Early life

Essman was born in The Bronx, New York City, and was raised in the middle-class New York City suburb of Mount Vernon. Her father, Leonard Essman, was an internist who died in 2001. Her mother, Zora, taught Russian at Sarah Lawrence College. Essman is Jewish. She received her bachelor's degree from SUNY Purchase College.

Career

Performing

Essman has been traveling and appearing at clubs throughout the country for more than two decades. Her first half-hour special appeared on Comedy Central in 1992; 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".

On October 15, 2004, she performed at the Friars Club roast of Donald Trump, in which she lampooned the tycoon with lines like "Donald, did you enjoy your meal? I heard your hair ordered the salmon" and "I'm so not your type. I'm smart, my boobs are real, and I speak English." Essman made her U.K. standup comedy debut at the Corn Exchange at the Newbury Comedy Festival in July 2007. While in England, she appeared on the British television show 8 Out of 10 Cats.

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 'You fat fuck'". 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.

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 Disney animated film, Bolt, and reprised the role in the 2009 short Super Rhino. She also made an appearance on the Regis Philbin version of Million Dollar Password.

In October 2013, she had a sell out run at London's Soho Theatre. She also appeared as the sole guest on Gilbert Gottfried's first podcast recorded before a live audience at the Fontana bar in Manhattan's Chinatown in January 2015.

Writing

Essman's book, What Would Susie Say: Bullshit Wisdom About Love, Life and Comedy, was published in October 2009 by Simon & Schuster.

Personal life

Essman is a pescatarian—"Not a moral thing," she explains, but "aesthetic"; chicken "grosses me out"—and "lives on sushi". She married Jim Harder, a commercial real estate broker, in September 2008. She owns a Shih Tzu named Sumo.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	"Crocodile" Dundee II	Tour Guide
1988	Punchline	Lilah's Hairdresser
1991	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze	Soho Woman
1997	Volcano	Anita
1998	The Siege	Protest Speaker
2000	Keeping the Faith	Ellen Friedman
2002	The Secret Lives of Dentists	Nurse
2005	The Man	Lt. Rita Carbone
2008	Bolt	Mittens	Voice only
2010	Cop Out	Laura

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988-1989	Baby Boom	Charlotte Elkman	13 episodes
1992	True Colors	Jewel	Episode: "Art Attack"
1994	Hardcore TV	Sports Lady	2 episodes
1995	Ned & Stacey	Aunt Ceil	Episode: "Thanksgiving Day Massacre"
1997; 2004	Law & Order	Ms. Shapiro / Veronica Reynolds	2 episodes
2000-2011	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Susie Greene	52 episodes
2002	The King of Queens	Marcia	Episode: "No Orleans"
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Ron Sherwood's Secretary	Episode: "Badge"
2003	Kim Possible	Sadie (voice)	Episode: "Car Trouble"
2002-2003	Crank Yankers	Helen Higgins (voice)	4 episodes
2004	Dora the Explorer	Queen Bee (voice)	Episode; "Dora's First Trip"
2009	Loving Leah	Malka	Movie
2012	Adventure Time	Barb (voice)	Episode: "Web Weirdos"
2015	Broad City	Bobbi Wexler	Episode: "Knockoffs"
2015	Weird Loners	Evelyn Goldfarb	2 episodes
2015	Late Night Joy	Co-Host	5 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]