Estelle Harris (née Nussbaum), best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld, and the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story, died on Saturday at age 93 a few weeks before her 94th birthday.
She was born in Manhattan, on April 4, 1928, the younger of two daughters of Isaac and Anna Nussbaum, Jewish immigrants from Poland who owned a candy store. She graduated from Tarentum High School in Pennsylvania.
In 1977, after her three children (two boys and a girl) had grown up, Harris pursued an acting career and achieved early success in television commercials, at some point shooting 23 spots in one year. One of her most-famous commercials was for Handi-Wrap II:
But her fame worldwide came from her supporting role on the popular NBC sitcom Seinfeld, as the mother of George Costanza (Jason Alexander). Here are the Constanzas at home:
