Poppie is a minor character in Seinfeld.
Fictional Biography[]
Poppie is an immigrant from Tuscany, Italy. When he was ten years old, his pregnant mother was kidnapped by communists and placed in a slave labor camp where she worked for twelve years. She lost the baby while in the camp, leading to Poppie's strong anti-abortion opinions. When she got out of the camp was on a boat to America, she died from eating some bad fish. After coming to America himself, Poppie opened up a restaurant called “Poppie's” and had a daughter named Audrey who worked as a hostess at his restaurant.
Jerry Seinfeld dated Audrey in “The Pie” and was confused when she refused to have a piece of his pie. He went to Poppie's with Audrey, but refused to eat the pizza Poppie made personally because Jerry noticed that Poppie didn't wash his hands in the bathroom. Poppie's restaurant was temporarily shut down by the health department because of several complaints. Poppie managed to reopen the restaurant and was called one of the cleanest kitchens in the city in New York Magazine.
Jerry still didn't want to eat Poppie's food in “The Couch” and purposely starts a fight between Elaine and Poppie about the issue of abortion. Poppie had to go to the hospital after the fight he had with Elaine because it upset his gastro-intestinal disorder. Kramer later visited Poppie in the hospital where he told them how Elaine and Jerry felt bad about what happened and got him a gift basket. Poppie opens the gift basket and quotes "What's this? A bottle of wine and a five-alarm chili? They're trying to kill Poppie?!" Declaring it a sick joke, Poppie states that Jerry and Elaine owe him for the ducks that were obtained from Newfoundland. After getting out of the hospital, Poppie dropped by Jerry's apartment to pick up money from the unpaid check. It was then that he sat down and unknowingly urinated on Jerry's sofa. Poppie was going to go into business with Cosmo Kramer by starting a restaurant where you make your own pizza pie, but an argument over the toppings of the pizza led to an end to their partnership.
He appears briefly in “The Doorman” where he urinates on the same sofa which George Costanza’s father Frank Costanza had been sleeping on after he moved in with George until it replaced the old one in an apartment building's lobby.
In "The Maestro," Jerry planned to ask Poppie about the villas in Tuscany.
He also appears in “The Finale” attending the trail of Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer in Latham County. A deleted scene had him recapping about his argument with Elaine about the issue of abortion and the gift basket she and Jerry delivered to his hospital room to District Attorney Hoyt. While the jury was deciding on the verdict, Poppie was among the trial attendees that were served some of Yev Kassem's soup. When Poppie was shown asking for some salt for his soup, Yev does his "No Soup For You" gesture and takes away his soup and spoon. He was last seen being happy when the New York 4 was convicted.