Famous Ephebophile: Jerry Seinfeld (39) & Shoshanna Lonstein (17)

Back in 2015, Jordan Sargent asked on Defamer "Remember When 39-Year-Old Jerry Seinfeld Dated [Shoshanna Lonstein] a 17-Year-Old?" (06/29/15) Sargent wrote that Seinfeld “picked up” Shoshanna, “a senior at the prestigious Nightingale-Bamford School”, in Central Park.  

1993 was a good year for Jerry Seinfeld. His sitcom, which was on its way to becoming one of the most celebrated shows in television history, won an Emmy in the category of “Outstanding Comedy Series” [...] And, just a hair shy of 40, he met a woman who would capture his heart: a high school student he picked up one day in Central Park.

Whatever the budding age-gap couple discussed, it was brief, but it resulted in Shoshanna giving Seinfeld her phone number. Subsequently, they had an affair that lasted from Shoshanna’s senior year of high school to the end of her senior year of college. 

Shoshanna Lonstein was a senior at the prestigious Nightingale-Bamford School on the Upper West Side when, on a spring afternoon, she was approached by one of the most well-known comedians in the country [...] a short conversation, she gave her phone number to the comedian, sparking a relationship that would begin around her high school graduation and end right after her college one.

Per  Karen S. Schneider's People cover story, "LOOK WHO'S IN LOVE: Jerry Seinfeld, 39, and Shoshanna Lonstein, 18, make an unlikely romance work" (March 28, 1994), Seinfeld referred to Shoshanna as “a person, not an age” and that their age-gap click was literally audible. Seinfeld said:

“[Shoshanna’s] the most wonderful girl in the world.” And Seinfeld shared, “Shoshanna is a person, not an age. She is extremely bright. She’s funny, sharp, very alert. We just get along. You can hear the click.” 

Schneider wrote that Seinfeld related that “the age issue” was immediately “forgotten.” And unlike most men, Seinfeld wasn't shy about being an open ephebophile. So much so, that he arrived at the schoolgirl's UES apartment in a lustering long limousine. Schneider wrote:

Within weeks after their first date, friends and neighbors grew accustomed to the sight of the Seinfeld limousine idling outside the Upper East Side luxury apartment building where Lonstein lives [...]

 

Shoshanna’s parents, the Lonsteins, even approved of her age-gap affair with Seinfeld. Schneider wrote:

The Lonsteins have always approved of the romance. “Shoshanna is very mature,” says a source close to the family. “Jerry is thoughtful, a good person.

However, one would have to assume that if Seinfeld weren't famous, rich, and Jewish, the age-gap affair would not have been condoned by the Lonsteins. 

Seinfeld even visited Shoshanna on campus at George Washington University where “the couple walk arm in arm across campus”. Schneider elaborated:

At George Washington University in Washington, where Lonstein, now 18, enrolled in September, the couple walk arm in arm across campus when Seinfeld pops in for an occasional visit. 

On weekend trips to Los Angeles, where he tapes his show”, they have eggs and cheesecake with his friends and cast members at Jem’s Famous Deli in Studio City before heading off to spend an afternoon shooting hoops in the park.

Sadly, as we mentioned, they never married, but the age-gap affair lasted approximately five years.