TV and theater star Liz Sheridan, who famously played Jerry’s motherHelen on “Seinfeld,” has died. She was 93.
Sheridan, whose full name was Elizabeth Ann Sheridan but who also went by Dizzy, died “peacefully in her sleep from natural causes” early Friday morning and five days after her birthday, said her manager Amanda Hendon.
Her death comes less than two weeks after that of her “Seinfeld” co-star, Estelle Harris, who played the mother of Jason Alexander’s George Costanza.
Sheridan got her start as a dancer living in New York’s theater district. She later found work dancing in nightclubs and in summer-stock musicals, according to her 2000 memoir, “Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life With James Dean: A Love Story.” The book was about her relationship with film star James Dean, who died in a car crash in 1955, and is being developed as a feature film, Hendon said.
She also appeared in several Broadway shows, including the 1977 musical “Happy End” with Meryl Streep. She played the eccentric neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek on the 1980s children’s program “Alf” and voiced Mrs. Stillman in Louie Anderson’s autobiographical cartoon “Life With Louise.”
On the big screen, Sheridan starred in 1987’s “Who’s That Girl” with Madonna and the 2009 rom-com “Play the Game,” opposite late actors Andy Griffith and Doris Roberts.
But the actor was best known for her recurring role on “Seinfeld,” the Emmy-winning sitcom that ran on NBC for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998. She played Florida retiree Helen Seinfeld opposite Barney Martin’s Morty Seinfeld. She famously wondered how “anyone could not like” her son but also scolded him for making out with a date while watching “Schindler’s List.”
Aside from the four lead cast members — Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards — Sheridan was reportedly the only performer to appear in every season of the sitcom. She also performed a one-woman show titled “Mrs. Seinfeld Sings.”
Sheridan is survived by a daughter and son-in-law.