Ben Stiller rose to stardom by making us all laugh in movies like Zoolander, There's Something About Mary, and Meet The Parents, because it's in his blood. His own parents are legendary comedians Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, who regularly shared a stage and stole the show as the comedy duo Stiller & Meara. On Sunday, Meara passed away at age 85, but her legacy of love and laughs with her husband will live on, because the comedy of Stiller & Meara is still hilariously brilliant today.
Jerry Stiller is most recognizable for his roles on Seinfeld (as George Costanza's dad) and The King of Queens (as Arthur, Carrie's dad). Meara was an Emmy and Tony nominee who was also an award-winning writer and frequent guest star on TV shows like Sex And The City, The King of Queens, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Oz, Homicide: Life On The Street, and many more. She also appeared in her son's films, such as Zoolander and Reality Bites. But together, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara created a comedy team like no other that clearly adored each other.
Jerry Stiller details their very first meeting in his 2001 book, Married To Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara . They first met at an audition in New York in 1953 and he asked her out for coffee, where they stole some silverware together and have been partners in crime since. They got married in 1954 and were members of the improv troupe The Compass Players, which would later become the legendary Second City.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Stiller & Meara was a regular act on The Ed Sullivan Show and they even had a sitcom in the 1980s, The Stiller and Meara Show. Their comedy always remained current though — son Ben produced a weekly web series where his parents riffed on current events, like the Kardasians.
But there's nothing quite like the classics. Here are some of Stiller & Meara's most classic bits together.
On Computer-Matched Dating
Stiller and Meara portray a couple that was determined to be a perfect match via computer that is a total mismatch — and it plays on their own mixed backgrounds. Stiller (who is Jewish) plays Hershey Horowitz and Meara (who is Irish and later converted to Judaism) plays Mary Elizabeth Doyle and the matches struggle to find something in common.
On What's My Line?
On this game show, Stiller and Meara stump a bunch of celebrity guests trying to guess their identities by using hilarious accents and more.
"The Last Two People On Earth"
Doyle and Horowitz return to The Ed Sullivan Show for this bit about the two mismatched people being the last two people on Earth and tasked with repopulating the planet.
HBO Sneak Preview
In these HBO promo spots, Stiller and Meara play a couple driving along and they spot a weird object. At first, she thinks it's a UFO, but it's actually an HBO — sneak preview, that is.
Meadowlands Commerical
Together, Stiller and Meara try their luck at the racetrack in this cute commercial
MillionTreesNYC Commercial
This adorable spot from NYC Parks shows Stiller and Meara wondering if they're too old to be parents once again and encouraging their new little seedling — a baby tree.
Windex Commercial
Stiller plays a window washer who may or may not be jealous that Meara is using Windex to pretty much clean everything.
Interview On MSNBC
In 2012, Stiller and Meara were interviewed on MSNBC to talk about how they first met, their webseries, and Stiller's honor by the Actor's Fund. Meara is so proud of her husband that she takes over and talks about how big and important the award is. It's adorable.
