Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an American comedian, actor and writer, whose style is often described as observational comedy. Aside from being a stand-up comedian, he is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld (1989–1998), which he co-created and co-wrote and, in the show's final two seasons, co-executive-produced. In his first major foray back into the media since the finale of Seinfeld, he co-wrote and co-produced the film Bee Movie, also taking on the lead role of Barry B. Benson. In February 2009, it was announced that Jerry Seinfeld will be participating in a reality TV series tentatively called Marriage Ref on NBC. Seinfeld is also going to be on an episode of the Starz Original series, Head Case. Seinfeld and the entire cast of Seinfeld appeared on the seventh season of Larry David's HBO original series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Kálmán, was of Hungarian Jewish background and owned a sign-making company; his mother, Betty, is of Syrian Jewish descent. Seinfeld's paternal grandfather, Simon Seinfeld, arrived at Ellis Island from Stanislau (formerly the Austro-Hungarian empire, now called Iwano-Frankiwsk (pre-war Stanislawow) and located in Ukraine) in 1903. His maternal grandfather, Selim Hosni, arrived at Ellis Island from Aleppo, Syria, aboard the S.S. Hudson in 1909 as a 26-year-old carpenter; his wife, Salha, and infant daughter, Orizia (Jerry's aunt), followed the next year.

Seinfeld grew up in Massapequa, New York. In September 1959, his mother enrolled him at Eastlake Elementary School, from which he continued to Berner High School. At the age of 16, he spent a short period of time volunteering in Kibbutz Sa'ar in Israel. He went to SUNY Oswego, and after his sophomore year he transferred to Queens College, City University of New York, graduating with a degree in communications and theater. He developed an interest in stand-up comedy after brief stints in college productions. In 1976, right after graduation from Queens College, he tried out at an open-mic night at New York City's Catch a Rising Star. Soon after, he appeared in a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special.