Meet Annie Korzen, 85-Year-Old Hilariously Outspoken TikTok Star

Annie Korzen is a colorful, 85-year-old actress with a decades-long career in TV, film, and theater—including a recurring role on Seinfeld and a center-stage spot touring with The Moth. Her just-published book of humor essays, The Book of Annie, offers funny musings on both everyday and typically taboo topics. She’s also become an unexpected TikTok star, with 407,000 followers and 11 million likes.

Korzen sees Judaism as playing a huge part in her work and in her life. “Being Jewish colors everything I do. It covers my wit, my bluntness, my honesty. I love Jewish humor. A lot of comedy in this country was created by Jews because they needed a place to speak their truth, but in an entertaining way. And I love great Jewish food.”

Asked her motivation for writing her book, Korzen jokes, “I need money.” Elaborating on what she hopes readers will get from it, she says, “To open up people’s ways of seeing things. When I talk about my humor, my attention is to not just to get laughs, but to stimulate thought. To inspire people to think differently from the way they were brought up; out of the box. I was brought up in a blue-collar, Jewish, immigrant community in the Bronx. The mantra there was always ‘stick with your own kind.’ And I’m very happy that I didn’t pay any attention to that because when you explore the other kind, you might enrich your life in all kinds of ways. I want people to not just follow traditions; they should question traditions.”

One thing Korzen is not questioning is her age. “I’ve never been busier, more productive, or more successful. In some ways, I’d say I’ve never been happier because the wisdom and skills I’ve developed all these years are now leading me to a kind of success I’ve never had.

@akorzen♬ original sound - Annie Korzen

“Also, when you’re old, you finally feel the freedom and the confidence to say no. When you’re young, you want to please everybody. When I was younger, anything anybody suggested, I would do. Like going camping, which is a ridiculous thing for me to agree to do. I knew it would be a disaster and it was. Young people don’t know how to say no; they’re so anxious to please everyone. I don’t care that much anymore about pleasing everyone. And the irony is the more honest I’ve been about my needs, the more I have pleased other people.”

Korzen in Seinfeld

Similarly, Korzen most admires writers who are honest about their vulnerabilities, people who admit to being mistaken. “Because I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life and I’ve learned from them. And I hope others will learn from theirs, too.” Her favorite authors? “Anything by Anne Lamott or David Sedaris. Anne Lamott’s ‘Traveling Mercies’ is the greatest book of personal essays I’ve ever read.”

As with many people in the comedy world, Korzen’s early life had its challenges. “I did not have a happy childhood. My favorite memory as a child was sitting out on the fire escape of our railroad flat in the Bronx and dreaming about what it might be like to be in the movies or sing and dance for people, have a little glamor, see the world, see Paris. My imagination is what has gotten me through life, and a lot of those dreams have come true. I worked very hard to get them.

“I’m at an age now where I’m dealing with a lot of loss. My two best friends died in the past few years. I have friends leaving L.A. My family does not live nearby. That has been a hard thing for me to deal with. And I realize the only thing to do is to reach out to other people. To find new friends. Particularly for older people. To find younger friends. Because they’re gonna be around for a little while. So, I think taking action is the way to deal with any kind of grief or sorrow. It’s not always easy to do and you can’t always do it immediately. It takes a little while to recover from the loss and the grief. And even though I love to complain, complaining doesn’t get you anything; it’s taking action that gets you places.”

Korzen’s parents were not the happiest people. “They were mismatched. I wasn’t brought up in a happy household. But of course I did get things from them. My father was a street musician. He loved music. He loved to perform. My mother stayed at home and loved reading books. If it was a rainy day, my mother would keep me home from school because she thought it was too dangerous to go out in the rain. As soon as the rain stopped, we would bring corned beef sandwiches and go see some wonderful musical with Fred Astaire. That was her idea of a good time. And it became my idea of a good time.”

I said to myself, ‘Look, I’m never going to be loved for my looks. Maybe I’ll be loved for my wit, for my humor.’

What inspired her to pursue a career in comedy writing and performing? “First of all, I knew I wasn’t pretty. I was aware that I didn’t look like what pretty girls looked like. So, I knew I had to develop my personality. I said to myself, ‘Look, I’m never going to be loved for my looks. Maybe I’ll be loved for my wit, for my humor. I can get them to laugh or share some insights that might provoke people.”

When pressed, Korzen admits that she would have done one thing differently. “I’ve always been told that I’m too talkative, too opinionated, too blunt about my opinions. Now, it turns out that those same qualities are being celebrated by TikTok fans who want to hear my opinions about things. I shouldn’t have apologized so much for those qualities. The other thing I’ve always apologized for is being too Jewish-looking. I’ve not gotten jobs in Hollywood because of that. I’m not what Hollywood considers attractive. They say I’m too ethnic. What it really comes down to is I’m too Jewish-looking. But again, my new audience on TikTok tells me I’m beautiful.”

@akorzen #lifeworthliving #chipsandsalsa #margaritas #guacamole ♬ original sound - Annie Korzen

With all the horrible things going on in the world, how does Korzen view the role of the humorist? “I think humorists really see truth. Writers really see truth much more than the people who are the so-called experts. And I think with all the horrible things going on in the world which are really unbearable, my only suggestion would be that if women ran things, it would be a different world, a better world. And of course, I should be in charge of the world. Me, and women like me!”

Any final advice? “I love this Jewish saying – if you save one life, you save the world. And I think that’s a very profound statement because if in our small, petty little lives, if we perform small, petty little acts of kindness, little acts of generosity, we are making the world a kinder and more peaceful place.”