Another inspiration for Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) was Monica Yates Shapiro, who dated Larry David for several months after meeting him at a Central Park softball game. On several occasions, when writing Elaine-centric plotlines for “Seinfeld,” David drew from his experiences with Yates Shapiro, who he remained friends with after their split.
She told WCRZ, “That first season, several episodes came from sketches he was never able to get aired when he worked for ‘SNL.’ He told me they wanted a woman in the show and he thought of me and our friendship. He had written an episode about the time he met my father.”
Of course, Yates Shapiro is referring to Season 2, Episode 3 (“The Jacket”), when Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza (Jason Alexander) are forced to make small talk with Alton Benes (Lawrence Tierney), Elaine’s unpleasant father, until she gets to the restaurant. Yates’ father is the late fiction writer Richard Yates, known for “Revolutionary Road.”
Additionally, it’s been said in Jerry Oppenheimer’s unauthorized biography “Seinfeld: The Making of an American Icon” that Seinfeld’s ex Susan McNabb and comedian friend Elayne Booster also served as inspirations for the character.
