Essman was born on May 31, 1955[1] in The Bronx, New York City, and was raised in the suburb of Mount Vernon. Her father, Leonard Essman, was an internist and clinical oncologist. Her mother, Zora (née Pressman), taught Russian at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the great granddaughter of silent film actor and Russian opera impresario Leo Feodoroff.[2] Essman is Jewish; her grandparents emigrated from Russia and Poland.[3][4]
Career
Performing
Essman has been traveling and appearing at clubs throughout the country for more than three decades. In 1988, she appeared on HBO with Joy Behar and other rising female comedians on On Location: Women of the Night II. On January 5, 1989, she was a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Her first half-hour special premiered on September 20, 1992 on HBO’s One Night Stand.[citation needed] As much of her comedy draws from her ethnic background, she has been featured in such documentaries as, Heroes of Jewish Comedy and A History of Jewish Comedy.
Essman began her acting career with small parts in two 1988 films – Crocodile Dundee II and Punchline – but is best known for her role as Susie Greene, the wife of Jeff Greene (portrayed by Jeff Garlin), on the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Essman told The New York Times that, by the show's third season, she could not "walk down the street anymore without people stopping her and begging her to say [her character's catchphrase] 'You fat fuck'".[2] In 2007, Slate named Essman's character one of the best on television, and a reason the publication looked forward to the return of the show.[5]
She also provided the voice of Helen Higgins on the Comedy Central series Crank Yankers; she was an occasional correspondent on the first season of the network's The Daily Show. She appeared on Comedy Central's Roast of Bob Saget on August 17, 2008 and provided the voice of "Mittens" (the cat) in the 2008 Disney animated film, Bolt, and later reprised the role in the 2009 short Super Rhino, released on the film's home media. She also made an appearance on the Regis Philbin version of Million Dollar Password. [citation needed]
Writing
Essman's book, What Would Susie Say: Bullshit Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedy, was published in October 2009 by Simon & Schuster.[6]
Personal life
Essman was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2002[2] and used to be[7] a pescatarian — "not a moral thing," she explains, but "aesthetic"; chicken "grosses me out" — and "lives on sushi".[2] She married Jim Harder, a commercial real estate broker, in September 2008.[8] She owns a Shih Tzu named Popeye.[9] Her sister, musician and composer Nora Essman Morrow, died in 2023.[10]
Essman is a good friend of Joy Behar and has appeared on The View multiple times. In 2009, Behar hosted an event at the 92Y with Essman as a guest.[11]
^"May 31: On This Day in History". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 31, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023. Notable people born on this day include ... "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Susie Essman, who was born in 1955
^Westbrook, Caroline (October 7, 2007). "Susie Essman bio interview". www.somethingjewish.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2010. Both my parents are Jewish...
