Estelle Harris

**Estelle Harris** (nee Nussbaum; April 22, 1928) was an American actress and comedian.

## Early Life

Harris was born Estelle Nussbaum in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York on April 22, 1928, the younger of two daughters of Isaac ("Ira") and Anna Nussbaum, Polish Jewish immigrants who owned a candy store and soda shop. For many years her date of birth was mistakenly cited as April 4. The correct date was not revealed until after her death. She was raised in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. In 1935, when she was 7 years old, the family relocated to Tarentum, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Tarentum High School.

## Career

Harris began her career in amateur productions and in dinner theatre before moving on to regional theatres and summer stock productions across the country.

She later found success on Madison Avenue as she appeared in as many as 25 national television commercials in a single year, earning her the nickname "Queen of Commercials."

After her children grew up, Harris pursued acting and achieved early success in television commercials, even logging 23 spots in a year at one point. In one of her most-famous commercials, she energetically sang the praises of Handi-Wrap II.

In 1977, Harris began her long format acting career in the film Looking Up about three generations of a working class Jewish family in New York City. She became widely known for her supporting role as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld. "She is the mother that everybody loves, even though she's a pain in the neck," Harris told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1998. Despite her iconic role, she was highly reclusive.

In Star Trek: Voyager, she portrayed the old woman who was actually a projection of the Nechani Spirits in the third-season episode "Sacred Ground," which aired on October 20, 1996. She played a small role as Bridget in Out to Sea (1997).

In Toy Story 2 (1999), she provided the voice of Mrs. Potato Head and would continue to reprise the role for the rest of the franchise. In 2005, she lent her voice to Mama Gunda in Tarzan II. In The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Harris had a recurring role as Muriel. In 2007, she appeared in Brad Paisley's music video for the song "Online." Harris reprised her role of Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 3 (2010). She portrayed Bertha Kristal, the mother of CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, in CBGB (2013).

Her other voice work included Lula in Dave the Barbarian, Mama Lipsky in Kim Possible, Thelma in The Proud Family, Mrs. Turtle in Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse, Death's mother in Family Guy, the Old Lady Bear in Brother Bear (2003), and Audrey in Home on the Range (2004). She also provided the voice of Marty's wife in the American Dad! episode "In Country...Club." She appeared in Promoted (2015) as Sylvia Silver.

Harris reprised her role of Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 4 (2019), which was her final film role.

## Personal Life

In 1952, after moving back to New York, Harris met window treatment salesman Sy Harris at a dance. Six months later, they were married. They had two sons, Eric (born 1957) and Glen (born 1961), and a daughter Taryn (born 1964). Eric is a social worker, Glen is a music promoter who doubled as his mother's unofficial manager, and Taryn is a former Nassau County police officer retired on disability. Harris also had three grandsons and one great-grandson. Once her children started school, Harris pursued acting roles, first in amateur productions, then dinner theatre and commercials.

On September 20, 2001, the couple's car blew a tire and flipped twice, but they managed to escape serious injuries. Sy Harris died on January 11, 2021, predeceasing his wife by one year.

### Death

On April 2, 2022, Harris died of natural causes at her home in Palm Desert, California, at the age of 93.