The King of Queens

Background:

New York-born comedian and actor Jerry Stiller has demonstrated his mettle in comedy and drama on television, in films and on stage. He first became famous as the male counterpart of the stellar husband-and-wife comedy team “Stiller & Meara,” along with wife Anne Meara, and they performed together for over 20 years, reaching their zenith as regular performers on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (1960-1971). Decades later, Stiller found success on his own in the role of delightful loudmouths Frank Costanza, father to George (Jason Alexander), on the NBC hit series “Seinfeld” (1993-1998). The role brought him an American Comedy Award and an Emmy nomination. Most recently, he is best remembered as Arthur Spooner in the popular sitcom “The King of Queens” (1998-2007). Stiller, who began his career as an actor in a Chicago stage production, is also known for playing roles in many movies, including Airport 1975 (1974), The Ritz (1976), Seize the Day (1986), Hairspray (1988), Heavy Weights (1995), Zoolander (2001), Serving Sara (2002), Hairspray (2007) and The Heartbreak Kid (2007). He supplied the voice of Pretty Boy in Disney's Teacher's Pet: The Movie (2004).

As for his personal life, Stiller has been married to Anne Meara since 1954. He is the father of actor-director Ben Stiller and actress Amy Stiller.

King of Brooklyn

Childhood and Family:

Gerald Stiller, who would later be famous as Jerry Stiller, was born on June 8, 1927, in New York City, New York, to William Stiller, who worked as a bus driver, and Bella. His maternal grandparents were Russian Jews and his paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Austria. One of four children, Stiller has two brothers, Arnold and Maxime, and a sister, Doreen. After graduating from Seward Park High School in New York, he enrolled as a drama major at the Syracuse University and received his Bachelor of Science in Speech and Drama in 1950.

Stiller married wife Anne Meara on September 14, 1954. They met while both were struggling actors in NYC and later became part of the improvisational group The Compass Players (later The Second City). Stiller has two children with Meara, actor-director Ben Stiller (born on November 30, 1965) and actress Amy Stiller (born 1963). He is the grandfather of Ella Olivia and Quinlin Dempsey, both of whom children of Ben and his actress-wife, Christine Taylor. Stiller is a Jewish and brother of the Tau Delta Phi Fraternity, Tau Zeta chapter. In 2000, at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival, Stiller was named as “King of Brooklyn.” His wife was labeled “Queen of Brooklyn” at the same festival.

Seinfeld

Career:

Jerry Stiller made his professional stage debut in 1951, a year after gaining his BS degree, in “The Silver Whistle,” a play starring Burgess Meredith. He then honed his crafts by performing with various stock companies and in New York, and met soon-to-be wife Anne Meara while a member of the improvisational team The Compass Players. After getting married, they went off their own, as Stiller & Meara, and performed their comedy routines around the country. The duo played “Mr. Kelly's,” “The Hungry i,” “The Crescendo,” “The Flamingo” and “The Sands” and worked with Count Basie, The original Supremes, Billy Eckstine and Dianne Carrol. They also appeared at The Establishment in London. During the early 1960s to early 1970s, their career gained much boost with their regular performances on the greatest variety TV show of all time “The Ed Sullivan Show.” They continued working together in several other projects, including recording an album in 1972 titled “Laugh When You Like,” and making a series of radio commercials, most notably for Blue Nun wine (1975).

After a well over a decade of prominent together, they decided to pursue personal successes and both found it. On his own, Stiller flourished on such Broadway plays as “The Golden Apple,” “The Ritz” (1975, as Carmine Vespucci), Mike Nichols' “Hurlyburly” (1984), “Three Men on a Horse,” “What's Wrong with This Picture” and Chekhov's“The Three Sisters.” Later, he also teamed up with Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner in William Shakespeare's “Much Ado About Nothin” (1998), as Dogberry. On the musical front, he created the role of Launce in John Guare's and Galt McDermott's version of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and was cast as Nathan Detroit in “Guys and Dolls,” among other.

Stiller made his feature acting debut in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), a crime/drama starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. He went on to appear as a drunken passenger in Airport 1975 (1974) and recreated his stage role as a gangster in the hilarious movie version of The Ritz (1976), directed by Richard Lester. The following year, he appeared as a priest among nuns involved in a Watergate-like scandal in the underrated Nasty Habits. Wife Meara also also acted in the movie. In the meantime, he kept afloat on TV as a recurring role on “The Paul Lynde Show” (1972), playing in-law Barney Dickerson, and a regular role in “Joe and Sons” (1975-1976), as Gus Duzik.

After “Take Five with Stiller and Meara” (1977), a series of comic shorts shown in syndication, Stiller rejoined with wife for a busted pilot on NBC, “The Stiller and Meara Show” in 1986. Aside from the failed project, he costarred as Burt Orland on the made-for-TV film Madame X (1981), was a regular performer in the NBC short-lived sitcom “Tattingers” (1989), playing a restaurant maitre d', in addition to making a number of TV guest appearances. During the decade, Stiller also resumed his film career by appearing in such movies Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980), The McGuffin (1986), Fielder Cook's Seize the Day (1986, with Robin Williams), Robert Benton's Nadine (1987, starred Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger), John Waters' Hairspray (1988, played Ricki Lake's father and Divine's husband) and That's Adequate (1989, opposite Tony Randall and James Coco).

After showing his dramatic flairs in The Hollow Boy and The Sunset Gang, both of which for PBS' “American Playhouse,” a popular performer throughout the 1960s to 1970s, as part of comedy team of Stiller & Meara, Stiller had a career renaissance in the 1990s when he joined the cast of the highly successful NBC comedy series “Seinfeld” in the noted recurring role of George Costanza's dad Frank. During his stint on the show (from 1993 to 1998), he offered fine performance that eventually won him a 1998 American Comedy for Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series and a 1997 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He revisited the NY stage in 1995 by costarring with Meara in her hit off-Broadway comedy “After-Play.” The same year, he was also featured along side his son, Ben, in the comedy film Heavy Weights.

When “Seinfeld” came to an end in 1998, Stiller continued to a score victory with his regular role as Arthur Spooner in the CBS sitcom “The King of Queens” (1998-2007), costarring with Kevin James and Leah Remini. The great show received a People's Choice nomination in 2007 for Favorite TV Comedy. Stiller further launched his popularity in the late 1990s with his appearances in a series of Nike TV commercials, as Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, and in AT&T commercials, opposite Estelle Harris, his on-screen wife on “Seinfeld.”

2000 saw Stiller publish a memoir, “Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara.” He also acted in the films The Independent and My 5 Wives. Stiller then appeared with his son in Ben's comedy, Zoolander (2001), which Ben also directed and wrote, was featured as the Colonel in Stephen Burrows' Chump Change (2001), played Nathan in the Lance Bass vehicle On the Line (2001), supported Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley in the romantic comedy Serving Sara (2002) and had an uncredited part in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). From 2002 to 2004, he also found time doing various voice-overs, including provided the voice of Old Jingle in the TV film Legend of the Lost Tribe (2002) and Pretty Boy in Disney's Teacher's Pet: The Movie (2004).

On February 9, 2007, Stiller and his wife were inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His more recent film, Hairspray, starring John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer, premiered at Los Angeles, California, on July 13, 2007. He has a supporting role in the upcoming comedy The Heartbreak Kid (2007), playing Doc. Ben Stiller also stars in the movie.

Awards:

• Ellis Island Medal of Honor: 1999

• American Comedy: Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series, “Seinfeld,” 1998