11:58 pm - October 22, 2025
Listen to the article
Ben Stiller analyzed his moms and dads Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara‘s withstanding tradition– and the disadvantage of their popularity– in the 2025 documentary Stiller & & Meara: Absolutely Nothing Is Lost
Jerry and his partner were not just partners in life, however they likewise formed a popular funny duo that carried out in significant places throughout the U.S. throughout Ben and his sibling Amy Stiller‘s youth in the 1960s and ’70s.
In Stiller & & Meara: Absolutely Nothing Is Lost, Ben confessed that his moms and dads’ connection was unstable which he kept in mind hearing “raised voices” frequently in his youth.
” They were extremely close however they were likewise extremely various, too,” he discussed.
Ben Stiller is opening up about the errors he has actually made as a dad of 2. “Like any moms and dad, I keep in mind things that weren’t pleased about my youth and go, ‘I’ll do much better,’ Stiller, 59, informed The Sunday Times in an interview released on Saturday, October 11, of what he discovered not to do from […]
Keep scrolling for more on Jerry and Meara’s life and professions.
Who Was Jerry Stiller?
Jerry served in the U.S. Army in The Second World War and returned home to study at Syracuse University. He participated in numerous New york city theatre productions in the early ’50s, before fulfilling Meara in 1953.
The 2 were wed the list below year and quickly started carrying out together as a comical duo. Jerry and Meara were amongst the earliest members of the famous Second City improv performers in Chicago, which consequently introduced the professions of Costs Murray, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Amber Ruffin, amongst numerous others.
Jerry and Meara ended up being repeating visitors on The Ed Sullivan Program in the 1960s and hosted their own short-form series that aired after Saturday Night Live in syndication.
Aside from his funny group, Jerry memorably played George Constanza’s curmudgeonly dad Frank Costanza on the traditional television comedy Seinfeld, for which he made an Emmy Award election. Other noteworthy functions consisted of starring opposite Kevin James as Arthur Spooner in The King of Queens and doing voiceover work for Disney.
Jerry regularly appeared in his boy Ben’s tasks, with noteworthy functions in both Zoolander movies and Heavyweights, to name a few.
Ben revealed his dad’s death at age 92 from natural causes in Might 2020 and commemorated his comical tradition.
” I’m unfortunate to state that my dad, Jerry Stiller, died from natural causes,”he tweeted “He was a terrific father and grandpa, and the most devoted other half to Anne for about 62 years. He will be considerably missed out on. Love you Papa.”
Who Was Anne Meara?
The comic had a really tough youth, as her mom Mary Dempsey passed away by suicide when Meara was just ten years old.
As a teen, Meara studied under famous acting instructor Uta Hagen at New york city City’s prominent New School. Nevertheless, she credited her future other half Jerry with persuading her to attempt funny.
” Jerry began us being a funny group,”she revealed “He constantly believed I would be a terrific funny partner.”
Aside from her funny group with her other half, Meara was chosen for 4 Emmy Awards throughout her life. She won a Writers Guild of America Award for cowriting the 1983 television motion picture The Other Female
Like her other half, Meara worked thoroughly in television comedies, consisting of Rhoda, Archie Bunker’s Location and Alf throughout the 1970s and ’80s. She memorably played Steve Brady’s mom Mary on Sex and the City and joined her other half Jerry on The King of Queens
Meara dealt with many health concerns throughout her life, with her boy Ben later on exposing that she dealt with alcohol addiction.
” My mom had concerns throughout her life with alcohol addiction,” Ben acknowledged in 2023. “She got sober and actually checked out that things … She had a lot injury [in her life] and the important things that I’m so grateful for is that, I believe many individuals who deal with alcohol addiction in their households, it’s never ever handled. It’s never ever, ever checked out or perhaps discussed.”
He went on, “What I’m grateful for is she actually looked into that in her treatment. For somebody who’s an operating alcoholic, it’s essentially that you’re attempting to browse that since it’s not significant.”
Meara passed away at age 85 in Might 2015 after suffering several strokes.
What Did Ben Stiller State About His Moms and dads?
Ben explored his complex relationship with his moms and dads in the 2025 Apple television documentary Stiller & & Meara: Absolutely Nothing Is Lost, which premiered at the New york city Movie Celebration in October 2025.
In the movie, Ben opened about the animosity he felt towards his dad Jerry for not tackling his mama’s alcohol addiction head-on.
” When [my mom] was drinking, my father never ever actually understood how to manage it,” Stiller discussed. “I believe he enjoyed her a lot and he was so dedicated to her. Likewise the act and what they did together was so crucial, that he needed to determine how to handle that on his own. However I believe I resented him for not acknowledging it to us.”
Ben stated that he and sibling Amy constantly understood that their dad “enjoyed us more than anything,” though it was constantly unpleasant to see their mom battle.
” I believe he was simply attempting to determine how to browse that and I got so upset at him for not being there for us however I do not even believe I comprehended that for some time,” he remembered.
Nevertheless, Ben and his partner, Christine Taylor, likewise reviewed the method Meara had the ability to understand and support them when she got sober.
” She would see me as a brand-new mom, throughout those minutes where it was insane and mad, and inform me how fantastic a task I was doing,” Taylor stated. “It was a method to make me feel so great about what I was doing, however [also] her acknowledging what she could not do.”
Talking To Time about the documentary, Ben worried how crucial it was to reveal that his moms and dads’ popularity was a double-edged sword.
” When individuals see the motion picture, you can see how natural it was for my sibling and I to be a part of this world,” Stiller kept in mind. “It was our truth and it’s what we matured in and we enjoyed it when we were kids. The other side was, it took our moms and dads far from us, which any innovative undertaking does. You have an imaginative moms and dad, part of them is going to be devoted to their imagination, if they’re a genuine artist. They can’t reject that.”
If you or somebody you understand is battling with drug abuse, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357 )
Read the full article here
Fact Checker
Verify the accuracy of this article using AI-powered analysis and real-time sources.