Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller
(born June 8, 1927) is an American
comedian and
actor.
He spent many years in the comedy team
Stiller and Meara with his wife
Anne Meara. Stiller and Meara are the parents of
actor
Ben Stiller (with whom he
co-starred in the movies
Zoolander,
Heavyweights,
Hot Pursuit and
The Heartbreak Kid), and
actress
Amy Stiller.
He is best known for his recurring role as
Frank Costanza on the television series
Seinfeld and his starring role as
Arthur Spooner on the television
series
King of Queens.
Personal life
The oldest
of four children, Stiller was born in Brooklyn
, New York City
, the son of Bella (née Citrin) and William Stiller,
a bus driver. His paternal grandparents were Austrian
Jewish immigrants and his maternal grandparents were
Russian
Jews. He attended Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, NY
. A drama major at Syracuse
University
, he gained a Bachelor of Science in Speech and
Drama. He is a brother of
Tau Delta
Phi fraternity, Tau Zeta chapter.
Stiller has two grandchildren (both of them are from his son,
Ben, with actress
Christine Taylor): Ella Olivia Stiller (b.
April 10, 2002) and Quinlin Dempsey Stiller (b. July 10,
2005).
Stiller and Meara
The comedy team
Stiller and Meara,
composed of Stiller and wife
Anne Meara,
was successful in the 1960s and 1970s, with numerous appearances on
television variety programs such as
The Ed Sullivan Show. Their career
declined as variety series gradually disappeared, but they
subsequently forged a career in radio commercials, notably the
campaign for Blue Nun wine. They also starred in their own
syndicated five-minute sketch comedy show
Take Five with Stiller and
Meara, in 1977-78. The duo's own 1986 TV
sitcom,
The
Stiller and Meara Show, in which Stiller played the deputy
mayor of New York City and Meara portrayed his wife, a TV
commercial actress, was unsuccessful.
Resurgence
Seinfeld
Jerry Stiller played the short-tempered
Frank Costanza, the father of
George Costanza in the sitcom
Seinfeld from 1993 to 1998. He was nominated for an
Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1997 and won
the American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a
TV Series for his portrayal of Frank Costanza.
King of Queens
After
Seinfeld's run ended, Stiller had planned on
retiring, but
Kevin James
requested him to join the cast of
King of Queens. Kevin James, who played
the leading role of
Doug Heffernan,
had told Stiller that he needed him in order to have a successful
show . Stiller obliged, and played the role of
Arthur Spooner, the always scheming father of
Carrie Heffernan in the situation
comedy
The King of
Queens from 1998 until 2007. Stiller has said this role
tested his acting ability more than any others have, and that
before being a part of
King of
Queens, he only saw himself as a "decent actor".
Miscellaneous
Stiller played himself in filmed
skits, opening
and closing Canadian rock band
Rush's
30
th Anniversary Tour concerts in 2004. These
appearances are seen on the band's
DVD
R30 Live In
Frankfurt, released in 2005. Stiller later appeared in
cameo in later in-concert films for
the band's 2008
Snakes &
Arrows Tour.
Stiller is a
martial arts enthusiast
and has hosted the
Kumite three times. He
also routinely attends
UFC events and can be
seen in many backstage segments.
In the
late 1990s Stiller appeared in a series of Nike
television
commercials as deceased Green Bay
Packers head coach Vince
Lombardi, which were removed after the Lombardi family members
disapproved.
In 1978 and in 2001 Stiller appeared in public service TV campaigns
for the Citizens Committee for New York City, produced by
director/cinematographer Neal Marshad.
On February 9, 2007, he and his wife were honored with a joint star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As author
Stiller wrote the foreword to the book
Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us (ISBN
0-446-69674-9) by
Allen Salkin,
released on October 26, 2005.
His memoir,
Married
to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara, was
published in 2000.
Filmography
Short Subjects
See also
References
- http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Stiller,Jerry.html
- Jerry Stiller Biography (1927-)
- http://www.surpriselake.org/about/history.php
External links
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