Estelle Harris, the actress who shone as George Costanza's mother in the series “Seinfeld” and who voiced Mrs. Potato Face in the animated saga “bToy Story”, died at 93 of natural causes, her representative Michael Eisenstadt confirmed to the specialized site Variety.
Harris had an extensive career that began with roles in commercials until he made his film debut in 1977, but despite having participated in several films, his recognition would come from 1992 when he was part of the cast of the hit sitcom “Seinfeld”.
There, the actress excelled in the scenes in which she participated, mainly in those in which she interacted with her fictional son George, played by Jason Alexander, and her husband in the series, played by Jerry Stiller.
Appearing in 27 episodes, Harris showed herself as the owner of a singular grace, both for her garish tone of voice and her body posture.
Perhaps it was that characteristic voice that convinced the producers of “Toy Story” to call her to give life to the character of La Señora Cara de Papa, who has been present since the second film of the saga.
Prior to these milestones, the actress had acted in minor roles in several films since her debut in “Looking Up”, including a brief intervention in Sergio Leone's “Once Upon a Time in America”.
Born on April 22, 1928 in New York as Estelle Nussbaum, Harris grew up in the city and later in the suburb of Tarentum, Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh, where her father owned a candy store.
He began leveraging his talent for comedy in high school productions, where he realized that he “could make the audience hysterical,” as he told People magazine in 1995.
Harris stopped acting when he married in the early 1950s, but returned to work in amateur groups, theater dinners and commercials as his three children grew up. “I had to give up diapers and bottles and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” he told People.
On television, Harris appeared in the series “Married with children” and “Night Court”, where he had a recurring role.
However, his face will forever be tied to the most hilarious scenes of “Seinfeld” and his voice to the protective and focused Lady of Papa Face from “Toy Story”.
(With information from Telam)
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