Photo:Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty
Ben Stillerwas born with comedy in his DNA.
TheZoolanderstar is the son of comedy legendsJerry StillerandAnne Meara, who both had careers in show business that spanned more than six decades. Together, Jerry and Anne formed the husband-and-wife comedy team Stiller & Meara in the 1960s, famously appearing on variety shows such asThe Ed Sullivan Show. Individually, they each went on to have successful acting careers — with Jerry famously playing George Constanza’s father onSeinfeldand Anne working on dozens of television shows and films, includingArchie Bunker’s Place, OzandSex and the City.
But despite their fame, Jerry and Anne always madetheir family their top priority. The couple decided to break up their comedy act in 1970 in order to savetheir marriage, pursuing individual careers instead. They also always supported their children — Ben and his older sister,Amy Stiller— in their own performing endeavors over the years. Ben has credited his career success to the “love and encouragement” he received as a child from his parents.
“Nothing was as important in my development as my family’s support,” he toldLufthansa Magazine.
Ben and Amy also honored their parents’ dedication to family in 2012 when they presented them with the Made in NY Mayor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement. “Show business was important but family always came first,” Ben saidduring their speech. “That was the most important thing.”
Both Jerry and Anne lived long lives: Anne died in 2015 at the age of 85, and Jerry died in 2020 at 92. So who are Ben Stiller’s iconic parents? Here’s everything to know about Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
Jerry and Anne met in 1953 and were married in 1954
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Jerry and Anne first crossed paths in 1953 in a casting agent’s office in New York City,theWashington Postreported. The agent reportedly made a pass at Anne while she was alone in his office, and she left in tears. Seeing her upset, Jerry offered to take her for a cup of coffee. Anne accepted — and then asked Jerry to steal a set of silverware from the restaurant for her apartment, which he did, according to thePost.
The two were an improbable match: Jerry was Jewish and grew up with his three younger siblings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, while Anne was raised on Long Island, New York, as the only child from an Irish Catholic household. Jerry, who attended Syracuse University after serving in the Army, also hadn’t had much luck in the romance department prior to meeting Anne.
“Girls weren’t interested in me in college,” Jerry told PEOPLE in 1977. “They thought I was weird. I was always putting people on, trying to be funny.”
But Anne encouraged him to be himself. “She said, ‘Why don’t you just be what you are?’ In two months we were married,” Jerry recalled.
The couple married in 1954 — but according to Ben, his mother knew Jerry was the one after that very first coffee date when he stole the silverware for her.
“He stole silverware for her the rest of his life,” Ben said about his parents onSunday TODAY. “He was devoted to her.”
They had two children
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Jerry and Anne welcomed their first child, a daughter named Amy Stiller, in September 1961. Four years later, on Nov. 30, 1965, their second child, Ben, was born. Starting a family prompted Anne to convert from Catholicism to Judaism, which she did prior to Amy’s birth in 1961.
“I wanted my children to know who they were,” she explained to PEOPLE in 1977.
The family settled on the Upper West Side of Manhattan because it “was the place everybody wanted to be, especially if you were an artist or in the theater,” Jerry told theWest Side Ragin 2016. And having two parents working in show business led to an unconventional upbringing for Ben and Amy.
But their parents’ fame also came with its negative effects. “I grew up with people saying hello to my parents on the street every day,” he told PEOPLE in 1990. “Deep down, I’ve always wanted people to say hello to me, too.”
They performed as the comedy duo Stiller & Meara but broke up their act to save their marriage
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Jerry and Anne performed as the comedy duo Stiller & Meara throughout the 1960s — despite Anne having no ambitions to work in comedy. “The last thing I wanted was to be a comedienne,” she told PEOPLE in 1977.
“It occurred to us that we were an unlikely couple,” Jerry told PEOPLE. “People would say to Anne, ‘Heh, you’re married to him?’ I thought we could use it.”
Stiller & Meara became popular in the 1960s, appearing on sketch shows — including 36 appearances onThe Ed Sullivan Show. But in the 1970s, they broke up their act in order to save their marriage.
“I love Anne, but if I had depended on her in my professional life, I would have lost her as a wife,” Jerry told PEOPLE about their decision to pursue independent careers. “We felt like two guys.”
Anne added, “I didn’t know where the act ended and our marriage began.”
“We did miss our back and forth,” Anne toldtheLos Angeles Timesin 2010. “I love improvising with him.”
Anne was nominated for Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and Tony Awards
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After the split of Stiller & Meara, Anne went on to have a successful career as a television and film actress. She had dozens of onscreen appearances over the decades, taking on both comedic and dramatic roles, with several earning her award nominations.
In the 1970s, Anne stared in her own short-lived television seriesKate McShane, which was about a tough-talking lawyer. It nabbed aPrimetime Emmynomination for her performance in 1976. The next year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her recurring role on the sitcomRhoda.
Anne’s television credits also included recurring roles on the soap operaAll My Childrenand appearing as Mary Brady, mom to Steve (David Eigenberg), onSex and the City. She continued to work until her death in 2015.
Jerry starred onSeinfeldandThe King of Queens
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Jerry’s career slowed after the end of Stiller & Meara, with the comedian making appearances on game shows while “trying to cope with the fact that my wife was doing well,” he told PEOPLE. But in the 1990s, he experienced a resurgence in fame thanks to his role as Frank Constanza onSeinfeld.
But his iconicSeinfeldrole almost never happened: Jerry initially passed on the job because he was busy with a Broadway show.
“They said they want you to play the father of George Costanza onSeinfeld, and I said, ‘Who’s Seinfeld?’ ” he toldThe Hollywood Reporter. “They said it is a very funny show and it is on the air right now. And I said, ‘Well, I am in a Broadway show. I am about to rehearse. I pass.’ ”
“He made things funnyand come alive that weren’t on the page,”Leah Remini, who played Arthur’s daughter Carrie Heffernan, told PEOPLE about her late costar in 2020. “Jerry was a star, a legend, that is true, but he never acted like it.”
Jerry and Anne both appeared in movies with their son Ben
Over the years, Ben appeared on-screen with his parents on several occasions — starting with his very first film role in 1987 when he starred opposite his father inHot Pursuit. Ben continued to work with his father in some of his most iconic films, includingZoolander(2001),The Heartbreak Kid(2007) andZoolander 2(2016), which was Jerry’s final on-screen performance before his death in 2020.
Ben also worked with his mother, as Anne appeared on-screen with her son inNight at the Museum(2006). Ben, Jerry and Anne appeared in the filmHeavyweights(1995), and Amy joined Ben and their parents inHighway to Hell(1992).
The experience of working alongside his parents helped shape Ben as an actor and comedian. He toldLufthansa Magazinethat both of his parentstaught him “dedication and passion” in his work,but it wasBen’s mother who influenced his comedythe most.
“Obviously, my dad is a huge person in my life. I love him,” he toldParadeafter Anne’s death in 2015. “But my mom was the person that I most looked up to for her point of view, her humor.”
Anne died in May 2015 and Jerry died in 2020
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On May 23, 2015,Anne diedat 85 years old.
Ben opened up about his mother’s death toParadein February 2016 — when he said he was still coming to terms with the loss.
“I’m still processing it,” he toldParade. “It affects me constantly. You know, you’re going through your life, everything is great and then like,Pow!She’s not here. It’s hard for me.”
He added: “I feel a connection as deeply to my mom now as I did when she was here. I really felt with her that she wasn’t just going away, because she believed, as I do, that after we die there is something more.”
Nearly five years after the death of his wife, Jerry died on May 11, 2020, at the age of 92.
Both Ben and his older sister, Amy, were able to be with their father in his final days — something Ben toldThe New Yorkerhe was “very, very grateful for.” Later that month, Ben opened up about the loss of his father onSunday TODAYwith Willie Geist.
“He wasan irreplaceable person,” Ben said. “I knew that but when something like this happens you really feel it. And I know for him he loved doing what he did and he loved connecting with people.”
Ben felt like his parents were “connected again” after Jerry’s death
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“They found each other and they were there for each other,” Ben said about his parents on an episode oftheTodayshowin May 2020. “Not to get too sappy, but I feel likethey’re connected again.”
Ben continued to reminisce about his parents’ love story — remarking how he imagined his father with a “big smile” after being reunited with his mother, who died five years prior.
“They connected and fell in love and were married for 62 years,” he said. “They just had a beautiful relationship. So I think for him, this would have just been — I think he has a big smile somewhere.”
source: people.com
