'Seinfeld' Star's Dad Sent Long, 'Disappointed' Letter After First Episode
Patrick Warburton has been in some not-so-family-friendly shows throughout his career, much to the chagrin of his conservative religious parents. After they saw him in his famous recurring role on Seinfeld in the '90s, his father hit a breaking point.
Warburton recounted his parents' reaction to his first Seinfeld appearance in a recent episode of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast. On the show, Warburton played David Puddy, a mechanic who works for Jerry Seinfeld's character.
"The first episode I did of Seinfeld, I got a six-page letter from my father about how disappointed he was in the choices I was making," he recounted, going on to explain the plot of his first episode.
"What it was is I was his mechanic, and I stole his move and used it on Elaine. So they had an issue with not dealing with the sex act with any sanctity, because we all know the sex act is full of sanctity. It's all about procreating and nothing else," Warburton quipped. Their perspective, he voiced, was that "Women should not be having orgasms or enjoying themselves. It's all about having babies! That is what it is for."
Warburton appeared in a total of 10 episodes of Seinfeld from 1995 through 1998. Throughout his character's time on the show, he and Seinfeld's friend Elaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, went through their fair share of breakups and makeups.
His father died six years ago but the rest of his family is still not happy with his work. His job voicing Joe Swanson and other characters on Family Guy was a point of contention, despite the work providing for his own real-life family.
"My mother belonged to the American Television Council, and they were trying to get the show canceled," Warburton said at a PaleyFest panel earlier this year, according to Entertainment Weekly. "I was helping support my parents with Family Guy money."
Warburton reunited with Seinfeld earlier this year when he played an announcer in Seinfeld's directorial debut Unfrosted.