Elaine Benes

<p><strong><span>Elaine Marie Benes</span></strong><span> is a fictional character on </span><em><span>Seinfeld</span></em><span>, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.</span></p><p style="text-align: start"><span>She used to date Jerry Seinfeld, and their characters remained close friends. Her other main friends were George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer.</span></p><p style="text-align: start"><span>Elaine was the only one of what would be the show's four main cast members to be missing from the pilot episode. She would make her first appearance in the second episode, "The Stake Out". Her character was added because NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric, and demanded that creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David add a woman to the cast, or the show would not be renewed.</span></p>