Estelle Harris, the stage and screen veteran best known for her roles as Estelle Costanza in the sitcom Seinfeld and Mrs Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, has died. She was 93.
Harris passed away in Palm Desert, California on Saturday. She had been due to turn 94 on Monday.
In a statement to US entertainment trade publication Deadline, her son Glen Harris said: "It is with the greatest remorse and sadness to announce that Estelle Harris has passed on this evening at 6:25pm [Saturday].
"Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humour, empathy and love were practically unrivalled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her."
Born Estelle Nussbaum, native New Yorker Harris became a professional actor in the 1970s after raising her children, finding success in nationally syndicated TV ads in the US.
She appeared in films including Once Upon a Time in America and Stand and Deliver before she was cast in her iconic role as George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) mother Estelle in Seinfeld.
Deadline reports that the character was called Estelle before Harris was cast - and the part showcased her masterful comic timing and unforgettable high-pitched voice to perfection.
With the late Jerry Stiller playing George's equally volatile father Frank, Harris and Stiller gave TV comedy one of its greatest couples, with Alexander's George stuck in the middle as a row - inevitably - erupted.
On the big screen, Harris joined another comedy great, the late Don Rickles, in the Toy Story franchise, playing the wife of Rickles' Mr Potato Head in films 2, 3 and 4 in the series.
Her many other credits included Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hercules, Star Trek: Voyager, Mad About You, Married... with Children and Night Court.
Estelle Harris was predeceased by her husband of almost 70 years, Sy Harris, who died in January 2021. She is survived by her children Eric, Glen, and Taryn, grandsons and great-grandson.
