It always warms my heart when I discover that I have something in common with a celebrity, like a shared birthday or a penchant for Gold Bond powder après showertime. So imagine my joy when I saw sweaty sitcom sidekick and real-life butterball Wayne Knight sitting outside my neighborhood coffee shop (Buzz Coffee on Beverly Boulevard) late yesterday morning. Even better, the chub-encrusted character actor was enjoying my usual breakfast (a small cup of coffee and a plain croissant). I’ve never really cared for Wayne’s characters – notably Newman, the fat, greedy postman on Seinfeld who was eaten alive by his jealousy over Jerry’s success, and Officer Don Orville, the unlikely Lothario on 3rd Rock from the Sun who was eaten alive by his self-aggrandizing ego – but knowing that he and I share just a little something in common makes me feel like a star. An overweight, raspy-voiced star who sweats when he eats and wheezes bits of croissant all over his bib-style shirt, but a star nonetheless.  Sigh.

– Chris May