<P> Elaine Marie Benes / ˈbɛnɪs / is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989--1998), played by Julia Louis - Dreyfus . Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld, and she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer . Julia Louis - Dreyfus received critical acclaim for her performance as Elaine, winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe and five SAG Awards . Julia Louis - Dreyfus reprised the role during season 41 of Saturday Night Live . </P> <P> Unlike her three close friends, Elaine is absent from the pilot episode . Previously the female role was supposed to be Claire, the waitress at Pete's Luncheonette played by Lee Garlington, but Monk's Cafe replaced the luncheonette and Garlington was dropped from the role . Elaine first appears in "The Stake Out," but in production order she appears in a final scene eating M&Ms in "Male Unbonding ." NBC executives felt the show was too male - centric, and demanded that Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David add a woman to the cast as a condition for commissioning the show, as revealed in the commentary on the Season 1 and 2 DVD . In addition to the first episode, Elaine doesn't appear in "The Trip" and therefore appears in fewer episodes than George and Jerry . </P> <P> After it was discovered that Jerry Seinfeld once dated writer and comedian Carol Leifer, speculation grew that Elaine was based on Leifer, though that was later largely denied . Leifer, who wrote or cowrote a number of episodes for the show, has said only some elements of the backstory of the character--that she and Seinfeld had dated and have remained good friends since the relationship ended--relate to her . She says some elements of the character of Elaine, especially her assertiveness, intelligence and sense of humor, are drawn from the off - screen personality of Julia Louis - Dreyfus herself . According to Seinfeld's biography (written by Jerry Oppenheimer), Elaine was based in part on Susan McNabb (who was dating Seinfeld when the character was created), though eventually named after friend and fellow comic Elayne Boosler . Also, the character was partially based on Monica Yates, daughter of novelist Richard Yates, whom Larry David once dated, and they remained good friends after they broke up . </P> <P> Elaine is normally intelligent and assertive, but also quite superficial . She's' one of the boys', and despite the troubles they go through as a group, she remains the closest female friend to the main male cast throughout the series . Her traits are usually edgy and neurotic and she has a tendency to easily get angry with almost everybody, and has a habit of shoving people when displaying extreme emotion . She's ruined her friends' ambitions, like throwing George's hairpiece out the window after trying to explain the irony behind it in "The Beard" or revealing what Jerry said in "The Cheever Letters" about the "panties her mother laid out for her". </P>

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