Jerry Seinfeld

It remains one of the greatest shames in the history of British TV comedy that the hit sitcom Seinfeld never achieved the dizzying heights of popularity that it enjoyed in the States. And it remains even more of a shame that it's eponymous star, US stand up Jerry Seinfeld is not a household name. Because people, we believe he's one of the best comedians alive today.

Simply put this man is a walking master class in comedy timing and delivery. Anyone lucky enough to have heard or seen one of his sets will realise that not only is his material uniquely fresh - able to take well-trodden comedy subject matter and offer a brilliantly clever and funny perspective, but it is impeccably delivered with his trademark cynicism.

Jerome Allen Seinfeld was born on April 29, 1954 in Brooklyn New York and soon became fascinated by comedians as a child while watching them on TV and realizing their entire job was to make people laugh.

That mission became Jerry's goal as well, even when he took "normal" jobs such as selling telephone light-bulbs and jewellery salesman.

After those jobs, he spent the next few years honing his craft and he landed a small recurring role as 'Frankie', a mail delivery boy who had comedy routines that no one wanted to hear, on the popular US sitcom Benson 1979 before being fired without being actually formally told!

In 1981, Seinfeld made a highly successful appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and soon became a regular on similar shows, including Late Night with David Letterman and The Merv Griffin Show.

In 1987 he starred in his own HBO special, Jerry Seinfeld's Stand-up Confidential and in 1989 he created a pilot for NBC with Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David in 1989 for NBC called The Seinfeld Chronicles.

The show was later renamed Seinfeld to avoid confusion with the short-lived teen sitcom The Marshall Chronicles and, by its fourth season, had become the most popular and successful sitcom in American television history.

The show lasted nine seasons, winning countless Golden Globes, Emmys and Screen Actors Guild awards in the process, but it left the air in 1998, famously going out on a high rather than letting the show become tired like so many comedies that outstay their welcome - another example of Jerry's expert timing; as the old adage does, always leave them wanting more.

Sure enough, to date the show is still repeated all around the world and is widely considered to be one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. For those of you who haven't seen it, Seinfeld revolved around Jerry - loosely playing himself - his oldest friend George Costanza, ex-girlfriend and now buddy Elaine Benes and weirdo neighbour Kramer. And it's bloody brilliant.

Often misunderstood as being about nothing it's actually about everything - all the little details of life that we all experience but are never explored in the same sublime detail as on this show. For Seinfeld virgins, we'd recommend the episodes The Contest, The Merv Griffin Show and The Outing.

Serving as star, writer and executive producer on the show for its entire run, Jerry has himself said it was inspired by the 1950s sitcom The Abbott and Costello Show and in its home country the show has coined many catchphrases that have become part of popular culture.

To get some idea of its popularity, we're talking Only Fools & Horses and Blackadder combined; when the last ever episode was broadcast, other US networks altered their schedules as they knew no one would be watching their channel!

However, due to being shunted around the schedules when it was broadcast over here, the phenomenon that is Seinfeld never took off - and this tiny little island is a poorer place for it.

After Seinfeld, Jerry disappeared for many years, presumably rolling around on a massive pile of cash, but more realistically he got married in 1999 and started a family.

In 2002 he decided to get back to his roots and go back on the stand up circuit, an adventure which was documented on film and released as the fascinating documentary called Comedian.

More recently he has been the face of several major advertising campaigns for the likes of American Express and Microsoft, and in 2007 he made his first jaunt into cinema, creating and starring as a CGI bee in the film Bee Movie.

Still living in New York, Jerry Seinfeld remains one of the most powerful people in the US entertainment industry but ore importantly, he's still doing stand up. So come on Jerry, please come over to these shores and treat us. Chris Rock did it and it worked out alright...