Stiller and Meara

Stiller and Meara (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), a husband and wife comedy team, were a big hit in the 1960s and 1970s, making frequent appearances on television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show. Stiller and Meara were among the earliest graduates of the Second City improvisational comedy troupe to become famous. When variety shows became scarce in the late 1970s, they had a syndicated short program, only 5 minutes long, which ran on t... more

Stiller and Meara (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), a husband and wife comedy team, were a big hit in the 1960s and 1970s, making frequent appearances on television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show. Stiller and Meara were among the earliest graduates of the Second City improvisational comedy troupe to become famous. When variety shows became scarce in the late 1970s, they had a syndicated short program, only 5 minutes long, which ran on the NBC affiliate in the Washington, D.C. market immediately after Saturday Night Live. They also did comical radio ads. Stiller and Meara's career declined, however, as variety series gradually disappeared. The duo's own 1986 TV sitcom, The Stiller and Meara Show, in which Stiller played the deputy mayor of New York City and Meara portrayed his wife, a TV commercial actress, was unsuccessful; Stiller had better luck with his next series, playing George Costanza's father in Seinfeld. Comedy movie actor Ben Stiller is the real-life son of... less