Jake Steinfeld

Long before Hailee Steinfeld became a household name, her uncle Jake was already one. Jake Steinfeld built “Body by Jake” into one of the most recognizable fitness brands of the 80s and 90s, trained celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford, and picked up small but memorable film roles along the way. He’s 68 now, still active, and still the guy who put the Steinfeld name on the map before his niece ever stepped in front of a camera.

Jake Steinfeld Biography

From Brooklyn to Body by Jake

Jake grew up in the Sea Gate section of Brooklyn and was later raised in Baldwin, New York. He went to SUNY Cortland but left before finishing, choosing instead to chase a career that mixed acting with his real passion, fitness. That combination turned into Body by Jake, a brand that eventually grew into television territory through FitTV and ExerciseTV. He also co-founded Major League Lacrosse, the first professional outdoor lacrosse league in the country, which says a lot about how wide his interests ran beyond the gym.

The Steinfeld Brothers: Jake, Peter, and Andrew

Jake isn’t an only child, and he’s not Hailee’s brother either, which is a mix-up that trips a lot of people up. He’s actually one of three Steinfeld brothers. Peter Steinfeld, his younger brother, is the one who became Hailee and Griffin’s father, working as a personal trainer whose past clients reportedly included Madonna and Larry David. Peter has a twin, Andrew, who worked alongside Jake in the early Body by Jake days as vice president of the company before stepping back from the spotlight himself.

So when someone types “Jake Steinfeld brother” into Google expecting to find a connection to Hailee’s generation, the real answer runs one branch higher: Jake is her father’s brother, making him her uncle rather than a sibling of anyone her own age.

[IMAGE: A simple family-tree graphic showing Jake, Peter, and Andrew Steinfeld connecting down to Hailee and Griffin — custom-made graphic]

Movies and TV Shows

Jake’s screen career runs mostly through the 1980s and 90s in supporting and character parts, with one unexpected comeback decades later:

• Coming to America (1988): cab driver
• Tough Guys (1986): alongside Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas
• The Money Pit (1986): construction worker
• Big Brother Jake (1990–1994): his own Family Channel sitcom, playing a former stuntman running a foster home
• Ratatouille (2007): a voice role that introduced him to a completely different generation

How Old Is Jake, and How Tall

Jake was born February 21, 1958, which puts him at 68 in 2026, a full generation ahead of Hailee, who was born in December 1996. On height, IMDb lists him at 6 feet even. A few smaller fan-bio sites list him closer to 5’7″ with no sourcing behind the number, so the 6-foot figure from IMDb is the one worth trusting until something more credible surfaces.

Where He Fits in the Wider Steinfeld Family

The Steinfeld name carries more than just Jake and his brothers. His nephew Griffin Steinfeld went a completely different route from the family’s fitness-and-acting background, building a career in stock car racing and stunt driving, including work as a stunt driver on Hailee’s 2018 film Bumblebee. Griffin’s mother, Cheri Steinfeld, is an interior designer who has also acted as her daughter’s manager for most of Hailee’s career, a role that’s kept her closely involved behind the scenes even though she stays out of the public eye herself.

On Cheri’s side of the family, Hailee also has a cousin in the industry: True O’Brien, an actress best known for playing Paige Larson on Days of Our Lives, a role that earned her a Daytime Emmy. It was actually watching True in a TV commercial when Hailee was eight years old that pushed her toward acting in the first place, which makes True something of an unintentional starting point for the whole Hailee Steinfeld story.

Between Jake’s fitness empire, Peter’s personal training career, Cheri’s design and management work, Griffin’s racing, and True’s acting credits, the Steinfeld-Domasin family covers a surprising amount of ground for one extended household.

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