Jerry Stiller - Biography

Last Editor: michel.fendiklian				Jerry Stiller Biography -   Name : Jerry Stiller Profession : Actor Birth Details : born Gerald Stiller on June 8, 1927

Jerry Stiller Trivia -

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Jerry Stiller Detailed Biography -

Jerry Stiller (born Gerald Stiller on June 8, 1927) is an American comedian and actor. Born in New York City, he is the only child of William Stiller, the New York born son of Austrian Jewish immigrants, and Bella Citrin, a Russian Jewish immigrant. A drama major at Syracuse University, he gained a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Drama before making his 1951 acting debut on stage with Burgess Meredith in The Silver Whistle. While a member of the touring company, he met Anne. They married in 1954 and began touring together as a comedy duo. After some time spent as a stock actor, Stiller first became nationally known as half of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara. His partner, Anne Meara, was also his wife, who he had met while both were part of the improvisational team The Compass Players (which would later become The Second City), and the pair brought many of their real-life relationship foibles to bear on their often-improvised comedy routines. After some years honing the act, Stiller and Meara became regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show and other TV programs. In real life, Stiller and Meara are also noted for their enduring marriage of over 40 years. Stiller continued to perform and write through the decades, often in television guest roles as well as occasional dramatic appearances on television and stage. Beginning in the 1990s his career experienced a resurgence, with a recurring role in the situation comedy Seinfeld — playing George Costanza's father Frank — from 1993 to 1998, and from 1998 to the present in another situation comedy The King of Queens, as the very similar character of Arthur Spooner. Stiller and Meara are the parents of the actor Ben Stiller (with whom he co-starred in the movie Zoolander), and the actress Amy Stiller. Stiller wrote the foreword to the book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us (ISBN 0446696749) by Allen Salkin, released on October 26, 2005, and appears in the intro and outro of the Rush 30th Anniversary Tour and on the band's DVD R30 Live In Frankfurt.