Barney Martin

Barney Martin (March 3, 1923 – March 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedy writer, and New York City Police Department detective. He is known for playing Morty Seinfeld, Jerry's father, in the sitcom Seinfeld.

Early years

Martin, born in Queens, New York, served in the US Army Air Force as a navigator during World War II and then was a New York police officer for twenty years, seeking to become a detective. He got his start as a comedian when he was still a police officer, giving comedy performances to deputy commissioners.

Martin once commented that many Jewish Seinfeld fans told him how much his character reminded them of their parents. Martin was from an Irish Catholic family.

Career

He entered show business as an understudy for Jackie Gleason on The Honeymooners in 1955-56 and as a part-time writer for Steve Allen in the 1950s. He was discovered by Mel Brooks, who He chose him for The Producers. The following year he played the role of Hank in Charly. He continued acting in dozens of films, including the role of Liza Minnelli's unemployed father in the 1981 hit film Arthur and its 1988 sequel, Arthur 2: On the Rocks.

Much of Martin's work has been on television, where he had a long career as a minor character actor. He appeared in two episodes of The Odd Couple, once in a very early episode as an angry juror with Felix Unger and four years later as a subway passenger. Shortly after, he co-starred with Tony Randall for two seasons of The Tony Randall Show (1976), as court reporter Jack Terwilliger. In 1979, he was cast as the lead character in the concept from the TV series, McGurk: A Dog's Life, by Norman Lear. His character would be similar to Archie Bunker — from the Lear series All in the Family — but played as a dog. Only the pilot was made of the series. In 1987, he appeared in the pilot episode of 21 Jump Street as Johnny Depp's sidekick. He later made more appearances: he played a love interest for Thelma Harper in the Hawaii episode of Mama's Family, Frank Fontana's father in Murphy Brown, and appeared in an episode of Full House as Ranger Roy, host of a popular children's television show.

In 1990, he co-starred with Valerie Bertinelli and Matthew Perry in the CBS comedy, Sydney. That year he was cast as Jerry Seinfeld's fictional father, Morty Seinfeld, in the comedy Seinfeld. His first appearance was in "The Pony Remark" of season 2. Martin replaced Phil Bruns, who played the character for the first and only time in "Surveillance" from season 1. Martin took on the role thanks to showrunners Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld's decision to make the character Morty Seinfeld tougher, as they thought Bruns was too laid-back. He retained this role. until the series ended in 1998. In between, he played the recurring role of Pete Peters in the Don Rickles comedy, Daddy Dearest, in 1993. Also in 1975, he originated the role of Amos Hart in the musical Chicago. He appeared in many more musicals during his career, especially South Pacific , The Fantasticks and How Now, Dow Jones .

Death

On March 21, 2005, he died of lung cancer in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, at age 82. Upon his death, he was cremated and his ashes were returned to his family.

Filmography