Hiram Kasten, New York stand-up comic, TV actor, dead at 71

Comedian Hiram Kasten, a staple on the New York comedy club circuit who appeared on television shows such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm” “Seinfeld” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” died Sunday. He was 71.

Kasten died at his home in Batavia, New York, after seven years of fighting several illnesses, including prostate cancer and Crohn’s disease, according to his obituary in The Batavian.

He died hours after his 38th wedding anniversary, his wife, Diana Kisiel Kastenbaum, told Deadline.

He was a regular at New York’s Comic Strip, where he met Jerry Seinfeld, who was the emcee at the club, and the two became friends, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kasten was also a regular at Catch a Rising Star, The Improv, The Comedy Cellar and Caroline’s during the 1970s and 1980s, the entertainment news website reported. He hosted his own show at Dangerfield’s on Sunday nights for many years.

According to his obituary, Kasten was born Hiram Z. Kastenbaum in the Bronx, New York, on Oct. 30, 1952.

Kasten moved to Los Angeles during the late 1980s, where he found work appearing in several television shows, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He had roles in “Mad About You,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “7th Heaven,” “Brooklyn Bridge,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, “My Wife and Kids,” “Men of a Certain Age,” “Cybill” and “L.A. Law.”

In “Seinfeld,” Kasten played Michael, a coworker of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, Elaine.

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