Born 1954

Jerry Seinfeld is a unique phenomenon: an actor who became famous by essentially playing himself, living his own life. In both the show and real life he is a New Yorker, worried about New York things, and surrounded by, well, other weird New Yorkers. And although it was often called “a show about nothing,” the Seinfeld series was actually a thoughtful show about how people relate to the city around them, and it introduced Americans throughout the country to the vagaries and dialects of the Big Apple. Seinfeld pioneered a certain brand of low–key comedy, although he credits the city for his sense of humor: “In New York, you breed it; it’s in the air. The garbagemen have it, the mailmen have it—everybody has it.”