Seinfeld star Martin dies of cancer

[Baron Samedi]

[SIZE=1]I wasn't sure how many people knew about this. I've never really been a big fan of the show [only seen a few episodes], and I know that it stopped in [1998?] but most fans would probably want to know about this.[/SIZE]

[quote=Ninemsn News]08:13 AEDT Fri Mar 25 2005

AP - Barney Martin, a former New York City detective who went into show business and became best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty on the comedian's hit television series, has died. He was 82.

Martin died of cancer Monday at his Studio City home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Glassman.

Born March 3, 1923, in the New York City borough of Queens, Martin served as a navigator in the Air Force during World War II before starting a 20-year career as a New York City police detective.

Martin showed a talent for making deputy police commissioners laugh during presentations. In the 1950s, he began writing on the side for comedy shows such as Name That Tune and The Steve Allen Show.

Martin got his start in film when Mel Brooks featured him in The Producers in 1968. That role launched Martin into Broadway theatre, where he appeared in several musicals, including South Pacific, The Fantasticks, All American and How Now Dow Jones.

He is credited with creating the role of Roxy's unappreciated husband, Amos Hart, in the musical Chicago.

Martin also appeared in several television series in the 1990s, including The Tony Randall Show, US, Sydney and Zorro and Son.

In Seinfeld, Martin was the third actor to play the part of Seinfeld's father and became the one most identified with the role of the Florida retiree.

He said at the show's wrap party in 1998: "Playing Jerry's dad was like having whipped cream on top of a mountain of ice cream."

He is survived by his wife and son. A daughter died in 2002 of cancer.[/quote]

[Sol-Blade]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Oh man, he finally passed away eh? I remember watching his [i]Roast[/i] on Comedy Central once, he was one of major Friars and to this day, still is. He really was a pioneer in the comedy world, damn I'm gonna miss him.[/COLOR]

[Cap'n]

[quote name='Sol-Blade][COLOR=DarkRed]Oh man, he finally passed away eh? I remember watching his [i]Roast[/i'] on Comedy Central once, he was one of major Friars and to this day, still is. He really was a pioneer in the comedy world, damn I'm gonna miss him.[/COLOR][/quote]

You sure you're not thinking of Jerry Stiller? He played George's dad...

[Pagan]

[IMG]http://www.emcrf.org/images/2004/barney_martin.jpg[/IMG]

To clear up any confusion this is the late Barney Martin. He played Jerry's father on the greatest sitcom ever. I remember when Jerry had stole this old woman marble rye and this woman happened to live in the same retirement home as Morty Seinfeld(Jerry's dad). Morty was running for some position in the home, but needed one more vote, and the last vote belinged to the woman who Jerry stole the bread from. So to make a entire show short she found out that he was Jerry's father and voted for the other guy. Man that show was great.

We will truelly miss our Seinfeld father.