OAN’s James Meyers
9:50 AM – Monday, June 17, 2024
Actor Hiram Kasten, best known for his work on the television shows Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Saved By the Bell, has died at the age of 71.
Additionally, Kasten had also been battling Crohn’s disease for the past seven years. He died at his Batavia, New York home.
Kasten’s wife, Diana Kisiel Kastenbaum, announced his death in a Facebook post on Sunday, revealing that the entertainer had been battling prostate cancer.
He also died in his wife’s arms “only hours after their 38th wedding anniversary,” the post reads.
“Hiram Kasten loved show business and lived his dream of being in show business,” the family said in a statement announcing his death.
In the past six months, Kasten had been discreetly telling friends that he was terminally ill.
“His great comedy and artistic community rallied to his side,” his family said. “Some made trips to Batavia to visit him, late night Zoom meetings with friends on both coasts ensued and went into the wee hours of the morning.”
“It prolonged his life for at least another two months to be able to laugh with his peers,” his wife added.
The comedian’s funeral will be held at Schwartz Brothers-Jeffers Memorial Chapel in Forest Hills, New York, at a later time.
The actor’s claim to fame in the comedy world is still widely remembered back when he was a regular performer at The Comic Strip, an iconic NYC venue that once hosted Jerry Seinfeld.
Seinfeld “passed Hiram on his first audition and he became a regular,” with the pair striking “up a friendship that has lasted for 45 years,” Diana wrote in the post.
Kasten also performed stand-up at The Improv, The Comedy Cellar, Caroline’s, and Dangerfield’s.
Kasten was best known by fans for his TV role as “Michael” on Seinfeld from 1993 to 1994. He played Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character’s (Elaine Benes’s) co-worker.
Aside from his work on Seinfeld, Kasten made appearances on Saved By the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Cybill, Mad About You, and Everybody Loves Raymond.
Later, in the early 2000s, Kasten went on to make appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, My Wife and Kids, and 7th Heaven.
Kasten is survived by his wife Diana, daughter Millicent Jade, and brother-in-law, Kevin John Kisiel.
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