Carol Ann Susi (February 2, 1952 – November 11, 2014) was an American actress, and provided the off-screen voice of Howard Wolowitz's mother, Mrs. Debbie Wolowitz. She had only been portrayed as yelling from another room or as an off-camera voice, the character being hidden behind a curtain or other object, and was never seen, except in quick glimpses or body parts—such as an arm or walking by the kitchen door.
Susi's other screen credits include Just Go with It, Becker (TV series)|Becker, CSI: NY (video game)|CSI: NY - The Game, Grey's Anatomy, That '70s Show, Out of Practice, Cats & Dogs, Just Shoot Me, Married... with Children, Death Becomes Her, Seinfeld, The Secret of My Success (1987 film)|The Secret of My Success, My Blue Heaven (1990 film)|The King of Queens, My Blue Heaven (Filomena), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina The Teenage Witch, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, her first screen appearance, which has a cult following and the geeks in TBBT probably follow the series. In "Coyote Ugly", she can be seen hanging onto the bar next to John Goodman (Another Roseanne-TBBT connection). Susi also had extensive experience in live theater.
Susi also introduced off-stage The Big Bang Theory panel at Comic-Con 2011 as Debbie Wolowitz.
She lost her battle with cancer on November 11, 2014. As a tribute to her, the producers added a small photo of her to the audience-facing side of the refrigerator in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment "so that she would always remain with them."
The characters also toasted her character in "The Comic Book Store Regeneration".
"RIP, Funny Lady."
Filmography[]
IMDb [1]
Appearances[]
Episodes Carol appeared as Mrs. Wolowitz's voice:
- The Dumpling Paradox
- The Pancake Batter Anomaly
- The Bad Fish Paradigm
- The Lizard-Spock Expansion
- The Killer Robot Instability
- The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition
- The Monopolar Expedition
- The Vengeance Formulation
- The Gorilla Experiment
- The Staircase Implementation
- The Robotic Manipulation
- The Hot Troll Deviation
- The Desperation Emanation
- The Cohabitation Formulation
- The Zarnecki Incursion
- The Engagement Reaction
- The Roommate Transmogrification
- The Pulled Groin Extrapolation
- The Russian Rocket Reaction
- The Shiny Trinket Maneuver
- The Friendship Contraction
- The Werewolf Transformation
- The Weekend Vortex
- The Hawking Excitation
- The Spoiler Alert Segmentation
- The Cushion Saturation
- The Gorilla Dissolution
It was rumored that Mrs. Wolowitz would be fully revealed in Season 6, and that the role had been given to Betty White; however, that turned out not to be the case, and Carol Ann Susi stated that Chuck Lorre had decided to never show Mrs. Wolowitz on-screen. With Ms. Susi's death, it was unknown for a time what the fate of the character would be, though Bill Prady stated that recasting the role was unlikely. After "The Septum Deviation" and after the preview for "The Champagne Reflection", Chuck Lorre's vanity card was a tribute to her. It said "In Loving Memory of Carol Ann Susi: "Mrs. Wolowitz". Every time you spoke, we laughed. You're in our hearts forever."The Comic Book Store Regeneration" resolved the issue when it revealed that Mrs. Wolowitz had died in her sleep while visiting relatives in Florida.
External links[]
- Carol Ann Susi - Wikipedia Site