Estelle Harris, the actress known for her instantly-recognizable, piercing voice, which she leant to roles including Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise and George Costanza’s mother (also named Estelle) on NBC’s “Seinfeld,” has died. She was 93.
The actress’ son Glen Harris told Deadline and Forbes she died Saturday evening. “Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her,” he said.
Harris was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, but told TMZ at the time that doctors “got it all out.”
With a nasally, high-pitched voice that was instantly recognizable, Harris had more than 100 acting credits across her 45-year film and TV career. She frequently made it known that she wanted to appear as a series regular on shows, but not star in one.
“I’m the universal mother,” she told the Chicago Tribune in 1995. “Black people, Asians, WASPs, Italians, Jews – they all say, `Oh, you’re just like my mom.’ That makes me feel good.”
Indeed, Harris often played goofy, over-the-top matriarchal figures. On “Seinfeld,” she played the ever-screaming mother to Jason Alexander’s George, opposite Jerry Stiller, who died in 2020, as her husband.
“In the last year or two, all of a sudden these youngsters recognize me as Mrs. Costanza, Estelle Costanza,” Harris told The Canadian Press in 2012. “So we have a whole new age group, and I’m getting a lot of fan mail from these young people, too. I think ‘Seinfeld,’ because of the writing and the right cast, will go on for years and years.”
Born Estelle Nussbaum in New York City on April 4, 1928, to Polish immigrant parents who owned a candy store, Harris grew up in a Pittsburgh suburb before moving back to New York and marrying her longtime husband, Sy Harris.
She spent years participating in community theater and appearing in commercials – some of her notable campaigns include Kool-Aid, Glad, SOS Pads and Cabbage Patch Kids – before her breakout role on “Seinfeld” in 1992.
Another one of Harris’ best known roles: Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, opposite Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head), who died in 2017.
On Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” she played apathetic hotel housekeeper Muriel, whose catchphrase was “I’m not cleaning that up.” Harris acted and voiced several other Disney shows and films, such as “Kim Possible,” “The Proud Family,” “Sonny With a Chance,” “Phil of the Future,” “Tarzan 2” and “Brother Bear.”