Ben Stiller examined his dad and mom Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara’s enduring legacy — and the draw back of their fame — within the 2025 documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Misplaced.
Jerry and his spouse weren’t solely companions in life, however in addition they shaped a well-liked comedy duo that carried out in main venues throughout the U.S. all through Ben and his sister Amy Stiller’s childhood within the Sixties and ‘70s.
In Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Misplaced, Ben admitted that his dad and mom’ connection was unstable and that he remembered listening to “raised voices” usually in his childhood.
“They have been very shut however they have been additionally very totally different, too,” he defined.
Preserve scrolling for extra on Jerry and Meara’s life and careers.
Who Was Jerry Stiller?
Jerry served within the U.S. Military in World Struggle II and returned house to check at Syracuse College. He took half in varied New York theatre productions within the early ‘50s, earlier than assembly Meara in 1953.
The 2 have been married the next 12 months and shortly started performing collectively as a comedic duo. Jerry and Meara have been among the many earliest members of the famed Second Metropolis improv troupe in Chicago, which subsequently launched the careers of Invoice Murray, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Amber Ruffin, amongst numerous others.
Jerry and Meara grew to become recurring friends on The Ed Sullivan Present within the Sixties and hosted their very own short-form sequence that aired after Saturday Night time Dwell in syndication.
Other than his comedy staff, Jerry memorably performed George Constanza’s curmudgeonly father Frank Costanza on the traditional TV sitcom Seinfeld, for which he earned an Emmy Award nomination. Different notable roles included starring reverse Kevin James as Arthur Spooner in The King of Queens and doing voiceover work for Disney.
Stiller and Meara in June 2012. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Jerry ceaselessly appeared in his son Ben’s tasks, with notable roles in each Zoolander movies and Heavyweights, amongst others.
Ben introduced his father’s loss of life at age 92 from pure causes in Might 2020 and paid tribute to his comedic legacy.
“I’m unhappy to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, handed away from pure causes,” he tweeted. “He was an awesome dad and grandfather, and probably the most devoted husband to Anne for about 62 years. He shall be drastically missed. Love you Dad.”
Who Was Anne Meara?
The comic had a really troublesome childhood, as her mom Mary Dempsey died by suicide when Meara was solely 10 years previous.
As a teen, Meara studied below famed performing instructor Uta Hagen at New York Metropolis’s prestigious New College. Nonetheless, she credited her future husband Jerry with convincing her to attempt comedy.
“Jerry began us being a comedy staff,” she revealed. “He at all times thought I might be an awesome comedy accomplice.”
Other than her comedy staff along with her husband, Meara was nominated for 4 Emmy Awards all through her life. She received a Writers Guild of America Award for cowriting the 1983 TV film The Different Lady.
Like her husband, Meara labored extensively in TV sitcoms, together with Rhoda, Archie Bunker’s Place and Alf all through the Nineteen Seventies and ‘80s. She memorably performed Steve Brady’s mom Mary on Intercourse and the Metropolis and joined her husband Jerry on The King of Queens.
Ben Stiller is inspecting his function as a father in his new documentary about his dad and mom, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Misplaced. Ben, 59, spends the vast majority of the documentary revisiting his dad and mom Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara’s ups and downs all through their 61-year marriage earlier than Anne’s loss of life at age 85 in 2015. The actor […]
Meara confronted quite a few well being points all through her life, along with her son Ben later revealing that she struggled with alcoholism.
“My mom had points throughout her life with alcoholism,” Ben acknowledged in 2023. “She obtained sober and actually explored that stuff … She had a lot trauma [in her life] and the factor that I’m so grateful for is that, I believe so many individuals who reside with alcoholism of their households, it’s by no means handled. It’s by no means, ever explored and even talked about.”
He went on, “What I’m grateful for is she actually delved into that in her remedy. For somebody who’s a functioning alcoholic, it’s principally that you simply’re attempting to navigate that as a result of it’s not dramatic.”
Meara died at age 85 in Might 2015 after struggling a number of strokes.
What Did Ben Stiller Say About His Dad and mom?
Ben explored his sophisticated relationship along with his dad and mom within the 2025 Apple TV documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Misplaced, which premiered on the New York Movie Competition in October 2025.
Within the movie, Ben opened up concerning the resentment he felt in the direction of his father Jerry for not tackling his mother’s alcoholism head-on.
“When [my mom] was ingesting, my dad by no means actually knew how one can deal with it,” Stiller defined. “I believe he cherished her a lot and he was so dedicated to her. Additionally the act and what they did collectively was so vital, that he had to determine how one can take care of that on his personal. However I believe I resented him for not acknowledging it to us.”
Ben mentioned that he and sister Amy at all times knew that their father “cherished us greater than something,” although it was at all times painful to see their mom wrestle.
Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor. Patrick McMullan
“I believe he was simply attempting to determine how one can navigate that and I obtained so offended at him for not being there for us however I don’t even assume I understood that for awhile,” he recalled.
Nonetheless, Ben and his spouse, Christine Taylor, additionally mirrored on the best way Meara was in a position to empathize and assist them as soon as she obtained sober.
“She would see me as a brand new mom, throughout these moments the place it was loopy and frenetic, and inform me how nice a job I used to be doing,” Taylor mentioned. “It was a solution to make me really feel so good about what I used to be doing, however [also] her acknowledging what she couldn’t do.”
Chatting with Time concerning the documentary, Ben pressured how vital it was to indicate that his dad and mom’ fame was a double-edged sword.
“When individuals see the film, you may see how natural it was for my sister and I to be part of this world,” Stiller famous. “It was our actuality and it’s what we grew up in and we cherished it once we have been youngsters. The flip facet was, it took our dad and mom away from us, which any artistic endeavor does. You have got a artistic mum or dad, a part of them goes to be devoted to their creativity, in the event that they’re an actual artist. They will’t deny that.”
In the event you or somebody you already know is fighting substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration (SAMHSA) Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
