Jerry Stiller Dies; Seinfeld and King of Queens Actor Was 92
Paul Dailly
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Jerry Stiller, the beloved actor and comedian, who starred in TV hits such as Seinfeld and King of Queens, has died.
He was 92.
"I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes," Ben Stiller, Jerry's son, tweeted early Monday morning.
"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."
Anne Meara, Jerry's wife of 61 years and comedy partner, died in May 2015.
In addition to Ben, survivors include their daughter Amy Stiller, an actress.
Stiller was well-known for his comedy career in which he appeared alongside his wife in comedy routines, but he also appeared on Broadway, as well as on TV.
He appeared in 26 episodes of Seinfeld as Constanza, the father of George, from 1993-1998, with Estelle Harris playing his wife, Estelle.
Stiller was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the comedy series in 1997.
He also played Leah Remini's father on the hit comedy series, King of Queens.
Alongside Meara, Stiller appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 36 times to perform comedy routines.
The pair were also members of the improv group, the Compass Players, which later became Second City.
On the movie front, he appeared in both film versions of Hairspray -- the 1998 John Waters comedy, as well as the 2007 Adam Shankman-directed adaptation of the musical, which was also based on the previous movie.
He also appeared in son Ben's 2001 comedy, Zoolander, which starred Ben as an air-headed model.
Jerry was on board as Zoolander's manager, Maury Ballstein.
Jerry's first movie appearance with his son was in the 1987 comedy Hot Pursuit.
Stiller was born in New York City and went on to graduate from Syracuse University with a B.S. in speech and drama.
He also studied drama at HB studio in Greenwich Village.
Stiller's first screen role was in a 1956 segment of Studio One in Hollywood.
He had several other guest roles throughout his time in the industry o shows such as Love, American Style, Murder, She Wrote, and L.A. Law.
His first series regular role was on CBS series Joe and Sons.
He shared a star on the Hollywood Walk in Fame with Meara. It was awarded to them in 2007.
We extend our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Jerry Stiller during this difficult time.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
