Barney Martin

One of my favorite TV actors was Barney Martin.  Yes, I know his name doesn't ring a bell but he's the guy that played Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty Seinfeld on Seinfeld.  He was a true comedic character actor and he's been on everything from 21 Jump Street to Punky Brewster all the way to the Wonder Years to play an old man version of Kevin Arnold.  He died 4 years ago from cancer but he'll never be forgotten for being retired raincoat salesmen that disgracefully had to resign from the Boca Del Vista condo board.

This WWII vet got his start in show business as a stand-up comedian at night while he was a cop on the beat for 20 years on the NYPD.  On his spare time he wrote jokes for the speeches that deputy commissioners used.  That got him his first real fan base.  He was later discovered by Mel Brooks and the rest was classic TV history.  Most people don't know this but there was another actor playing Morty Seinfeld (Phil Bruns) but Larry David thought he was awful and brought in Barney Martin which made this one of the show's more memorable characters.

He left behind his wife of 63 years and two children.  They just don't make classic actors like him anymore and I know I'm 4 years too late to pay tribute to this great man but watching Seinfeld re-runs on TBS is constant reminder to pay homage.  Here it is...