Seinfeld's John O'Hurley Calls Co-Ownership of the Real J. Peterman Catalogue the 'Greatest Act of Identity Theft Ever'

Mar. 15, 2025

John O’Hurley in ‘Seinfeld’ and J. Peterman founder John Peterman.Photo:Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Ed Reinke/AP Photo

Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Ed Reinke/AP Photo

John O’Hurleyhas been in business with the real-life J. Peterman for more than 20 years.

The actor andNational Dog Show hostfamously playedElaine Benes’ eccentric boss, Jacopo “J.” Peterman, owner of the J. Peterman catalogue, inSeinfeld. But while the character was fictional, the J. Peterman company and its catalogue were and still are very real.

“It is the most unusual catalog you’ll ever read,” O’Hurley, 70, told hostSteve Kmetkoon the most recent episode of theStill Here Hollywoodpodcast, comparing the catalogue to an Ernest Hemingway novel.

John O’Hurley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in ‘Seinfeld’.Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

According to O’Hurley, John Peterman, who founded the actual J. Peterman Company in 1987, only learned that he was being parodied onSeinfeldthrough his own employees after the character first appeared in 1995. Rather than calling his lawyers, O’Hurley said, Peterman established a relationship with theSeinfeldteam and the two became friends.

“Well, about a year and a half afterSeinfeldended, he was about to IPO the company, and everything went belly up on him,” the actor explained.

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John O’Hurley in 2024.Mathew Tsang/Getty

Mathew Tsang/Getty

“Would you like to write me a really, really large check, and we’ll put the company back together again under our parallel strength?” O’Hurley recalled Peterman asking.

“So I wrote a really, really large check.” Since then, O’Hurley said, “I have been part owner of the J. Peterman catalog.”

“It still has been the greatest act of identity theft ever,” the actor joked. “And I’m not giving it back.”

O’Hurley remains the J. Peterman Company’s board of directors and continues to be something of a mascot.

“We’ll be walking down Madison [Avenue], and sure enough, some cop car will roll down a window and scream, ‘Hey, Peterman!’ ” he said. “And they’re not talking to [Peterman]. They’re talking to me. Now isn’t that bizarre?”

“All he did was just run a successful clothing catalog company, and for the rest of his life he will have lost his identity,” the actor joked.

source: people.com