Jerry Stiller is a multi-award-winning actor/comedian who frequently paired with his wife, Anne Meara, as the comedy team of Stiller & Meara. Later in his career he was seen on the hit TV series Seinfeld, and also portrayed the irascible Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens (1998-2007).

Date and place of birth: June 8, 1927, Unity Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. *

Date, place and cause of death: (Alive as of 2008)

Marriage
Spouse: Anne Meara (m. September 14, 1954 - present)
Wedding took place in Judge Benjamin Shalleck's chambers in the municipal building at City Hall in New York City.

Children
Son: Ben Stiller (b. November 30, 1965, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, New York)
Daughter: Amy Belle Sawyer Stiller (b. 1961, New York City, New York)

Parents
Father: William Stiller (a bus driver) (b. September 6, 1896, at 253 Stanton Street, New York City, New York - d. February 1999, New York City, New York, at 102 years of age!)
Mother: Bella (Citron) Stiller (b. circa 1900, Poland - d. 1954, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, New York City, New York, of cancer)

* Several sources erroneously report "1928" as Jerry's year of birth. In his autobiography, Jerry Stiller confirms that he was actually born June 8th, 1927.

NOTE: At least one source erroneously reports "Maxime Stiller" is one of Jerry Stiller's "brothers." Maxine Stiller is actually Jerry's youngest sister.

One final note: His mother's maiden name is spelled Citrin by some members of the family, but Jerry's mother usually spelled it Citron.

Jerry Stiller was the first of four children born to William Stiller and Bella (Citron) Stiller. Jerry had a younger brother, Arnold "Arnie" Stiller, who was two years his junior. Sister Doreen Stiller came along three years after Jerry's birth, and his youngest sister, Maxine Stiller was born 18 long years after Jerry's debut in the world.

Anne Meara became his wife September 14th, 1954. Together they would develop a series of husband-and-wife comedy routines that would eventually propel them to national fame. He and Anne continued to perform together for several decades becoming one of the best known husband-and-wife comedy teams of the '60s and '70s. They were a staple of nightclubs and television variety and talk shows.

Jerry and Anne are the parents of actress Amy Stiller and actor/writer/director Ben Stiller.

Though best known to today's TV audiences as George Costanza's father Frank on the long-running Seinfeld, or as the irascible Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens, Stiller's credits actually stretch all the way back to the late 1940s, when he began appearing on stage. By the mid-1950s, he was appearing on Broadway and television along side some true Hollywood heavyweights. With theatre, film, and television credits that cover more than half a century, it's understandable how easy it was for Jerry to do a little namedropping in his autobiography, Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara, published in 2000.

New York-based Jerry Stiller and his wife, Anne Meara, performed in numerous commercials over the years. They once explained that the money they earned from all the commercials, allowed them to appear in often low-paying off-Broadway productions. They were among the first actors to appear in Joseph Papp's free outdoor Shakespeare in the Park. The productions began in an amphitheater on the Lower East Side, then moved to Central Park in 1957. The festival quickly became a New York institution, and actually helped renew interest in Shakespeare across the country.

As a result of his comedy routines with Anne, and his situation comedy appearances, many tended to pigeonhole Jerry. The truth of the matter is, he has proven himself to be quite adept at drama and musicals as well.

February 9th, 2007, Jerry and his wife joined a very select group of Hollywood stars to be honored with a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were both on hand to unveil their star, the 2,328th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Selected TV guest appearances:
A sampling of his impressive list of TV credits include, Studio One, General Electric Theater, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Flip Wilson Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Merv Griffin Show, Love, American Style, Phyllis, Rhoda, Hart to Hart, Simon & Simon, Archie Bunker's Place, Alice, Amanda's, The Love Boat, Trapper John, M.D., The Equalizer, Tales from the Darkside, Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Law, In the Heat of the Night, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, Touched by an Angel, and Sex and the City. He was also a frequent guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Television series:
Stiller was a series regular on The Paul Lynde Show (1972-73), Joe and Sons (1975-76), and he portrayed a restaurant maitre d' on the enjoyable comedy/drama Tattingers (1988-89) and its oddly retooled half-hour spin-off Nick and Hillary (1989). He experienced a real resurgence late in his career with roles on the popular, and long-running shows Seinfeld, as Frank Costanza, father to George, played by Jason Alexander, and beginning in 1998, he portrayed Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens, opposite Kevin James and Leah Remini.

Selected film credits:
Motion picture credits include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Airport 1975 (1974), The Ritz (1976), Seize the Day (1986), Hot Pursuit (1987), Nadine (1987), Hairspray (1988), Little Vegas (1990), The Heartbreak Kid (2007) and Zoolander (2001), which was directed by his son, Ben Stiller.

Selected stage credits:
His stage credits include Hurlyburly, directed by Mike Nichols, Threepenny Opera, The Ritz, Passione, Hairspray (in a role he recreated in the film adaptation), The Golden Apple, Unexpected Guests, Three Men on a Horse, What's Wrong with This Picture?, Guys and Dolls, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Luv, and The Three Sisters.

More than two dozen sources were consulted in preparing this profile.
The most in-depth of these was his 2000 autobiography, Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara.