Mrs Debbie Wolowitz – The Big Bang Theory – Voiced by Carol Ann Susi

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Most of The Big Bang Theory parents make occasional cameos. We meet Beverley Hofstadter (Leonard’s Mum), and Mrs Cooper (Sheldon’s Mum) on average at least once per season. Raj’s parents appeared in vid-cam broadcasts from India in the early seasons. We have met Penny’s dad just once so far. Her family surname is never given. Howard’s Mum, though a constant of the first seven seasons, was frequently heard but unseen, other than in glimpses of hands, arms, and a fleeting look at her torso darting past the camera in one episode (The Spoiler Alert Segmentation) but her face was never seen. We heard her yelling a lot, on the phone, through doors, or just off-camera. Bernadette and Leslie Winkle did terrific impersonations of her which freaked Howard out. She was described as morbidly obese, moustached, and rather manly, but she also came across as rather lonely and passionate. Howard discovered that she was having an affair with the family dentist and in one episode she virtually kept Raj as a hostage to her hospitality. Stories often focused on her strict Judaism, as Howard seemed to rebel against his faith, indulging in non-kosher foods, etc. He was particularly worried that she wouldn’t like Bernadette who has a Catholic background, but the two women in his life came to adore one-another in their mutual recognition that he is an idiot. Later, she developed an unexpected affinity and possibly even a romance with comic store owner, Stuart, which infuriates Howard who always had something of an Oedipal attachment to his Mum. This was a story arc still in intriguing development when real life tragedy intervened. The death of voicing actress Carol Ann Susi led to the death of Mrs Wolowitz being movingly written into the show’s eighth season, announced in the episode, The Comic Book Store Regeneration, in which she had vocally appeared in just one earlier episode (The Prom Equivalency). Recognition of her loss was a great tribute to a character we never saw but always considered as much a part of the wonderful extended TV-family and friends of the nerds as everyone we did get to see. Youtube - The full version of the Big Bang Theory Theme tune by The Bare Naked Ladies Arthur Chappell