In the "Seinfeld" episode "The Jacket" (February 6, 1991), Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and George (Jason Alexander) host a dinner party with Alton Benes (Lawrence Tierney), the father of Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Because of the tow car drama, Elaine is late for dinner, and Jerry and George spend a long, painful time trying to talk Alton, a gruff, grumpy character. Alton is a famous author, and Jerry assumes he'll be talkative and outgoing, but he's quite the opposite; he is annoyed by the whiny behavior and delicate sensibilities of his companions and wears a permanent, disapproving frown. When Jerry refuses to go for a walk in the snow—to save his new suede jacket from water damage—Alton insists. As with many episodes of "Seinfeld," everyone is uncomfortable by the end.

Lawrence Tierney gave a great performance and the cast was a delight to work with. Tierney had been working professionally since the 1940s and had been a notorious fighter and drinker for almost as long; the headlines of the time were already recording his erratic behavior. Quentin Tarantino cast Tierney as crime boss Joe Cabot in Reservoir Dogs and the principal reported that Tierney was disorderly even thenafter drunkenly shooting his nephew. Many of the people who worked with Tierney have stories of his brash, bizarre, sometimes amusing but sometimes bullying behavior. Tierney struggled with alcoholism throughout his life. A full list of Lawrence Tierney's wild, disorderly behavior would take up more space than we have here.

The cast of "Seinfeld" seems to have their own stories too. It seems that while filming The Jacket, Tierney tried to steal a prop knife from the set of Jerry's kitchen. DVD interview included with "The Jacket" it includes Seinfeld's very strange knife encounter with Tierney, which led directly to the decision not to return to the show.

Had it not been for this incident, Tierney would probably have become a semi-regular in the series.

"Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David admitted that Alton Benes' character was inspired by real-life author Richard Yates. David had been dating Yeats' daughter Monica many years before, and he agreed to meet Richard at the Algonquin for drinks and a chat ... while wearing a suede jacket. And, yes, just like in The Jacket, David ends up destroying his suede jacket when Yates insists they go for a walk in the snow.

Tierney seems to have been perfect for the role, as Louis-Dreyfus described him as “a complete piece of work. (...) It's a shame he was such a coward because I'm sure he would have come back otherwise. " Alexander agreed, saying that Tierney played his role incredibly well and that there was every reason to believe that he would return to play Alton Benes in future episodes. But he was too crazy. "We kept our eye on Lawrence," said Michael Richards (Kramer). "Because Lawrence stole one of Jerry's knives from the set.

Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander and "Jacket" director Tom Cherones all recalled seeing Tierney slip a large butcher's knife from Jerry's knife block and put it inside his coat. Louis-Dreyfus recalls that Seinfeld actually confronted Tierney about the theft, which she considered potentially dangerous. Alexander said Tierney, when confronted, tried to play it off, saying he stole the knife for comedic reasons. Indeed, he pulled out a knife and lunged at Seinfeld, saying it would be funny if they attacked him like in the movie Psycho. Tierney even sang Bernard Herrmann's famous Psycho score as he poked fun at Seinfeld. The comedian, it seems, stood his ground. "That's when we knew we were in the land of the sick," Alexander said.

Everyone was scared. Herones defended Tierney, saying he was completely professional otherwise, and treated everyone with kindness (when no knives were involved). But Larry David threatened to take it back if I wasn't good." Tierney never returned to "Seinfeld."