Kramer is the eldest, but he's never actually given an age. Since most of the Seinfeld characters' ages are within a year or two of their actors', Kramer likely began the series at 40 years old, since Michael Richards was born in 1949. However, while the age of the other Seinfeld characters are known or can be calculated, Jerry Seinfeld's age in the show isn't as simple.

An image of George and Jerry standing together in Seinfeld

Jerry's Age in Seinfeld Is Never Made Clear

George with his arm around Jerry in laundromat

The Enigma of Jerry's Age

Jerry Seinfeld's character is never actually given a specific birthday in the series, and the claims of his age seem to vary as Seinfeld's 9-season continuity is blurred. George and Jerry are assumed to be childhood best friends, having grown up together at the same age. This gets a bit confusing when little comments by George and Jerry make it seem like they're actually a few years apart, with Jerry being older.

Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer in court in the Seinfeld finale

Either one of them is lying, which wouldn't be surprising, or the Seinfeld writers really just couldn't decide how old they were. The most plausible revelation is that George and Jerry are said to have graduated high school in 1971, which — if they're both graduating at 18 years old — puts Jerry Seinfeld's age at about 35 when Seinfeld begins. Since Jerry's Seinfeld comedic character is a fictionalized version of himself, starting the show at 35 years old makes the most logical sense, since that was the real age of Jerry Seinfeld when the show premiered. This does put into question how old George is really supposed to be, though.

Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer in court in the series finale of Seinfeld

If George and Jerry graduated together, then they're both 35-36 when the show starts. When George first says that he's 33 in Seinfeld season 2, it was likely because they hadn't figured out how exactly they wanted to write the characters' background and connections. It seems Seinfeld's first few seasons were largely going off of the real ages of the actors, and George's actor Jason Alexander would have been about 32 years old when said season 2 episode premiered.

Tom's Restaurant vs. Monk's Cafe in Seinfeld

By its incredibly controversial ending, Seinfeld spanned over 9 seasons in a timeline that moves along with the progression of the real world, so the series covers 9 years in the characters' lives. The series' controversial season 9 finale premiered on May 21, 1998, which puts Jerry's age at 44 years old at the end of Seinfeld, if his birthday truly corresponds with the actor's real birthdate of April 29, 1954. Of course, this could just as easily not be the case. Sitcoms tend to struggle with maintaining continuity for characters' ages, and trying to pin down Jerry's fictional age is a clear example.

The Quirks and Errors of Seinfeld's Continuity

Working out the age of the characters in Seinfeld can be tricky due to a lack of adherence to a strict canon. However, Jerry's nebulous age (along with George's, Elaine's, and Kramer's) isn't the only odd continuity error in Seinfeld. Several other inconsistencies exist throughout all of Seinfeld's 9 seasons, some deliberate and some less so. For one, Jerry's apartment number and floor change several times, particularly throughout season 1.

There's also the ever-present disparity between the exterior and interior of the Seinfeld gang's favorite restaurant. While the outside of the restaurant was shot at a real storefront, 'Tom's Restaurant' at the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street, the interior of 'Monk's Cafe,' as it's called in the show, doesn't match the building's actual layout at all. Finally, Jerry and George both refer to having siblings at various points throughout Seinfeld, but no such siblings are ever officially introduced, and both Jerry and George's parents seem to behave like they were their only children.

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