What was Estelle Harris's net worth and salary?
Estelle Harris was an American actress, voice actress, and comedian who had a net worth of $5 million at the time of her death in 2022. Estelle Harris is probably best known for playing Estelle Costanza, the mother of Jason Alexander's George Costanza, on the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" (1992–1998). She appeared in 27 episodes of the series alongside Jerry Stiller who played her TV husband Frank Costanza. Estelle she also had a recurring role as Muriel on the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (2005–2008). Estelle had more than 100 acting credits to her name, including the films "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "Stand and Deliver" (1988), "The Odd Couple II" (1998), "My Giant" (1998), "Lost & Found" (1999), "The Grand" (2007), and "CBGB" (2013) and the television series "Night Court" (1985–1986), "Good Advice" (1993), and "Sunset Beach" (1999).
Harris voiced Mrs. Potato Head in three "Toy Story" films (1999–2019), and she also lent her voice to the films "Brother Bear" (2003), "Home on the Range" (2004), and "Teacher's Pet" (2004), and the TV series "Timon & Pumbaa" (1995), "The Mask: Animated Series" (1996), "Hercules" (1998), "The Brothers Flub" (1999), "Mickey Mouse Works" (1999–2000), "Queer Duck" (2000), "Family Guy" (2001), "House of Mouse" (2002), "Kim Possible" (2004), "Dave the Barbarian" (2004–2005), "Fanboy & Chum Chum" (2009–2014), and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" (2014–2015). In 1998, Estelle earned an Online Film & Television Association Award nomination for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "Seinfeld." Harris died of natural causes on April 2, 2022, at the age of 93.
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Early Life
Estelle Harris was born Estelle Nussbaum on April 22, 1928, in Manhattan, New York City. Harris was the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants Anna and Isaac (better known as "Ira") Nussbaum, and she had an older sister. Estelle's parents owned a soda shop and a candy store, and when she was 7 years old, the family moved to Pennsylvania, settling in Tarentum. Harris attended Tarentum High School.
Career
Estelle's acting career began in amateur stage productions and dinner theater, and she later moved on to summer stock, regional theater productions, and television commercials. She appeared in more than two dozen ads in a single year and earned the nickname "Queen of Commercials." Harris made her film debut in 1977, appearing in "Looking Up" and "Summerdog" and in 1984, she co-starred with Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, and Joe Pesci in "Once Upon a Time in America." She had a recurring role as Easy Mary on NBC's "Night Court" from 1985 to 1986, then she guest-starred on "Married… with Children" (1987), "Mathnet" (1990), "Brooklyn Bridge" (1991), "Law & Order" (1992), and "Mad About You" (1992). Estelle appeared in the films "Stand and Deliver" (1988), "This Is My Life" (1992), "Perfect Alibi" (1995), "The West Side Waltz" (1995), "Out to Sea" (1997), "Chairman of the Board" (1998), "My Giant" (1998), and "Lost & Found" (1999), and from 1992 to 1998, she played Estelle Costanza in 27 episodes of "Seinfeld." In 1993, she had a recurring role as Ronnie Cohen on the CBS sitcom "Good Advice," then she guest-starred on "Chicago Hope" (1995), "Night Stand with Dick Dietrick" (1996), "Star Trek: Voyager" (1996), "Moesha" (1997), "Living Single" (1997), "Cybill" (1997), "Sunset Beach" (1999), and "The Parkers" (1999) and played Great-grandmother Delilah Addams in the TV movie "Addams Family Reunion" (1998).
Harris voiced Mrs. Potato Head in 1999's "Toy Story 2," and she reprised her role in 2010's "Toy Story 3" and 2019's "Toy Story 4" (her final role) as well as the shorts "Hawaiian Vacation" (2011), "Small Fry" (2011), and "Partysaurus Rex" (2012). She appeared in the films "What's Cooking?" (2000), "Dancing in September" (2000), "Playing Mona Lisa" (2000), "Good Advice" (2001), "The Grand" (2007), "Movin' In" (2010), "CBGB" (2013), and "Promoted" (2015), and from 2005 to 2008, she played Muriel in 14 episodes of "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (2005–2008). Estelle guest-starred on "Providence" (2000), "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (2001), "Half & Half" (2003), "Phil of the Future" (2005), "Mind of Mencia" (2006), "ER" (2006), "iCarly" (2007), "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2009), "Sonny with a Chance" (2010), and "The Exes" (2013), and she appeared on the game shows "Weakest Link" (2002), "Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck" (2002), and "Test the Nation" (2003). In 2015, she retired from acting, but she came out of retirement to voice Mrs. Potato Head in 2019's "Toy Story 4."
Personal Life
In 1952, Estelle met Sy Harris, a window treatment salesman, at a dance in New York. They married in 1952 and remained together until Sy's death in January 2021. The couple welcomed son Eric in 1957, followed by another son, Glen, in 1961 and daughter Taryn in 1964. Glen, a music promoter, served as Estelle's unofficial manager, Taryn is a retired police officer, and Eric is a social worker. In September 2001, Estelle and Sy were in a car accident in which their vehicle flipped twice after blowing a tire, but neither sustained serious injuries.
Death
Estelle passed away from natural causes on April 2, 2022, at the age of 93. Harris died at her home in Palm Desert, California, and her son Glen announced the news, stating, "It is with the greatest remorse and sadness to announce that Estelle Harris has passed on this evening at 6:25pm. Her kindness, passion, sensitivity, humor, empathy and love were practically unrivaled, and she will be terribly missed by all those who knew her." Estelle's TV son, Jason Alexander, paid tribute to her on Twitter, writing, "One of my favorite people has passed – my tv mama, Estelle Harris. The joy of playing with her and relishing her glorious laughter was a treat. I adore you, Estelle. Love to your family. Serenity now and always."
