(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A familiar face and voice is back in Chicago for his newest role on behalf of GiGi's Playhouse.
John O’Hurley – best known for playing catalogue magnate J. Peterman on “Seinfeld” – will serve as emcee for this weekend’s Chicago gala for GiGi’s Playhouse.
GiGi's Playhouse, which offers support to people with Down syndrome and their families, is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year. The organization directly serves 30,000 families in 88 countries and has more than 50 locations around the world.
“It’s been just an extraordinary resource for people that have nowhere to go,” O’Hurley said. “You realize that your child has Down syndrome and you go, ‘Well, now, what next?’ They are the ‘what next.’”
Over his nearly 40-year career, O’Hurley has been a musician, dancer, singer, author, game show host and voice-over artist (as King Neptune on “SpongeBob SquarePants”).
He recalls doing some commercial work early in his career in Chicago, filming an insurance spot on the lakefront in the early 1980s.
“I froze my butt off,” he said.
He’s arguably best known for his periodic turn as the unflappable Peterman on the “Seinfeld” show, which lives on in syndication. O’Hurley said he’s fortunate that producers gave him a role he could “play around with.”
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