TELEVISION Leifer still tries to get the facts straight, but the myths hang on

The friend of Jerry Seinfeld said she was not the inspiration for Elaine.
By LISA FERGUSON
SCRIPPS HOWARD
It's probably best not to believe everything you read on the Internet about Carol Leifer.
The comedy veteran-turned-television writer says for years she has attempted to correct much of the erroneous information about her that is floating in cyberspace.
For starters, Leifer (pronounced LEE-fur) refutes reports that she retired from her decades-old stand-up career in the early 1990s.
"It's so frustrating that on these sites they say things and ... you try to tell them, 'I'm telling you, it's not true' ... and they won't change it," Leifer said. "Like I'm 80,000 years old and I've retired my stand-up career because my hip broke."
The one that really takes the cake, however, is the pervasive mistaken belief that Leifer is the inspiration for the character of Elaine on the sitcom "Seinfeld."
"That's another source of frustration to me because it's not true," she insists, although Leifer says she understands why plenty of people continue to draw that conclusion seven years after the hit series concluded.
She and comedian Jerry Seinfeld were a romantic item "many moons ago," she says, and have remained good friends.
Writer for 'Seinfeld'
In the mid-'90s, well into "Seinfeld's" successful run on NBC, she joined the show's staff as a writer. Though the Elaine character -- a creation of Seinfeld and executive producer Larry David -- had already been developed and established by that time, the misconception "kind of took on a life of its own," Leifer says.
"I think the similarity of having dated and us still being buddies, that was Elaine's story on the show, so people make that natural connection," she said. Still, "I'd much rather be remembered in terms of 'Seinfeld' for the 75 episodes I contributed to as a writer as opposed to this mythology."
Among those installments was the 1993 episode titled "The Lip Reader," on which actress Marlee Matlin guested; 1995's "The Understudy," featuring Bette Midler; and Leifer's all-time favorite, "The Rye," from 1996.
Calling her time on the series "the greatest gig ever," Leifer insists she didn't realize the impact "Seinfeld" would have on television and pop culture.
"It's become this cultural kind of institution [with] all the catch phrases from the show. ... It's really rare to be able to work on a classic show like that, and I feel so lucky that I was there," she said.
Leifer continues to work with Seinfeld, these days as his opening act when he takes to the road.