Kimsey, one of four siblings, was born to Dr. William and Linda (Grant) Kimsey on June 6, 1962, in
Athens, Georgia. He graduated from
Clarke Central High School in Athens in the 1980. Kimsey initially enrolled in
Davidson College for two years, before transferring to
Florida State University (FSU), where he earned a bachelor's degree in theater. He then interned at The Burt Reynolds Celebrity Dinner Theater, which was owned by
Burt Reynolds, in
Jupiter, Florida, following his graduation from FSU. Kimsey then moved to New York, where he acted
off-Broadway and in several
television commercials, followed by a year with the touring production of
Biloxi Blues. Kimsey eventually relocated to
Los Angeles to pursue film and television. He appeared in more than forty television roles, including
NCIS: Los Angeles and
JAG. Kimsey was perhaps best known for his guest starring role in the December 1994 episode of
Seinfeld,
The Race, during the
sixth season. He plays Ned Isakoff,
Elaine Benes' (
Julia Louis-Dreyfus) new boyfriend, whom she discovers is a
communist. In the episode, Ned, who wears olive-color clothes and reads the
Daily Worker, influences Kramer (Michael Richards) with his communist ideology, leading
Kramer to be fired from his job as a
department store Santa Claus. Also ended up being blacklisted from a Chinese Restaurant that Elaine ordered from after she was banned.
Rolling Stone magazine named Kimsey's Ned to its "100 Best
Seinfeld Characters" in 2014. Todd Kimsey died on September 16, 2016, in
Westwood, California at the age of 54 following a three-and-a-half-year battle with lymphoma. He is survived by his wife, Lisa (Ardizzoni); three sons, Jackson, Judah and Kellen; his parents; and siblings, Terri (Kimsey) Langford, Tracey (Kimsey) Evans and Dr. Troy Kimsey. ==Filmography==