Jerry Stiller, American comedian, actor, and star of the likes of Seinfeld, Zoolander, and Hairspray, has died at the age of 92, his son Ben Stiller confirmed in a tweet on Monday morning.
“I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes,” wrote Stiller, sharing a photo of his dad.
“He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you, dad.”
I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes. He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad. pic.twitter.com/KyoNsJIBz5
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) May 11, 2020
Stiller, born Gerald Isaac Stiller in Brooklyn, New York, had a long, illustrious career in comedy. On the small screen, he starred as George Costanza’s no-nonsense, Festivus-celebrating father Frank in 26 episodes of Seinfeld in the ’90s, and as Arthur Spooner on long-running CBS sitcom The King of Queens in the ’00s. On the silver screen, he starred opposite his son in the Zoolander movies, as Derek’s agent Maury Ballstein, and made an iconic character of Wilbur Turnblad, Tracy’s loving father in John Waters’ 1988 classic film Hairspray, making a cameo in the 2007 remake.
Stiller is also known for his earlier days of comedy, when he married fellow actor-comedian Anne Meara in 1954 and the two formed the comedy team Stiller and Meara, which was popular in the ’60s and ’70s on TV variety shows like The Ed Sullivan Show. Meara passed away in 2015.