What was the inspiration for the names "Vandelay Industries" and "Art Vandelay"?
In Seinfeld's episode The Boyfriend, Part 1, when George is at an unemployment office he lies that he gave his last interview at Vandelay Industries for the position of a latex salesman.
George made that name up on the spot in haste. He extends the lie further and says that he was interviewed by a person named Art Vandelay. (Again, a made up name.)
George is seen using the name "Art Vandelay" in many other episodes whenever he is in need of a fake name. Interestingly enough, in "The Finale", the judge's name was Arthur Vandelay.
What was the inspiration (if at all) for the names "Vandelay Industries" and "Art Vandelay"? Did the show creators/writers ever comment on that?
Update: The reason I am particularly interested in this name is that Google tells me it is not a common name at all and there is no real life company on which the name might particularly be based on. Sometimes such peculiar names are inspired from on a real life company or names and then modified and conveniently mocked.
(And oh this: Art Vandelay on Linkedin. I am amazed!)
Best Answer
It was just random inspiration. Larry David, Seinfeld's co-creator who co-wrote the episode in which the name originated (The Stake Out), says on a season 1 DVD extra:
I don't know an Art Vandelay. It's just something that... came out.
And you can see that in the episode itself, where it's randomly created as well when Jerry and George make a friend up as an excuse to 'accidentally' bump into a woman. After 'Bert Harbinson' is rejected because it sounds too fake, it was first Art Cor (maybe because George likes to say he's an architect and it sounds a bit like Art Deco and Decor), then George adds a -velay to it because it sounds fancy, then he anxiously forgets it's Corvelay altogether and suddenly thinks that it's Vandelay. So eventually, this is just a product of George's frantic fabrications, and he could've landed on any other name. Vandelay stuck simply because they came back to it in later episodes. AFAIK (after a bit of research), it's not based on anything real.
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What does Art Vandelay mean?
Art Vandelay is a fictional character that George invents when in a job interview, claiming to have worked for him at Vandelay Industries. George first forms Art Vandelay in "The Stake Out"; however, he made the name Art Corvelay, and quickly swaps to Vandelay when he forgets the fake last name.Who was the inspiration for George Costanza?
George appears in every episode except "The Pen" (third season). The character was based on Seinfeld co-creator Larry David but is surnamed after Jerry Seinfeld's real-life New York friend, Michael Costanza.What Seinfeld episode is Art Vandelay?
\u201cThe Stakeout,\u201d Season 1 George tags along with Jerry and pretends to be Art Vandelay, an architect who works in the building, and an alias that George will continue to use throughout the series. The plot of this episode is based on a real-life experience of \u201cSeinfeld\u201d creator Larry David.Was Art Vandelay an architect?
For those not well versed in the show about nothing's running gags, Art Vandelay, a phony architect, was the alias of George Costanza. Vandelay Industries later became a fictional company on the show. Seinfeld's Newman, meanwhile, was Jerry Seinfeld's arch nemesis.Seinfeld - Art Vandelay marathon
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Images: Prateek Katyal, Designecologist, Alesia Kozik, SHVETS production