Rest in Peace – Jerry Stiller

June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020

Jerry Stiller passed away today at the age of 92.  He became familiar to me, and probably to the younger half of America, first as Frank Costanza, the father of George Costanza, on the television series, Seinfeld.  Then Stiller portrayed Arthur Spooner, Carrie Heffernan’s father, on The King of Queens. 

Fun fact: the character of Frank Costanza was originally played by actor John Randolph.  You may be familiar with John Randolph as Clark Griswold’s father in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  Randolph originally played Frank Costanza in the Seinfeld episode, The Handicap Spot.  I can distinctly remember watching that episode when it originally aired, thinking that the casting of John Randolph as George’s father was perfectly and hilariously done.  Producer Larry David eventually replaced John Randolph with Jerry Stiller, and when it happened I was genuinely aggravated that Randolph’s hilarious portrayal was being replaced by this Jerry Stiller person.  Very quickly though, Jerry Stiller’s iconic portrayal of George’s father nearly erased my memory of John Randolph.  It’s not that John Randolph wasn’t perfect in his own way, but Jerry Stiller was even more perfect.  Larry David even reshot The Handicap Spot with Jerry Stiller as George’s father.  In order to keep the continuity of having had only one actor portraying Frank Costanza when repeats were shown.

Jerry Stiller’s over-the-top portrayal of George’s father was part of the secret sauce of Seinfeld.  Those uniquely wonderful secondary characters that showed up here and there to complement the core four cast members so beautifully.  Characters like Jerry’s parents, George’s parents, Mr. Pitt, J. Peterman, Mickey, Uncle Leo, Puddy, and so many, many more.  Characters that helped to elevate the storyline to preposterously enjoyable places.

Jerry Stiller quickly became a fan favorite to the legions of Seinfeld fans.  Aside from his acting, some of his Seinfeld bloopers are the funniest ones to be showcased from the show and are well-viewed YouTube clips. 

I never knew that Stiller was already quite the comedy legend when he first appeared on Seinfeld.  He was just George’s dad to me.  He was part of a comedy duo with his wife, Anne Meara.  They would be married for over 60 years. Stiller and Meara would regularly appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, and only recently did I stumble on some of their old comedy routines.  Not only were they quite funny, but you could see that sparkle in their eyes, that these were two people that genuinely were in love with each other. 

They had two children, most famously is their son Ben Stiller.  I was a big fan of The Ben Stiller Show, a very short-lived show on the Fox Television Network on the early 90’s.  It was quite literally, the lowest rated show on network television, but I was a big fan.  The cast and crew of that show was then unknown, but now is a rather all-star cast of comedy.  Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garafalo, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, and Judd Apatow.  Little did I know at the time, that my two favorite shows on television, The Ben Stiller Show and Seinfeld, were connected by a father and son team.  Of course, Ben Stiller has gone on to have quite a storied movie career.  (Let me put in a plug for my favorite Ben Stiller film, the underrated and underappreciated The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.)

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara would regularly appear on the 1970’s-era game show Tattletales.  If you are not familiar with the game show, I was not either until just recently.   Not long ago I became acquainted with the game show via repeats, it is sort of an offshoot of The Newlywed Game.  A he-said/she-said featuring Hollywood couples.  Sometimes, I swear you can just feel the phoniness of many of these couples just ooze through the TV screen.  I would then go to Wikipedia for some research, and sure enough, most of those couples would be divorced before long.  Stiller and Meara however, during their appearance on Tattletales, I felt that their genuine affection for each other sort of transcended the game show.  These two seemed so genuinely in love with each other.

I also came across Jerry Stiller in the 1970’s film, The Taking of Pelham 123.  If you only saw the remake featuring John Travolta and Denzel Washington, do yourself a favor and see the original.  The original story of a hostage situation on a New York City subway car is infinitely better than the remake.  Walter Matthau and Jerry Stiller’s portrayal of two NYPD cop curmudgeons, almost annoyed and irked that they even have to put up with a hostage situation, set this movie apart.  It almost seems like the real tragedy is that their day is ruined having to deal with this mess. 

After Seinfeld, Jerry Stiller would be cast as a regular on The King of Queens.  Portraying Arthur Spooner.  I never thought I could or would think of him as anything other than Frank Costanza.  The cynic in me chalked it up to a new show trying to capitalize on his fame as George’s father.  But before long, much to my surprise, I soon forgot of him as Frank Costanza.  A credit to his acting perfection, he very quickly became Arthur Spooner in my mind.  A different father-figure than Frank Costamza, still hilarious, but different.  A scene-stealer with great comic timing.  My favorite scene is when he was jealous of “Phillip”, that guy that invented the Phillips-head screwdriver.  So Arthur set out to invent his own screwdriver.  The Arthur-head screwdriver.  Just take that A-head screwdriver, and put it right into that A-hole and twist.  His comic delivery was second to none.

To enter the zeitgeist of pop culture in his 60’s, with his recurring character on Seinfeld, is not a typical career arc.  And then to further entrench himself in that zeitgeist as a regular on King of Queens in his 70’s, is again, quite atypical.  Not many people reach peak popularity as they near their 80^th birthday.  Those sitcoms are how I first took note of Jerry Stiller.  It was only then that I looked back at his older movies.   (Also, from what I understand, both Stiller and Meara were quite accomplished dramatic actors on Broadway.)  I also looked back at those older comedy routines with his wife.

I may have took note of him due to his sitcom prowess in his later years, and became a fan of his comedy abilities.  But more than comedy or acting chops, I became a fan of Jerry Stiller the man, when I saw those glimpses into his caring demeanor and personality on those Tattletales game shows.  RIP, Jerry.  The world has been a better place because you were in it.

– MTR

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