Remembering Estelle Harris with 5 moments where George’s Mom was OUR MOM.
The iconic actress died Saturday at age 93.
One of the blessings of “Seinfeld” was the deep character development of the four main characters; Jerry’s neuroses, Elaine’s assertiveness, George’s laziness, and Kramer’s general off-the-wall wackiness. But the character development didn’t stop at just the leads; the recurring characters had that same amount of depth. And perhaps no one has more than Estelle Costanza, George’s mom, played by Estelle Harris. Estelle passed away at age 93 this past weekend of natural causes, and leaves behind a lifetime of amazing roles in “The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody,” “Toy Story,” and more.
But Estelle Harris as Estelle Costanza = THE BEST.
And perhaps the reason we all loved Estelle so much is because we could ALL see our mother, or an older relative, in her eyes. And without further ado, we must present the five moments where ESTELLE COSTANZA was ALL of our moms.
5.) ESTELLE SETTING THE RULES FOR A MEAL.
After meeting the parents of Susan, George’s fiancee, Estelle supported Frank in the need for cake after dinner. “It IS a big deal,” she said, “I’m sorry, you’re supposed to serve cake after a meal. It’s impolite.” So much so, she supported Frank and re-set the protocol for bringing a gift for someone else.
4.) ESTELLE MIS-READING THE ROOM WHILE DATING.
When Estelle and Frank considered divorce, like many older women who found themselves alone later in life (due to death of a spouse or divorce), Estelle considered herself “back on the market.” While I’m lucky that my parents have stayed together for many decades, I’ve watched parents of other friends who have had this situation unfold, and they undoubtedly mis-read the room – just like Estelle did when Kramer tried to brace himself in a crazy traffic situation.
3.) ESTELLE MIS-READING SOMEONE’S ETHNIC BACKGROUND
Granted, it wasn’t just Estelle who did this…but she took it to the extreme. When Jerry met a woman named “Donna Chang” and assumed she was of Asian descent, he was surprised to learn that she was wasn’t. The situation confused pretty much every character, but mostly Estelle, who thought she was taking unique Asian relationship advice through her troubles with Frank. “I’m not taking advice from SOME GIRL” from Long Island,” she exclaimed, and hilarity ensued.
2.) ESTELLE BEING SMUG WITH THE SEINFELDS.
Why is it that when parents of one friend meet parents of another, there is undoubtedly WEIRD chemistry? In this case, it all erupted between the Seinfelds and the Costanzas based on which retirement community they’d all be at. #delbocavista.
1.) ESTELLE FINDING GEORGE… WELL…
It’s anyone’s worst nightmare; being in your parents house with some alone time and…well… YEP.
And of course it happened to George Costanza. But of course, it wasn’t just about George, it was about Estelle and an injury too.
First, George explains it to the gang…
…and now because of it, Estelle hurt her back and is in the hospital.
While there are plenty more ESTELLE moments, these HAVE to be among the top five in our book. And while she won’t be here to make more moments that we can all relate to in the future, these five will live on forever. Estelle Harris, thank you for your work – and thank YOU for making us all laugh.
