Seinfeld: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts You Didn’t Know About The Soup Nazi Episode

The line “No soup for you!” single-handedly defined Seinfeld’s genius writing. “The Soup Nazi” is the sixth episode of Season 7 of the show. It begins with Jerry’s on-stage set about soup. He starts with how he’s a lazy eater and why he likes soup. “Something that looks half-digested when they put it down”, says Jerry, but obviously it’s Kramer who’s been raving about a soup stand where he’s been a regular.

“The Soup Nazi” aired on November 2, 1995. It essentially showed a soup stand that sells delicious soup. The caveat is that the owner is a little temperamental and specific about the ordering procedure.

Today we take you through 10 behind the scenes facts about “The Soup Nazi” episode.

10 It Is Spike Feresten’s First Credited Episode

The writer of “The Soup Nazi” episode is Spike Feresten. He’s the man who pitched the idea of doing a soup-thematic episode to Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. As a result, “The Soup Nazi” became his first credited episode as a writer on the show.

Needless to say, the episode was a mega-hit and it helped launch Spike’s career as an established writer. It was Larry Thomas who played the infamous Soup Nazi on the show.

9 “That’s a show. Do that as your first show.”

Naturally, the people who helmed ‘the show about nothing’ loved the idea of doing a soup-themed episode. When Spike Feresten pitched the idea, Larry and Jerry laughed at it and commanded him to do it as his first show. Spike wrote the episode and Andy Ackerman directed it.

The actor Larry Thomas’s line, ‘No soup for you!’ is one of the most iconic lines to be said across nine seasons of Seinfeld, showing the long-lasting impact of the simple concept.

8 The Soup Nazi Is Just One Of The Plots

Despite the huge popularity of “The Soup Nazi” episode, and it’s most popular quote, you’d be surprised to know that it’s only one of the plots in the show. The Soup Nazi aspect actually only took 6 out of 22 airtime minutes. The other plot centered around the armoire theft.

The armoire plot was also inspired by Feresten. He’d lived in a New York apartment building that expressly forbade moving furniture on certain days. On the show, the rule stated that there was no moving on Sundays. Elaine was thus forbidden to move her freshly bought armoire into the building on a Sunday.

7 The Soup Nazi Is Based On A Real Person

The idea behind “The Soup Nazi” was based on a real-life soup chef, nicknamed as ‘The Soup Nazi’. Feresten told the producers about New York soup vendor, Ali Al Yeganeh, who was given the moniker of a Nazi due to his fanatical control seeking style at his soup stall.

The name is based on the term ‘Grammar Nazi’ and is based on his need to fanatically correct what he sees as wrong. Many stars from the show had actually eaten at this soup place, although their experiences varied from each other.

6 When You Get Larry To Laugh, You Have Sold A Story

Spike Feresten in an interview said he was all over the place while pitching a bunch of stories to Larry and Jerry. The soup story was based on his own experience when Spike would buy soup from a guy down the street from David Letterman.

“You know I heard when you get Larry to laugh, you’ve sold yourself a story or you got the story to do. And the both of them (Jerry and Larry) started laughing hysterically, so of course, I was encouraged and kept going on with it” he said.

5 Larry Thomas Is Still Associated With The Character

The actor Larry Thomas is still associated with his Soup Nazi portrayal. It’s almost been twenty-five years since the episode aired, yet Larry continues to be known by the portrayal. “The Soup Nazi” was his first time doing an Arabian accent, he’d done Spanish and Italian before.

On “Oprah: Where Are They Now?”, Larry said, “Twenty years later, I am recognized more than I ever have been before.”

4 Fans Say They “Loved All The Episodes”

Here’s the catch: most fans seem to misremember the Soup Nazi’s appearances. Either they pretend to have seen the episode or something is terribly amiss. The actor Larry says that fans come up to him all the time and comment on how they loved all the episodes with the Soup Nazi. He’s forced to reply, “All one of them?”.

The urban myth says that there were a couple of episodes of the Soup Nazi, while in fact there were just 6 minutes of the character. He wasn’t even a recurring character, also something that people wrongly assume.

3 Larry Returned For The Finale

Even though Larry Thomas’s Yav Kassem wasn’t a recurring character on the show, he was included in the final episode of Seinfeld, amongst a host of recurring characters.

He acted as a witness against the gang when they were arrested for breaking the ‘Good Samaritan Law’- ignoring a fellow citizen in trouble and mocking him. This was Larry David’s second-time presence on the show.

2 The Character Is An Imitation Of Omar Sharif

The actual man behind the Soup Nazi, Ali Yeganeh operated a New York-based restaurant Soup Kitchen International. Larry Thomas, however, didn’t know that there was a real guy that his character was based upon.

Thomas has never done an Arabian accent before, so he just popped in Omar Shariff into the VCR as a caricature. Larry Thomas says that his Soup Nazi is actually an imitation of Omar Sharif.

1 Jason Alexander and Wayne Knight Had Eaten There

Jason Alexander who played George Costanza on Seinfeld said that he’d eaten many times at the Soup Kitchen International. He’d experienced the soup kitchen without realizing that he was dealing with the Soup Nazi. His experience, however, was different from the one that Spike Feresten had.

Wayne Knight, who played Newman on the show, lived on 55th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Across the street was the Soup Kitchen International run by Al Yaganeh who’d constantly short him on the strawberry and the bread. Wayne’s real-life experience with the Soup Nazi was exactly how it was portrayed in the show – long queue outside, incredibly expensive but very good soup, bread or no bread and of course, the ordering procedure.

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