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Seinfeldwitnessed some of its funniest moments when the parents of our iconic leads graced selected episodes. The NBC show often featured the parents as supporting characters. Surprisingly, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character Elaine Benes’ parents could never be a prominent part of the show.
Although Elaine Benes’ mother was never shown in the NBC sitcom, her father Alton Benes was set to be a recurring character after his introduction in Season 2 Episode 3. It was a controversial on-set incident by the late actor Lawrence Tierney that forced Alton Benes to never get another appearance.
Seinfeld, often hailed as one of the greatest sitcoms ever, provided immense laughs to the audiences. But hardly anyone expected Tierney to create a scary environment on set.
Lawrence Tierney’s problematic humor made theSeinfeldcast uncomfortable
Seinfeldoften used the leads’ parents as supporting characters to generate memorable events. Sadly,Julia Louis Dreyfus‘ Elaine Benes’ parents never got that chance. Her father Alton Benes only appeared in one episode and the late actor Lawrence Tierney also gave a memorable performance but could not stick around the show for reportedly sneaking a knife into his jacket.
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Lawrence Tierney appeared as Alton Benes in theSeinfeldSeason 2 episode titledThe Jacket. In the show, Papa Benes is shown to be an author and a stern-faced man who gives a hard time to George (Jason Alexander) and Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld).
According toCollider, things went haywire during the filming ofThe Jacketwhen Lawrence Tierney stole a knife from the set and hid it in his jacket. When Jerry Seinfeld approached the lateDillingeractor, he confessed that he wanted to pull off aPsycho-esque prank by pretending to stab someone.
As expected, Tierney’s twisted humor made everyone uncomfortable and created an unpleasant environment on set. It was eventually decided that he would not reprise his role in the further episodes.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Knows Why ‘Seinfeld’ Won’t Work Today But Don’t Tell Jerry Seinfeld: “It was just a bunch of losers hanging out”
In the late actor’s memoirLawrence Tierney: Hollywood’s Real-Life Tough Guyby Burt Kearns, Julia Louis-Dreyfus also wrote about Tierney “He was a total nutjob.” However, Dreyfus also praised his performance and regretted that his actions stopped him from being an exciting supporting character.
Lawrence Tierney also had a significant feud with Quentin Tarantino
Lawrence Tierney was undoubtedly a commendable performer on-screen but his off-screen antics have always led him to trouble. The late actor’s career was marred with arrests for being drunk, disorderly conduct, and even assault. Besides that, Tierney also generated major headlines after fighting withQuentin Tarantinoduring the filming ofReservoir Dogs.
Reservoir Dogs, with its iconic star cast and splendid performances, is considered a timeless classic in Quentin Tarantino’s filmmaking career. In an interview withThe Guardian, the director shared that directing Tierney as Joe Cabot was one of the toughest jobs for him.
Tierney was a complete lunatic by that time – he just needed to be sedated. We had decided to shoot his scenes first, so my first week of directing was talking with this fu*king lunatic. He was personally challenging to every aspect of film-making. By the end of the week everybody on set hated Tierney – it wasn’t just me.
By the end of the first week’s filming, Tarantino even had a fistfight with Tierney. Following that, the late actor was fired by the director and he became such a troubling sport that the entire crew was happy to see him go- “I fired him, and the whole crew burst into applause.“
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The connoisseur of violence added that he was scared of getting fired by the studio for the move as well. Fortunately, Harvey Keitel intervened and saved Quentin Tarantino’s job.
Seinfeldcan be streamed on Netflix whileReservoir Dogscan be rented on Apple TV+.
Subham Mandal
Senior Writer
Articles Published :1461
Subham Mandal is currently working as a content writer for FandomWire with an ardent interest in the world of pop culture. He has written more than 1000 articles on different spheres of modern pop culture and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He’s also an experienced student journalist having demonstrated work experience with the Times of India. He aspires to be a column writer in the future.
