Estelle Harris was an American actress and comedienne born Estelle Nussbaum in 1928 in Manhattan, New York City. Her parents, Isaac "Ira" Nussbaum and Anna (Stern),were first-generation Jewish emigrants from Poland who owned a candy store in New York City. The Nussbaum family moved to Tarentum, Pennsylvania in 1935, where Estelle spent most of her childhood.
After graduating from local high school, Estelle started dating Sy Harris, a window treatment salesman, and they got married in 1953 after knowing each other for only six months. Between 1957 and 1964, Estelle gave birth to three children, two sons, and a daughter, and was primarily a housewife until her children were old enough to attend school.
Estelle aspired to an acting career, but started out in amateur productions and dinner theater. She eventually found success in television commercials, filming 23 different commercials in a single year. In 1984, she had a small role in the crime film "Once Upon a Time in America".
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Estelle was frequently cast in guest-star roles in various popular television series, such as "Married... with Children" and "Mad About You". Her big break came in 1992 when she was cast in "Seinfeld" as Estelle Costanza, the overbearing mother of neurotic character George Costanza.
By 1995, Estelle had started voicing characters in animated television series, including Timon's mother in "Timon & Pumbaa" and Mrs. Potato Head in the "Toy Story" film series. In 1998, she was cast as Grandmama Delilah Addams in the television film "Addams Family Reunion".
In the 2000s, Estelle continued to work in animation and television, voicing characters in films such as "Home on the Range" and "Tarzan II", and appearing in recurring roles in series like "Kim Possible" and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody". She also voiced the antagonist Mama Gunda in the animated film "Tarzan II" and the benevolent ghost Peg-Leg Peg in the fantasy series "Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates".
Estelle Harris is fondly remembered for the many recurring characters she has played or voiced, and is regarded as a veteran of the animation industry.
