The Shocking ‘Seinfeld’ Incident That Got Elaine’s Dad Erased From the Show

The Big Picture

• Seinfeld’s supporting cast, including the parents of the main characters, played a crucial role in the success of the show.
• Alton Benes, Elaine’s father, appeared in only one episode but could have become a recurring character if not for Lawrence Tierney’s behind-the-scenes behavior.
• Tierney’s erratic behavior, including stealing a knife from the set and making disturbing jokes, led to his immediate dismissal from the show and created a tense and uncomfortable environment.

Seinfeld may have been mostly about the lives of Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), but it wouldn’t have worked without the help of its supporting cast. Some of the best characters surrounding the core four were actually their parents. Morty (Barney Martin) and Helen (Liz Sheridan) Seinfeld were great fixtures who appeared frequently over the series’ run. Babs Kramer (Sheree North) only appeared in two episodes, but her first time on Seinfeld had one of the show’s most memorable moments, when fans finally learned the first name of her son when she shouted, “Cosmo!” And then, of course, there was Frank (Jerry Stiller) and Estelle (Estelle Harris) Costanza, a mother and father so insane that it’s no wonder George was so messed up.

That leaves Elaine. We never meet her mother, but in one early Seinfeld episode we meet her father, a very serious man named Alton Benes (Lawrence Tierney). He has some hilarious interactions with a nervous Jerry and George in his one appearance, joining some of the best Seinfeld characters who only appeared in one episode. And although his character showed potential, he was never seen again. That had nothing to do with a creative direction, however, but with how the man behind Alton Benes, Tierney, acted behind the scenes. After one scary incident, it was decided that Tierney would never be brought back ever again.

Elaine’s Dad Is a Focal Point of the ‘Seinfeld’ Episode “The Jacket”

The one and only time that we meet the father of Elaine Benes is in Season 2, Episode 3, in the episode titled “The Jacket.” He’s mentioned as being an author who deserves a wider audience, but as Elaine says, “I’m not so sure he wants one.” Elaine reminds Jerry that he and George are meeting her and her father for dinner that Sunday night. Jerry is nervous about going because he’s intimidated by Alton’s great writing, but Elaine wants him there as a buffer because she hasn’t talked to her dad in a while. Meanwhile, Jerry buys an expensive suede jacket that he absolutely adores. The only problem is the strange pink and white candy stripe lining. Jerry loves his new jacket so much that he just sits in it on his couch, admiring how he looks in it.

Come Sunday, Jerry and George get ready to meet Elaine’s dad. Jerry raves about how confident he feels in his jacket. When they get to the fancy hotel they’re meeting Alton and Elaine, the father is sans his daughter. Jerry and George introduce themselves and sit down to wait for Elaine. Alton is a stern-faced man who looks at her daughter’s friends with near disgust. When a nervous George tries to talk about the weather, a very “George” Seinfeld moment that was sadly relatable, Alton gruffly says, “I don’t need anybody to tell me it’s gonna rain. All I have to do is stick my head out the window.” He asks which one of them is the funny guy and adds, “We had a funny guy with us in Korea. Tail gunner. They blew his brains out all over the Pacific. There’s nothing funny about that.” Jerry is so uncomfortable that he bails to the bathroom, leaving George alone. George then excuses himself to accost Jerry. Both of them are scared to death. “How could she leave us alone with this lunatic?” George asks.

The group receives a message that Elaine will be there in 30 minutes. Jerry and George are petrified. When Alton leaves to go to the bathroom, George looks to run, but then Elaine finally arrives. Alton arrives to find George singing to himself. “Pipe down, chorus boy,” he says. When everyone leaves to go to the restaurant, they notice that it’s snowing. Jerry turns his jacket inside out, not wanting to damage the suede. The candy stripe lining is now on the outside, and Alton stops him. “You’re not walking down the street with me and my daughter looking like that, that’s for damn sure.” Jerry has no choice but to expose the suede, so of course the snow ruins his perfect new jacket.

Why Did Lawrence Tierney Get Kicked Off ‘Seinfeld’?

Alton Benes was meant to be a recurring character. He could have been an interesting one, with his serious dynamic playing against the immaturity of the Seinfeld gang. Just imagine Alton meeting Kramer. Alas, he was never seen again after “The Jacket,” and the reason why might surprise you. Lawrence Tierney was known to have a twisted sense of humor, and on Seinfeld, it got him in trouble. When it was discovered that Tierney had stolen a knife from the set and put it in his jacket, Jerry Seinfeld approached him about it. Tierney said he was joking when he stole the knife, saying he planned to use it as a prank where he’d pull the knife out and pretend to stab someone, like in the shower scene from Psycho. It left everyone disturbed and created an uncomfortable environment. Not only was everyone supposed to act afraid of Tierney in the episode, but they were also afraid of him in real life. The decision was made to never bring him back.

In the biography about Tierney titled Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood’s Real-Life Tough Guy by Burt Kearns, Tom Cherones, the director of “The Jacket,” talked about watching the tense exchange between Tierney and Seinfeld. “We’re in the land of the sick now. We’re in really scary territory.” Julia Louis-Dreyfus said, “He was a total nutjob” but “a wonderful actor because he was so amazing in that show. And it’s too bad he was so cuckoo because I’m sure he would’ve been back otherwise.”

Lawrence Tierney Had a Long History of Bad Behavior

During his long career, Tierney was known to get drunk often and get in brawls. “He really was a ‘force of nature’ — onscreen and off,” Burt Kearns told The Hollywood Reporter. The book even quotes Lawrence Tierney as once telling a reporter, “I threw away about seven careers through drink.” The incident on the Seinfeld set didn’t end Tierney’s career though. He would continue to work, most notably just two years later as Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino‘s Reservoir Dogs. Even there, his attitude got him in trouble. Tarantino said of Tierney, “The worst moment on set was the last 10 minutes of the last day of the first week we were shooting. Me and Larry got into a fist fight. It was more of a shoving match frankly. Harvey Keitel and Lawrence [Bender] broke it up. I fired Larry in front of everybody, the crew applauded because they’d hated him.”

When Tarantino later asked Reservoir Dogs cast member Tim Roth about casting Tierney in Four Rooms, Roth threatened to quit rather than work with him. Quentin Tarantino refused to speak to Tierney for years, but towards the end of his life, Tierney reached out and asked for Tarantino to call him on his birthday. Tarantino obliged and they had a long phone call, with Tierney and Tarantino both apologizing. Tierney later said, “He’s okay, that Quentin. That was very nice of Quentin to do that.” Tierney’s career continued through the 1990s with smaller roles in Junior, The Simpsons, ER, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He passed away in 2002, leaving behind a legacy of a great but troubled actor who will go down as one of the biggest what-could-have-beens in TV history.

Seinfeld is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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