May 21, 2020 in the Celebrity Escape Room, Jack Black is the Game Master, and Ben Stiller, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Adam Scott must join forces to escape. Each room that the players complete earns money to be donated to Red Nose Day.
Ben Stiller and Jack Black serve as executive producers and participants in the one-hour show.
Jack Black is host and Game Master, who puts his celebrity friends to the test as they work together under intense pressure to beat the clock, unlocking a series of surprising puzzle rooms to ultimately engineer their great escape in this uproarious adventure.
When stumped they may only ask the Game Master for three clues to help them escape their complete isolation from the outside world. Each room that the players complete earns money to be donated to Red Nose Day.
In addition to Ben Stiller and Jack Black, “Celebrity Escape Room” will be executive produced by Christine Taylor, Nicky Weinstock, Amiira Ruotola and Lee Metzger (“The Voice”).
The show is produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio, Red Hour Productions and Electric Dynamite.
In The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Ben Stiller chats about teaming up with Jack Black for a Celebrity Escape Room for Red Nose Day to support charities during the COVID-19 pandemic and helping refugees as an ambassador with the United Nations.
Ben Stiller's Dad, Jerry Stiller, died on May 11, 2020. Ben recalls his memories of both parents and the impact they had on his life.
Ben Stiller pays tribute to his dad, Jerry Stiller, by sharing hilarious and sweet anecdotes, like when he chased down his stolen bike or when Ben called him high on LSD.
Ben Stiller joins TODAY to talk about his late Dad, who he says would have loved the attention he’s getting after his death: “a big smile somewhere.” He also talks about his Dad’s relationship with his late Mother, comedian Anne Meara: “I feel like they’re connected again.”
In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist talks to Ben Stiller via video chat about his father, Jerry Stiller, who died earlier this month. “It's been really heartwarming to see how much he touched people, how beloved by people he was,” Stiller says. “I think the way that you feel with a parent … their spirit is something that's so much a part of me that I hold onto.”
New Interview: I talked to Ben Stiller about the life and career of his father Jerry, the roots of the Frank Costanza character on ‘Seinfeld,’ and Ben’s decision to follow in the footsteps of his parents. https://t.co/6sBQIF3XcR
The actor and director on growing up with famous comedians as parents and how his father, Jerry Stiller, saw his son’s career.
“I can’t really pull out what influence my parents have had on my work, because I think they’ve had so much,” Stiller says.
Jerry Stiller, the legendary comedian and entertainer, died this month, at the age of ninety-two. In the nineteen-sixties, Stiller performed in a comedy duo with his wife, Anne Meara, appearing frequently on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and travelling the country on comedy tours. Then, in his mid-sixties, he reached new audiences with his turn as George Costanza’s irascible, voluble father on “Seinfeld.” A genetic basis for comedy is yet to be proved, but the couple’s two kids both joined the family business: their daughter, Amy, is a comedian, and their son, Ben, became one of the biggest movie stars of the past two decades, starring in films such as “There’s Something About Mary,” “Meet the Parents,” and “Zoolander,” which he directed. (Tad Friend profiled Ben Stiller for The New Yorker, in 2012.)
I recently spoke by phone with Ben, who was in his home in Westchester, New York, about his relationship with his father and both his parents’ comedic legacies. (Meara died in 2015.) In our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we also discussed what it was like to grow up with famous comedians as parents, the roots of his father’s “Seinfeld” character, and how his father saw Ben’s career.
Were you able to spend some time with your dad before he died?
Yeah. My sister and I were able to be with him. And, just due to the fact that he didn’t have a coronavirus-related illness, and he had been ailing for a while, we were able to be with him, which I’m very, very grateful for.
What were the last few weeks like? Was his sense of humor there at the end?
He was just slowing down a lot, and he was dealing with a lot of issues. And so the last week or two were tougher for him. But he went peacefully, and he had a sense of humor, for sure, until the end. I hesitate to call it a sense of humor. He was just funny, and so he was always himself. He was almost ninety-three, and I think his body was kind of at that point where it was time.
When did you realize that your parents were really funny?
Wow, that’s a good question. Growing up with them, we were always around their process of working together, because they worked together at home. And so I don’t ever remember a moment of thinking, Oh, they’re funny. I remember watching them onstage and seeing them perform and get laughs, and do their act. I remember, as a kid, enjoying watching that and thinking, Oh, this is kind of cool that everybody thinks my parents are funny. And it was exciting.
My sister and I really enjoyed watching them perform. But, as parents, they’re always your parents. I think we had our progression of the relationship that you have with your parents, as you go through childhood and adolescence, and all the different aspects of it. But, honestly, when I think about it, it’s really when I got a little bit older, when I was a teen-ager, that I was able to really appreciate their humor. And then, really, as I got much older and was able to have a perspective, I was able to really see outside of the lens of just being their kid.
Did you ever feel, “I’m just a fourteen-year-old kid. I don’t want humor. I just want parents who are normal”? Was that ever hard?
No. [Laughs]
O.K., cool.
What that makes me think of is just that they really both had separate attitudes toward the work, and they both took it very seriously. So it wasn’t really them cracking jokes around the house. My memory is of my mother feeling the stress of it. My dad really liked to perform and do comedy more than my mom. It came to her very easily, but it was always work for her to put herself out there like that. My dad was always working at it and thinking about things. If something came to him, like, “Oh, that’s funny”—he was always writing stuff down. He was always keeping notes and writing journals, and somehow thinking about how he could use it. And then, eventually, my mom wrote plays, which really took a lot of her personal experience. I think she used a lot of what was going on in her relationship with my dad. I think they were taking it in and then translating it themselves, on their own.
Was a big part of their offstage relationship based on comedy? Or was it the family business and, when you get home, you’re not necessarily talking about the shoe store you own?
It was the fabric of our lives. And I think that’s because they worked together, and there weren’t really lines drawn, in terms of, like, “Oh, when we get home, we don’t talk about it.” Because there weren’t really regular hours. Sometimes, they were playing night clubs, or they were on the road, or they were doing a TV show. We hardly ever sat down to have dinner together as a family. But, by the same token, I think we were a pretty close family. And it was just not your typical, traditional setup. And they had a room in the apartment, on Riverside Drive, where we lived, where they would work, whether they were writing together or improvising together, because they wrote radio commercials a lot in the seventies.
They had a sketch where they hated each other. And they would just talk about how much they hated each other. And my sister overheard, and really thought that they hated each other. And then, another time, hearing them arguing and thinking it was rehearsing a sketch, and it wasn’t. So that was part of the energy in the household. They were very different people, but they were so, so devoted to each other. A very beautiful and imperfect relationship, as every relationship is. And so that was our life. And it was part of all of it for us.
Do you have a memory of when you first made your parents laugh, or your dad laugh?
Oh, man. Well, the first thing I think of is my dad coming to see me in a play at camp. I went to this camp in Maine, called Hidden Valley. And I hated it at first, and he came up there because I got homesick. He’s a very sensitive guy, a very loving dad. My mom would be kind of like, “No, Jerry, he’s got to figure out how to be on his own.” And my dad was, like, “No, I want to go up there and be with him.”
And, so, he came up for a couple of days and then left. And I got acclimated, and I remember I met a girl that I liked, and all of a sudden I didn’t want him to come back. And then he came back to see the play. I remember him watching the play. And I sang some song in it, and I remember him having this big smile. It wasn’t a laugh, but it was him just appreciating seeing his kid performing. I think he just loved seeing his kids act, and do their thing.
Do you think it was important to your parents that you and your sister turned out to be funny?
Interesting, but I don’t think so at all. When they knew that we both were interested in acting, and going into show business, I think they were both conflicted. My dad was very overprotective, and I think he was probably concerned about knowing all the rejection there is in this business. And, at the same time, I think he also was so nurturing of us, as creative people, and he wanted to try to foster that as much as he could. It’s kind of that thing where you go, “O.K., if you’re really going to go and try to do this, until you actually try to do it, you don’t know how hard it can be.” My parents were very different people. So he had one way of dealing with it. My mom had a different way.
What was her way?
A more hands-off approach. Same way with the camp attitude: “Just go there and you have got to figure it out.” Which I think is the more practical way, really, because you do have to go through that on your own eventually. But, if my dad could have been there with us every step of the way, he would pull every string that he could possibly pull, and open every door he could possibly open. And, again, he was like that with anybody. If you met somebody on the street and they said they were a fan and they were interested in acting, he’d talk to them for twenty minutes about it. For real. He was that guy. So, for me, when I was starting out, I definitely resisted that more, because I wanted to try and figure it out on my own. And so, sometimes, that caused tension between us.
Anything in particular come to mind?
Just the normal adolescent stuff. And it never was really dramatic at all. I was trying to figure out who I was. And, it’s so funny, because, when my dad died, I was looking at some old clips of the two of us on “Conan,” like twenty-five years ago. And I look at myself, like, “What was I thinking? Who is that person?” And I’m remembering that of course I wanted my dad on there with me, because I knew my dad would be funny. And I would dread the talk-show appearances, and it was like cheating to ask him to come and help.
Who were your dad’s comedic influences?
He was so much of an old-school guy in terms of show business, and in general. He grew up during the Depression, and he was very poor, and he loved listening to the radio and going to see vaudeville acts with his dad. So certainly people like Henny Youngman and Jack Benny and Burns and Allen. And that was always his dream, since he was a kid, which wasn’t my mom’s dream at all. For him it was a real thrill, as he made it in the business, to be able to actually meet those people and have friendships. They had a friendship with Henny Youngman, over the years, which I think really meant a lot to him. And him meeting George Burns was just, like, oh, he had made it.
How was your mom’s dream different?
She was more of a dramatic actor, who studied and wanted to do that. And that’s why it’s ironic, because she was amazing at comedy. But she really never had that desire to go out there and get laughs. And they did “The Ed Sullivan Show” thirty-plus times. I can’t even imagine the pressure of doing that show, because however many millions and millions of people would watch it. And he had to invite you back the next time. I know it was very tough to go out there and do that. She was so good at it, though. And I think, when I watch them, I see how my mom just naturally does it. With my dad, I see what he’s going through. And that was what their symbiosis was. They were so connected that she was always there for him in that way when they were onstage together. If you watch those sketches, usually at the end of the sketch, when it’s over, my mom will just kiss my dad. That was their relationship, and the kiss was, like, “We got through this. We did this. I love you.” And I feel like she was an underrated actor, because she really was good.
Is that something you’ve tried to balance in your career: trying to do serious acting—and, obviously, directing—but also caring about getting laughs?
Yeah. My first instinct, when I was eight, nine, ten years old, was that I knew I loved movies and I wanted to be a director. And my dad really supported that. He went out and got a Super 8 camera, and got me the editing equipment, and would act in movies that I would make. He was just there, all the time, for that. And then, as I got into my teens, I was trying to figure out who I was, and I think I pushed away. I was interested in acting, but since my parents were so known for comedy I was trying to figure out, comedically, if I wanted to do that or not, because I think my first instinct was “My parents are funny, but I want to be serious.” And, obviously, that’s not the way I went. [Laughs]
But I also found, when I was probably in my late teens or early twenties, a connection with the comedy, where I felt, Oh, generationally, this is what I get. Not that I didn’t get my parents, but they were my parents, always, at that point. And now I have so much more of an appreciation for what they did, but it was finding my own stuff, like Bill Murray and Steve Martin. I definitely was interested in doing dramatic stuff, too.
But, as it relates to my parents, I think, it’s hard to tell. Because I feel like all that stuff is so intertwined, you know? I can’t really pull out what influence my parents have had on my work, because I think they’ve had so much. Like, it’s impossible to think of doing what I do if they hadn’t done what they do.
When I was first starting out, I remember feeling, How do I find my own identity? How do I make it? Because my parents were so beloved, and are so beloved. And that’s confusing when you’re young, too. But they were always so supportive. And I think I was the one going through my own things, trying to figure out “How do I individuate?” or “How do I become what I want to become?” But my dad was so loving. His love for his kids is so strong that it didn’t matter what I was going through—he could absorb it.
I was trying to write the introduction to this interview, and I was trying, in a sentence, to describe his Seinfeld character. And it’s really hard. What did you make of that character, and do you have any insight into how he came up with it?
I have no idea, first of all. I don’t have any insight into how he did it, because he was just a unique, comedic entity that would basically have his process. I think “Seinfeld” really changed his life, because he was at a point in his career where the phone wasn’t really ringing. And he and my mom had really stopped working together. So, for someone who’s thrived on work and thrived on being funny and having an interaction with an audience, it really changed everything for him. I read in one of the obituaries that he had only done about twenty-five shows in the whole series. And, given the fact that he made such an impact, I hadn’t even realized that.
But, I think, more than anything for him, when you see the tributes that the cast members have given to him—he was so loved by those people, because his process was so connected to other actors. He loved working with those actors, and he would prepare like he was doing Shakespeare. He would break it down, a sitcom script, and figure out, “Why am I saying this? What’s the motivation for this character? What’s his history?” So it came out of him putting everything into it, and not trying to be funny. And yet, of course, it came out so funny because he was just putting everything into it. And it was just like the amalgam of who he was, as a person.
We had a small service for him, and I was talking to the rabbi about him, because I hadn’t had a chance to meet him. And the rabbi was talking about his character on “Seinfeld.” And I said, “He never once raised his voice to me, ever, as a kid. Ever.” So I watch that and I laugh, because I’m, like, “Who is that person?” Because that really was not him, but I think he was unleashing something that I think was suppressed in his real life. With my mom, he deferred to her. And he was so committed to her. And she was a really strong personality, but really loved him, but they were very different people. So I think he held a lot of stuff down, and it would come out in that character. Sometimes I think about it—it’s really like this sort of volcano coming out of stuff that was inside of him.
Yeah, and the relationship with his wife on the show is something else.
Yeah. But that’s what I think of when I watch the show: “Wow, that was an aspect of Jerry that was not who he was in real life, ever.” But I think he discovered it as people discovered it. In other words, he didn’t go in there thinking, I’m just going to do this, and it’s going to be funny. I think he went in there thinking, I’m going to do this because it feels right for the character. This is how I have to do it. And then, when he heard people laugh, he was, like, “Oh, O.K., this is working. This is great.”
Did you call him Jerry?
I did just call him Jerry, yeah—oh, in life? I always called him Dad.
He must have known, by the end of his life, that his primary legacy for most people was going to be “Seinfeld.” How do you think he felt about that?
I think the only thing that might have bothered him a little bit was that he wanted people to remember his work with Anne, because he loved my mom so much. I think that would be the only aspect of it. He would be, like, “But, Anne—Anne is amazing.” And I can understand that, because they did such incredible work together over the years. But I don’t think he was one of those actors who was, like, “I have to be known for something else.” I think he was grateful for the success. And I think that comes from where he came from—he didn’t have an ego about those sorts of things. He so loved being a part of that show, and he embraced it fully.
I just want to read something from an old profile of you:
In later years, Stiller would often put his parents in his films. Jerry Stiller says that, when he appeared in “Zoolander,” “Ben was acting with me, and also directing me—‘Do it this way, Dad. No, this way.’ He wanted perfection, and I was getting a little huffy. I didn’t even want to be in the movie.” Meara interjected, “Jerry was afraid people would think he was riding on his son’s coattails.” “Yeah, something like that,” he admitted. “Ben was ahead of me, in a lot of ways. Everything I could never do, Ben could do.”
What do you make of this?
I never read that before. I never heard that. I think he would write these things down. Or he would say these things, but he never said it to me—something like that. I was coming from my own point of view of trying to figure out who I was in relation to him. What I’ve always felt over the years is I wanted to do my thing, and my dad and mom did their thing—and were so good at it. And it’s, like, my dad is so funny. Like, I’ve never, ever thought I was funny like my dad. Or as funny as my dad. I’ve never really felt a competition, because I would lose, hands down.
I think, in that quote, he was saying, “I love my son.” It wasn’t, like, “I’m in competition with my son.” And I really feel that. I’m sure that he felt at times, like, “Oh, Ben’s doing a movie.” And he wasn’t. I think that’s a natural thing when you have a career. But it never was manifest in our relationship. And that’s what I think is the beauty of his career, and his life—that he had this incredibly long career that ended in a great way. And nobody has to be reminded of what he did. Like you said, his work is going to live on. To me, that’s the beauty of what he did.
Would he ever tell you if he didn’t think something was funny? A movie or something? You don’t need to give me the titles of the movies.
[Laughs] You know what? He didn’t. My mother was the one who would be a little more critical. I think he would probably keep it to himself more. And he’s the guy who would write letters to critics. Let me put it that way.
Oh.
Yeah. Which, as a kid, could be almost as tough as your dad criticizing you. It’s, like, “Please don’t write a letter to the film critic of the New York Times.”
You’re a father now. And you are a well-known person. And you’ve laid out different ways that your mom and dad parented. You must have thought about how you should, or could, parent your own children. Are you more like a Jerry or an Anne?
I think I probably, ultimately, would have to defer to my kids to give you that answer. I’ve found, as a parent, that my perception sometimes of what I’m doing is not what the kids are perceiving at all. I know that, growing up, I was, like, “Oh, I’m not going to make that mistake.” And, of course, I made totally different mistakes, and made some of the same mistakes, too, not realizing. And I think that’s something a lot of parents probably can identify with. I have a daughter who wants to study acting, and so there are these parallels I see in my own life.
And I try to navigate my own way. But, like I said, your parents are just a part of you. And especially now, I think, having both of them gone now. I feel like what I take away from them is this deep love and support that they always had. At the end of the day, it’s what you have inside, what you feel inside of your parents, that you keep with you. And so I hope, at the end of the day, that’s what I can leave my kids. And all the other stuff is kind of, like, who knows? You try to navigate it.
Is there a single memory onscreen you have of your dad that you return to?
Yeah. One of my favorite things that he did is “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.” He was just so good in that film. And he’s not doing a lot of comedic shtick or anything, but he’s very funny, very New York, and very real. And, in the very last scene in the movie, with Martin Balsam, I just love him. He’s in his transit-cop outfit, with his cap tilted off to the side, and a cigarette in his mouth. And he never smoked, ever, in life. But I love that image of him, and I love what he is in that movie. And kind of his alternate film career that he might have had, too. He was really good.
Actor Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller's Dad, died early Monday morning on May 11, 2020 at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Ben Stiller:
"I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural
causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated
husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you
Dad."
I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad. pic.twitter.com/KyoNsJIBz5
Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American comedian, actor, and author. He had spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, later playing George Costanza's father Frank, on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and Arthur Spooner on the CBS comedy series The King of Queens. Stiller and Meara were the parents of actor Ben Stiller, with whom Stiller co-starred in the films Zoolander, Heavyweights, Hot Pursuit, The Heartbreak Kid and Zoolander 2. Stiller frequently played frantic and angry, yet contemplative and sympathetic characters.
Early life
The eldest of four children, Stiller was born at Unity Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, to Bella (n茅e Citron) and William Stiller, a bus driver. His family is Jewish. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Poland, and his mother was born in Poland, in the town of Frampol. He lived in the Williamsburg and East New York neighborhoods before his family moved to the Lower East Side, where he attended Seward Park High School.
Upon his return from service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Stiller attended Syracuse University, earning a bachelor's degree in Speech and Drama in 1950. In the 1953 Phoenix Theater production of Coriolanus (produced by John Houseman) Stiller, along with Gene Saks and Jack Klugman formed (as told by Houseman in the 1980 memoir Front and Center) "the best trio of Shakespearian clowns that I have ever seen on any stage".
Jerry Stiller grew up during the Great Depression in New York City, and took to acting at a young age. He was an Syracuse University student who arrived on campus through the G.I. Bill. The bill provided benefits such as a college education to World War II veterans. Stiller joined the army the year before the war ended. After the war, Stiller began to pursue his acting career with a passion.
“During the Great Depression, when people laughed, their worries disappeared,” Stiller once said. “Audiences loved these funny men. I decided to become one.”
Sawyer Falk established a drama program at Syracuse University in 1927 and became the director of dramatic activities. He was an international figure in the drama field and the professor that Stiller would have as an essential mentor when he arrived on campus in 1947.
Jerry Stiller (center) is seated during a Boar’s Head Dramatic Society
banquet in the late 1940s. He starred in many Boar’s Head productions
including “Long Live Love” and “The Bourgeois Gentleman.” Photo: The Daily Orange
As a student, Stiller was highly involved in extracurriculars. He was a member of the Sigma Tau Rho professional speech fraternity and the Tau Delta Phi social fraternity. Throughout his three years at Syracuse University, he made a name for himself through comedy gigs around the city and on campus.
But the organization that truly shaped Stiller into an actor was the Boar’s Head Dramatic Society. Founded in 1904, Boar’s Head was known for its lavish production quality, always complete with an original score by a professor and costumes from New York costume firms.
Eric Grode, director of SU’s Goldring Arts Journalism program, said he had the honor of interviewing Stiller during his time as a freelance writer for The New York Times. Grode recalled that neither of them were in a hurry to get off the phone.
“I’ve been in the presence of people who are funny, and you watch them flip that switch, and you know like ‘showtime’ kind of mode,” Grode said. “But you get the impression with Jerry Stiller that he was just a funny guy who didn’t seem that hard to be funny. Like his kids said, it was pretty effortless.”
In 1953, Stiller met actor-comedian Anne Meara, and they married in 1954. Until Stiller suggested it, Meara had never thought of doing comedy. "Jerry started us being a comedy team," she said. "He always thought I would be a great comedy partner." They joined the Chicago improvisational company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City), and after leaving, began performing together. In 1961, they were performing in nightclubs in New York, and by the following year were considered a "national phenomenon", said the New York Times.
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, mainly on 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 starred in their own syndicated five-minute sketch comedy show, Take Five with Stiller and Meara (1977–1978).
From 1979 to 1982, Stiller and Meara hosted HBO Sneak Previews, a half-hour show produced monthly on which they described the movies and programs to be featured in the coming month. They also did some comedy sketches between show discussions. 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 not successful.
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.
The King of Queens
After Seinfeld ended, Stiller had planned on retiring. Kevin James asked him to join the cast of The King of Queens. James, who played the leading role of Doug Heffernan, had told Stiller that he needed him in order to have a successful show. Stiller agreed, and played the role of Arthur Spooner, the father of Carrie Heffernan, from 1998 until 2007. Stiller said this role tested his acting ability more than any others have and that, before being a part of The King of Queens, he only saw himself as a "decent actor."
Other appearances
Stiller played himself in filmed skits, opening and closing Canadian rock band Rush's 30th Anniversary Tour concerts in 2004. These appearances are seen on the band's DVD R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour, released in 2005. Stiller later appeared in cameos in later in-concert films for the band's 2007–2008 Snakes & Arrows Tour. Stiller appeared on Dick Clark's $10,000 Pyramid show in the 1970s, and footage of the appearance was edited into an episode of The King of Queens to assist the storyline about his character being a contestant on the show, but that after losing, he was bitter about the experience as he never received his parting gift, a lifetime supply of "Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat". He also made several appearances on the game show Tattletales with his wife Anne.
In the late 1990s, Stiller appeared in a series of Nike television commercials as the ghost of deceased Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi. Stiller has appeared in various motion pictures, most notably Zoolander (2001) and Secret of the Andes (1999). On February 9, 2007, Stiller and Meara were honored with a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On October 28, 2010, the couple appeared on an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Stiller voiced the announcer on the children's educational show Crashbox. Starting in October 2010, Stiller and Meara began starring in a Yahoo web series, Stiller & Meara from Red Hour Digital, in which they discussed current topics. Each episode was about two minutes long. As of 2012, Stiller has been a spokesman for Xfinity.
Stiller was married to Anne Meara from 1954 until her death on May 23, 2015. The two met in an agent's office. Anne was upset about an interaction with the casting agent, so Jerry took her out for coffee—all he could afford—and they were together ever since. Their son is actor-comedian Ben Stiller (born 1965) and their daughter is actress Amy Stiller (born 1961). He has two grandchildren through Ben.
Death
On May 11, 2020, Ben Stiller announced via Twitter that Jerry had died at age 92 of "natural causes".
THEATER TALK presents an encore of our two-part interview with Ms. Meara with her husband and longtime partner, Jerry Stiller,
who both together and separately have had long careers in all aspects
of show business. The couple talks about the early days when they first
came to national attention as a comedy team on TV’s Ed Sullivan Show,
as well as their later years when they moved into successful and
separate “legit” careers — Meara as an well-known actress and playwright
and Stiller as an actor who appeared in many shows on Broadway and was a
regular on the TV’s Seinfeld and The King of Queens.
Jerry Stiller and the late Anne Meara continue their 2011 conversation on THEATER TALK, discussing their six decades in show business, working both separately and together as the famed comedy team, Stiller & Meara (and as the parent of Ben Stiller).
Ben & Jerry Stiller On "Late Night With Conan O'Brien"
Original airdate: 06/14/96: Jerry Stiller gets very upset when his son, Ben, says he can’t make it to his "Late Night" interview.
Made in New York Awards- Ben Stiller and Amy Stiller present Lifetime Achievement Award to Parents
MINI Awards in New York on Monday June 4, 2012.
Stiller & Meara on "What's My Line?"
Ben Stiller's folks are the Mystery Guests on this 1968 episode of WML. And listen closely as they even mention the future Movie Star at one point.
Jerry Stiller: The Untold Truth
Best known for playing the cantankerous Frank Costanza on Seinfeld, this veteran actor has been a constant presence on film and television screens since the late 1950s. But fans may still be surprised by how little they know about this TV icon and comedian. This is the untold truth of Jerry Stiller.
Jerry Seinfeld, Leah Remini & More Mourn Jerry Stiller
The comedy world is in mourning over the loss of Jerry Stiller. The comedy legend died at the age of 92 of natural causes, his son, Ben Stiller, announced on May 11. As the sad news spread, tributes poured in from many of Jerry’s famous co-stars, including "Seinfeld's" Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander and "King of Queen's" Kevin James and Leah Remini. "I will be forever grateful for the memories, the fatherly talks off screen and for the many years of laughter, the kindness he had shown to me and my family," Leah wrote in part. "You will be so very missed Jerry."
The House of Blue Leaves is a play by American playwright John Guare which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play and the Obie Award for Best American Play in 1971. The play is set in 1965, when Pope Paul VI visited New York City.
Overview
The play is set in Sunnyside, Queens in 1965, on the day Pope Paul VI visited New York City. The black comedy focuses on Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper who dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a songwriter. Artie wants to take his girlfriend Bunny with him to Hollywood. His wife Bananas is a schizophrenic destined for the institution that provides the play's title. Their son Ronnie is a GI headed for Vietnam who has gone AWOL. Three nuns are eager to see the pope and end up in Artie's apartment. A political bombing mistakenly occurs in the apartment.
Productions
The first act of The House of Blue Leaves was first staged in 1966 at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. According to Jane Kathleen Curry, (Assistant Professor of Theater at Wake Forest University) Guare "rewrote the second act many times and attributes part of his difficulty to his lack of technical skill in writing for a large number of characters in a full-length play."
The House of Blue Leaves opened on February 10, 1971 Off-Broadway at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre, where it ran for 337 performances. Directed by Mel Shapiro, the cast included Frank Converse, Harold Gould, Katherine Helmond, William Atherton, and Anne Meara.
A revival directed by Jerry Zaks was staged Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, opening on March 19, 1986, then transferring to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on April 29, 1986, where it played five months before transferring again to the Plymouth Theatre on October 14, 1986, closing on March 15, 1987, for a total run of 398 performances. The cast included Swoosie Kurtz (Bananas), John Mahoney (Artie), Stockard Channing (Bunny), Danny Aiello (Billy), Ben Stiller (Ronnie, in his stage debut), and Julie Hagerty (Corrinna). Christine Baranski joined the production on June 24, 1986, as Bunny, and Patricia Clarkson joined the production on June 3, 1986, as Corrinna.
It won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival. It was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
A 2011 Broadway revival was staged by David Cromer at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Starring Ben Stiller (Artie), Edie Falco (Bananas) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Bunny), the production began previews on April 4, opening on April 15 for a limited 16-week engagement.
Television
Directed by Kirk Browning and Jerry Zaks, the play was staged at the Plymouth Theatre in 1987 with Swoosie Kurtz, John Mahoney, Christine Baranski, and Ben Stiller specifically for a broadcast on the PBS series American Playhouse. The telefilm was broadcast in May 1987.
The film adaptation was shot before an audience, with minicams.
Watch fragments The House Of Blue Leaves 2011(Ben Stiller as Artie)
Press Event 2011
Openning Night 2011
Listen to
Transcript (fragment)
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
New York City police officers have had to set up barriers near Broadway stages lately. They need to do that to control crowds that want to catch a glimpse of Hollywood stars now appearing on stage. They include names like Kiefer Sutherland, Daniel Radcliffe and Chris Rock. And tonight, you can add three more names to the list: Edie Falco, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Jason Leigh. All are in a revival of John Guare's play "The House of Blue Leaves."
Jeff Lunden reports.
JEFF LUNDEN: "The House of Blue Leaves" is set in a cluttered Queens apartment in 1965, the day that Pope Paul VI visited New York. And that apartment, over the course of the play, becomes even more cluttered with celebrity-obsessed people and celebrities. It's kind of a stylistic rollercoaster ride - hurtling from farce to tragedy, back and forth, in the blink of an eye. Actress Edie Falco says that kind of emotional whiplash is what attracted her to the play.
Ms. EDIE FALCO (Actor): I like that you don't know what you're feeling. You don't know what you should be feeling, what you're expected to feel, and your feelings are sometimes contradictory. And I think that's great.
(Soundbite of stage play, "The House of Blue Leaves")
Mr. CHRISTOPHER ABBOTT (Actor): (as Ronnie) Pop, pop. I'm going.
Mr. BEN STILLER (Actor): (as Artie Shaughnessy) Ronnie, Corinna, this is the boy. He's been down at Fort Dix, studying to be a general.
Mr. ABBOTT: (as Ronnie) Pop. I'm going to blow up the pope.
Mr. STILLER: (as Artie Shaughnessy) See how nice you look, with your hair all cut.
Mr. ABBOTT: (as Ronnie) Pop, I'm going to blow up the pope and when Time interviews me tonight, I won't even mention you. I'll say I was an orphan.
LUNDEN: All the characters in "The House of Blue Leaves" are desperate to be noticed - so much so that they often turn directly to the audience and speak to them, says playwright John Guare.
Mr. JOHN GUARE (Playwright, "House of Blue Leaves"): Every character, when they turn to the audience, turns to the audience because they assume that the play is about them - and that the audience is only interested in them, and they're not hearing any other character but them.
LUNDEN: At one point in the first act, Edie Falco's character - the appropriately named Bananas - tells the audience about a dream she had, where she was driving on 42nd Street and saw Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Cardinal Spellman and Bob Hope, all trying to hail cabs.
(Soundbite of stage play, "The House of Blue Leaves")
Ms. FALCO: (as Bananas Shaughnessy) I run over to President Johnson, grab him by the arm. Get in. I pulled Jackie Kennedy into my car. John-John, who I didn't see, starts crying, and Jackie hits me. So I hit her.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. FALCO: (Bananas Shaughnessy) I grab Bob Hope, I push Cardinal Spellman into the backseat, crying and laughing. Get in. I'll take you where you want to go. Give me your suitcases. Suitcases spill open. Jackie Kennedy's wigs blow down 42nd Street. Cardinal Spellman hits me. Johnson screams, and I hit him. I hit them all.
(Soundbite of laughter)
LUNDEN: It's not just Bananas who has dreams of a brush with celebrity. Banana's husband, Artie Shaughnessy, played by Ben Stiller, is a zookeeper who's also a wannabe Hollywood songwriter. And Jennifer Jason Leigh, who plays Artie's mistress, Bunny, says her character will do anything to get him there.
Ms. JENNIFER JASON LEIGH (Actor): She believes it's all coming their way. She really believes in the pope's visit. She really believes in miracles. She really believes in the religion of Hollywood.
LUNDEN: Director David Cromer says playwright John Guare commented to him that "The House of Blue Leaves" explores the flipside of those Hollywood fantasies.
Mr. DAVID CROMER (Director): You know, there's all these show business stories about follow your dreams. What are your dreams? Follow your dreams. You know, you have "Fame" or, you know, "High School Musical." Or, you know, just any of this stuff to be noticed, and it's glamorized. And their dreams come true and they're rewarded, and you're supposed to follow your dreams. But what about the people whose dreams crush them - is what he said the other day. What about people whose dreams are the wrong dream - the wrong dream for them, or isn't going to happen?
(Soundbite of stage play, "The House of Blue Leaves")
Mr. STILLER: (as Artie Shaughnessy) Look at that house at the highest part of all Los Angeles.
Ms. LEIGH (Actor): (as Bunny Flingus) It's Bel Air. I know Bel Air. I mean, I don't know Bel Air, but I mean, I know Bel Air. Let's get out of here. She gives me the weeping willies.
Ms. FALCO: (Bananas Shaughnessy) Oh, no. I'm all right. I was just thinking how lucky we all are - you going off to California, me going off to the loony bin.
(Soundbite of laughter)
LUNDEN: Ben Stiller knows "The House of Blue Leaves" backwards and forwards, since he was a little kid. His mother, Anne Meara, played Bunny in the original off-Broadway production 40 years ago, and she sometimes brought him along to rehearsals. Playwright John Guare says back then, he and Ben Stiller acted together in a home movie.
Mr. GUARE: Ben is 5 years old, and he's in a little overcoat and a little suit and a little bow tie. He's perfectly dressed, like a little businessman. The movie is - is he has a copy of the script, and he's going through it, demanding changes. And I'm there with my pencil saying, yes, Mr. Stiller. Yes, Mr. Stiller. Yes, Mr. Stiller - little realizing that that would be a very prescient moment.
Mr. STILLER: The play and John Guare have always been a part of our lives, really.
LUNDEN: Ben Stiller made his professional debut as Artie's son, Ronnie, in the Lincoln Center Theatre revival in 1986. Now, he's playing Artie. Stiller says he thinks audiences can relate to the middle-aged character, with his hopes and disappointments.
Mr. STILLER: Artie's fear that he's too old to be a young talent and that, you know, he has to do something with his life - these are his peak years. Anybody in their 40s, I think, has that feeling - where you start to go, OK. This is it. I've got, you know, a lot of my life behind me already. What's ahead of me? What dreams haven't I realized?
(Soundbite of stage play, "The House of Blue Leaves")
Mr. STILLER: (as Artie Shaughnessy) I'm here. I got to love my music.
(Singing) I'm here with bells on, ringing out how I feel. Bop. I'll ring. I'll roar. Rap-pop-pop-pop-bop. I'll sing. I'm cool.
I'm amazed at how the play has aged so well because it feels to me like now, it's more relevant than when he first wrote it - this culture that we're in now, this celebrity culture and reality television world.
