Which actor played Newman, Jerry’s mail-carrier neighbor, on Seinfeld?

Wayne Knight played Newman, Jerry’s mail-carrier neighbor, on Seinfeld.

Newman is Jerry Seinfeld’s recurring nemesis and lives in the same apartment building as Jerry. Although the character is usually associated with Knight, Newman first appeared only as an unseen voice in the season-two episode “The Revenge.” Larry David supplied that original broadcast voice; Knight later dubbed the lines for syndication. Knight made his on-screen debut as Newman in season three’s “The Suicide.”

The role was initially planned as a one-time appearance, but Knight’s performance made Newman useful as a recurring foil for Jerry and a frequent partner in Kramer’s schemes. Jerry’s contemptuous “Hello, Newman” greeting became one of the show’s best-known running jokes, while Newman’s reply was typically an overly cheerful “Hello, Jerry.”

A common mix-up is confusing the actor with the character: Newman’s first name is never clearly established in the series, and a character’s mistaken “Norman” does not reveal it. Knight also played Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park and later reprised Newman in other appearances.