Biography, Filmography and Pictures:

While most people know Susie Essman as the foul-mouthed Susie Green on the smash hit television series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" starring Larry David, the actress actually got her show business break playing a tour guide in the action adventure film "Crocodile Dundee" in 1988.  

Another break came for the actress with a small role working with Tom Hans and Sally Field in the comedy "Punch Line" (1988), where she played a hairdresser in the story of a stand-up comedian who is flat broke and has recently dropped out of medical school. Deep down, she always wanted to be a comedian, and performed on comedy stages as often as possible. Small movie roles were intended to fill the gap while she waited for her big stand-up comedy breakthrough.

After a few guest appearances on series TV in "Kate & Allie" and "Hardcore TV", she landed a ten episode deal on the sitcom "Baby Boom" (1988), starring Kate Jackson and Joy Behar, yet another movie turned into a TV series based on the 1987 Diane Keaton film of the same name. The show was a flop and quickly cancelled. Another small role followed in the action adventure "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze", where the Turtles and the Shredder battle once again, this time for the last canister of the ooze that created the Turtles, which Shredder wants to create an army of new mutants. Essman wrapped the year with more guest appearances on "Ned And Stacey" with Debra Messing, "The King Of Queens", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "Kim Possible", "Crank Yankers" and "Law & Order"

Susie struggled with her stand-up comedy career, and seemed able to only score small bit parts in films like "Volcano" with Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche, where a volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles threatening to destroy the city. The actress followed with another bit part in the crime thriller "The Siege" (1998), an independent film starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, about a secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist that leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York resulting in the declaration of martial law. She then took a small supporting role in the comedy "Keeping The Faith" (2000), with Ben Stiller, Edward Norton and Jenna Elfman, a story about two friends, a priest and a rabbi, who fall in love with the same women.

After struggling for years to try and jump-start her career, the actress got a lucky break with the role of Lt. Rita Carbone in the action comedy "The Man" (2005), starring with Eugene Levy, where Special Agent Derrick Vann is a man out to get the suspect who killed his partner, but a case of mistaken identity leads him to another person, a salesman with too many questions and a knack of getting in his way. The film was panned by critics and very few people went to the theater to see it. The comedian turned actress wallowed in Hollywood waiting for her big break. But she didn't have to wait long. 

After auditioning for creator Larry David's sitcom "Curb Your Enthusiasm", she was hired and cast as Susie Greene. The documentary style of the show called upon the actress to largely improvise her part, based on meticulous story outlines created by Larry David and his writing staff. She was able to draw on her years as a stand-up comic. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was a runaway smash hit, and made Essman a Hollywood celebrity almost overnight.

In 2008, she appeared with Miley Cyrus and John Travolta in the animated family adventure "Bolt" (2008), the story of Bolt (John Travolta), a German Shepherd who has lived his whole life on the set of his action TV show starring with Penny (Miley Cyrus), where he believes he has superpowers. When separated from the studio by accident, he meets Mr. Mittens and a hamster named Rhino, and along the way he learns that he doesn't have superpowers and that the show is not realistic.

Watch Susie Essman In "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Interview With Dave & Celeste

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