Annie Korzen

Annie Korzen
Born
Anne Drazen

Bronx, New York, New York, U.S.
EducationHigh School of Music & Art
Bard College
Occupations
  • Actor
  • humorist
  • writer
  • storyteller
Years active1974 – Present
Spouse(s)Benni Korzen
(m. 1964)
Websitewww.anniekorzen.com

Annie Korzen (née Drazen)[1] is an American actress, comedian, writer and social media personality.

Korzen is well known from the television show Seinfeld, appearing in the recurring role of Doris Klompus, an obnoxious neighbor living in Jerry's parents' Florida condo complex. She was also seen on the show's season 4 episode, "The Airport", as an annoying airline passenger bothering Elaine Benes in economy class.

Early years

Born and raised in the Mosholu Parkway section of the Bronx, Korzen is the daughter of Russian-born parents, Sonia and Abe Drazen.[1] Interviewed in 1998, she recalled her musical upbringing. Korzen's mother was "a depressed agoraphobic [who] made me study the piano so that when I grew up, I could give piano lessons at home and not have to go out into the world to earn a living", while her father, a tailor by trade, had, by the mid 1960s, famously moonlighted as the "Pied Piper of Washington Square", a fact duly noted by both Newsweek and The New York Times.[2][3] His singular act, complete with homemade slide whistle,[2][3] would soon become a featured attraction for two famous Allens during the early 1970s; first, Woody, in his made-for-PBS, but never screened 1971 mockumentary, Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story,[4][5] and then Steve, himself guest-hosting for Dick Cavett in 1972.[6] For her part, Korzen evidently heeded her mother's advice in large part, attending Public School 94, then the High School of Music & Art, and, finally, Bard College,[1] class of 1960. Following additional studies in Europe and a 1961 piano recital at her alma mater,[7] Korzen—still as Anne Drazen—had, by 1963, become employed as an instructor at the Lachmund Piano Studios in Yonkers.[8]

Acting career

Korzen began her career as an actress-writer in New York Off-Broadway theater. She has appeared in television shows including Seinfeld, Whitney, and The Exes as well as in the motion pictures Tootsie, Stardust Memories, and Nobody's Perfect, which she co-wrote. She has also appeared in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and In Embryo, directed by Danish Actor Ulrich Thomsen.

Korzen has written, composed, and performed two solo shows. "Yenta Unplugged" celebrates Jewish women through comedy and music. The second show, "The Yenta Cometh" is about the price one pays for speaking out.[9]

She is also a speaker on the lecture circuit with the interactive talks, "The Good Yenta: A Humorous Celebration of Jewish Women” and "Show and Tell with the Bargain Junkie".[10][11] She also performs an evening of humorous stories called "Tales from the Mouth: Mishaps, Fiascoes, and other Triumphs".

In 1993, Korzen was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, in an episode entitled "Ethnic Men Who Reject Their Own Women", a topic Korzen had suggested to the show's producers.[12]

Writing career

Korzen's commentaries have been heard on NPR's Morning Edition,[13] and her essays have been printed in publications such as the New York Times,[14] Los Angeles Times,[15] San Francisco Chronicle,[16] and the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles.[17] Her spoken-word performances have appeared on showcases such as Comedy Central's "Sit 'n Spin", "Tasty Words", "Sparks" and The Moth.

Her book Bargain Junkie: Living the Good Life on the Cheap, is a humorous how-to about enjoying an upscale lifestyle on a budget. It was published by Andrews McMeel Universal.[18][19]

She also released The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart, and Chutzpa from an Accidental Influencer in 2023. In this collection of humorous personal essays and random observations, Annie offers her unabashed takes on a variety of provocative topics. It was published by Permuted Press.[20]

Personal life

In April 1964, two months after meeting via blind date (orchestrated by mutual friend Michael Maslansky), Anne Drazen and Danish-born producer Benni Korzen were wed. They have one child, a son, Jonathan.[21][22][1]

Seinfeld episodes

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ellenberg, Al (July 20, 1998). "The Good Yenta". The Jerusalem Report. p. 44. ProQuest 218742647. Annie got into the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan and then was awarded a music scholarship to Bard College, a small liberal-arts school in the Hudson Valley (where in the mid-1950s this writer first encountered her and where we discovered that we were both veterans of Public School 94 [...] ANNIE'S FATHER HAD A LITTLE tailor shop in the Mosholu Parkway section of the Bronx where Annie grew up in the 40s and early 50s. Tailoring was Abie Drazen's livelihood, but his passion was performing. His instrument was a slide whistle which he fashioned himself out of corset stays, bottle caps and other bits of junk." [...] February 1964. Annie Drazen is teaching piano. Michael Maslansky, a Bard friend who is already making a name for himself as a theatrical publicist and a guy who worked and played very hard, calls to set Annie up on a blind date with an aspiring young Danish film producer. By April, Annie is married to Benni Korzen. [...] That was 34 years ago. The newlyweds settled down on Manhattan's West Side, where they raised their son Jonathan, now an editor on an Internet project.
  2. ^ a b "Life and Leisure: Any Sunday". Newsweek. June 19, 1969. p. 90. ProQuest 1866719487. 5 P.M. The fountain is cluttered with cigarette butts, paper cups and half-eaten apple cores. Abe Drazen, the 'Pied Piper of Washington Square,' is piping hit songs on his instrument made from a TV aerial, a Clorox bottle cap, and a piece of his wife's girdle.
  3. ^ a b Hawthorne, Mark (July 11, 1966). "Washington Sq. Singers Invent Own Instruments". The New York Times. p. 29. ProQuest 117426303. Weaving through the crowd around the fountain and popping up all over the park, was Abe Drazen of 38 Gun Hill Road, the Bronx, a sort of middle-aged Pied Piper, playing his Corox bottle slide whistle. 'I'm going to patent this thing and make a million,' he said happily, between numbers. Someone asked if he ever played at home. 'Are you kidding?,' he said, 'My wife hates it. That's why I come down here.
  4. ^ Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story – Unaired Woody Allen TV Special; Details; Credits. The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved January 24, 2026. "Woody Allen … Cast, Harvey Wallinger; David Ackroyd … Cast; Wil Albert … Cast; Conrad Bain … Cast; Court Benson … Cast; Milo Boulton … Cast; Harold Chidnoff … Cast; Jean David … Cast; De Baer, Jeanne … Cast; Richard M. Dixon … Cast; Abe Drazen … Cast; Dan Frazer … Cast; George Harris … Cast; Graham Jarvis … Cast; Mitchell Jason … Cast; Graham Jarvis … Cast; Diane Keaton … Cast; Tom Lacy … Cast; Louise Lasser … Cast; Tom Rosqui … Cast; Lee Wallace … Cast. Spiro T. Agnew, Hubert H. Humphrey, John Mitchell, Martha Mitchell, Richard M. Nixon, George Wallace"
  5. ^ Il Cinecustode (September 20, 2018). "Drazen's appearance in Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wollinger Story". YouTube. Retrieved January 24, 2026. See also: Op cit., "Men of Crisis closing credits"
  6. ^ "Daily Television Log". The Binghamton Press. March 17, 1972. p. 23. Retrieved January 24, 2026. "11:30: 40–Johnny Carson Show – Guests: Steve Landesberg, Jim Fowler. 12–STAC Basketball – Section IV, Class A Final. 34–Dick Cavett Show – Guest Host Steve Allen with Jayne Meadows, Marilyn Michaels, Abe Drazen, Johnny Valente."
  7. ^ "Bard Alumna To Give Recital". Poughkeepsie Journal. p. 10. Retrieved January 24, 2026. "Anne Drazen, pianist, will give a recital at Bard college tomorrow, Bard hall at 8 p.m. Miss Drazen, an alumna of the college, class of 1960, has just returned from Europe where she has been studying music for the last year. Her program will include compositions by Bach, Haydn, Schubert, Debussy and Schumann."
  8. ^ "Awards Presented At Piano Recital". The Herald Statesman. . p. 15. Retrieved January 24, 2026. "Winners of honor awards for achievement and effort were heard in two recitals given at the Lachmund Piano Studios, 230 Valentine Lane, when students of Marjorie G. Lachmund, Judy Elias and Anne Drazen played solo and ensemble numbers in the annual spring recitals. First prizes in the elementary division went to Susan Rabinowe Lachmund's class; James Panko in Mrs. Elias' class, and Mindy Koizim in Miss Drazens's class."
  9. ^ "The Yenta is Coming! The Yenta is Coming!". San Diego Jewish Journal. May 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  10. ^ "The Harry Walker Agency". Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  11. ^ "AIE Speakers Bureau". Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  12. ^ Korzen, Annie (August 18, 2005). "Death by Oprah". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  13. ^ "Search NPR: Annie Korzen". National Public Radio. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  14. ^ Korzen, Annie (May 4, 2007). "The (Vintage) Shirt Off Her Back". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  15. ^ Korzen, Annie (December 10, 2007). "What's so wonderful about it?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  16. ^ Korzen, Annie (December 12, 2007). "Maybe it wasn't such a wonderful life". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  17. ^ "Author Page – Annie Korzen". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. November 26, 1998. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  18. ^ "Bargain Junkie: Living the Good Life on the Cheap". Barnes & Noble. Barnes & Noble. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  19. ^ Google Books – Bargain Junkie: Living the Good Life on the Cheap. Google Inc. September 15, 2009. ISBN 9780740790249. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  20. ^ "The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart, and Chutzpa from an Accidental Influencer". Barnes & Noble. Barnes & Noble, Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  21. ^ "Film: Korzen reactivates Hudson Film". Variety. June 6, 1990. p. 21. ProQuest 1286133370. Danish-born Korzen, a N.Y. resident for 25 years, is wed to Annie Korzen, actress and screenwriter whose 'Say It Isn't So' will be made by Hudson in '91.
  22. ^ George, George L. (April 7, 1972). "CAPSULE REVIEWS: 'Interview With F. Scott Fitzgerald'". Back Stage. p. 55. ProQuest 963170221. Also on the program were 'Encounters in a Beach Cottage', an ominous, suspenseful play by John Shinn, ably directed by Lucille Saint-Peter, whose mysteriously threatening and threatened characters were convincingly portrayed by George Garro, Anne Korzen, Linda Rubinoff, and Robert Sayre.
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