Estelle Harris, who appeared in Seinfeld as the mother of George Costanza, has died at 93 years old. Her character happens to also be named Estelle. She was part of the famed NBC sitcom. Harris played opposite comedy legend Jerry Stiller as the neurotic-yet-lovable parents of George, played by Jason Alexander.
Estelle Harris Dies: Actress Was Weeks Away From Birthday
Harris died on Saturday night of natural causes in Palm Desert, CA, Deadline reports. She was just weeks away from celebrating her 94th birthday.
“It is with the greatest remorse and sadness to announce that Estelle Harris has passed on this evening at 6:25 p.m.,” her son Glenn Harris, who held her as she drew her final breath, said. “Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy, and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her.”
Estelle Harris was born in New York City on April 4, 1928. She appeared in appeared on 27 episodes of Seinfeld between 1992 and 1998. Others in the show’s cast included Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Lous-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards. Stiller had quite a career before joining Seinfeld. He did team up with his wife Anne Meara as the comedy team of Stiller and Meara. They made numerous appearances over the years on The Ed Sullivan Show. After Seinfeld ended, Stiller would go on and appear in The King of Queens alongside Kevin James.
Harris started pursuing an acting career at assorted amateur community theaters as a young mother. She then went on to find incredible success.
You could find her in series like Futurama, The Looney Tunes Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, iCarly, ER, Mind of Mencia, Phil of the Future, Dave the Barbarian, and Kim Possible.
Actress Provided Voice for Mrs. Potato Head in ‘Toy Story’ Movies
Toss in some appearances, too, on The Proud Family, House of Mouse, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Godzilla: The Series, The Wild Thornberrys, Hercules, Cybill, Living Single, Moesha, The Mask, Night Stand, Star Trek: Voyager, The Tick, Aladdin, Good Advice, Mad About You, Married…with Children and Night Court.
Harris also voices Mrs. Potato Head alongside comedian Don Rickles’ Mr. Potato Head in three installments of Pixar’s Toy Story franchise (2, 3, and 4) and a number of additional shorts. Other film credits included Promoted, CBGB, Playing Mona Lisa, Dancing in September, What’s Cooking?, Lost & Found, My Giant, The Odd Couple II, Chairman of the Board, Out to Sea, Downhill Willie, Perfect Alibi, This Is My Life, Stand and Deliver, Once Upon a Time in America, Summerdog and Looking Up.
Harris leaves behind three children, three grandsons, and a great-grandson. In conclusion, no plans for a memorial have been released at this time.