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5 Comedy Stars Who Made Early-Career Appearances on ‘Seinfeld’

A few famous faces stopped by the show on their way to the top

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Seinfeld welcomed many guest stars throughout its nine-season run on NBC. Most of them, however, weren’t household names, nor would they go on to be in the future. That said, some of those people ended up doing big things in the entertainment world following their appearances on the hit sitcom, though, and that’s what we wanted to take a look at today. Here are a few celebs you might’ve missed—or forgotten about because you didn’t know who they were at the time.

Sarah Silverman didn’t get much acting work following her failed stint on Saturday Night Live in the early ‘90s, but that started to change after her appearance in the Season 8 Seinfeld episode “The Money.” In it, she plays Kramer’s girlfriend, Emily, with whom he has a hard time sleeping in the same bed. 

Though he found critical success with HBO’s Mr. Show with Bob and David, Bob Odenkirk didn’t break through as a serious actor until he made his debut as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad years later. In between those gigs, he played Elaine’s wannabe doctor boyfriend, Ben, in the Season 8 episode “The Abstinence.” 

Just a few months prior to landing the role of Robert Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett showed up in the Season 7 episode “The Bottle Deposit.” The hour-long show featured Garrett as Tony, an auto mechanic who steals Jerry’s car.

The same year Courteney Cox rose to prominence as Monica Geller on Friends, she played Meryl in Season 5’s “The Wife.” Meryl is Jerry’s girlfriend, but she pretends to be his wife in order to get a discount at the local dry cleaner’s.

A little over five years before he was Hal on Malcolm in the Middle (and 13 years before he’d become known as Walter White on Breaking Bad), Bryan Cranston was Jerry’s dentist, Tim Whatley. He appeared in five episodes between 1994 and 1997, starting with Season 6’s “The Mom and Pop Store.” Here are a few clips of him breaking Jerry up during filming:

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