Estelle Harris, whose acting credits include 'Seinfeld' and 'Toy Story,' has died

NPR | By Nicole Hernandez

Published April 3, 2022 at 8:50 AM CDT

Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza's short-fused mother on TV's "Seinfeld" and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the "Toy Story" franchise, has died. She was 93.

Updated April 3, 2022 at 3:38 PM ET

Estelle Harris, who made TV history as George Costanza's mother on "Seinfeld" and provided the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, has died at age 93.

Her death was confirmed by her son in a statement to NPR on Sunday.

"Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her," Glen Harris said in the statement.

The actress died of natural causes in Palm Desert, Calif., according to the statement.

Harris spent decades on stage and screen before making her "Seinfeld" debut as Estelle Costanza, partnering with Jerry Stiller as the parents of George Costanza on "a show about nothing."

"She is the mother that everybody loves, even though she's a pain in the neck," Harris told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1998.

After "Seinfeld" ended, she would go on to voice Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise and played the recurring character Muriel in the Disney Channel sitcom "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody."

Harris was born in Manhattan to Jewish immigrant parents and was raised in Pennsylvania, where her family ran a candy and soda shop, according to her agent.

She is survived by three children, three grandsons and a great-grandson.

Material from The Associated Press was included in this report.