Seinfeld topped a long career in comedy

Comedy legend Jerry Stiller has died at the age of 92.

His son, the Hollywood star Ben, shared the news on Twitter this morning, writing: '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.’

Jerry Stiller may be best known to modern audiences for playing George Costanza’s cranky father Frank in Seinfeld. But he was a major star in the 1960s and 1970s as half of the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, who died at the age of 85 in 2015.

They were regularly on TV and radio, with several appearances on  The Ed Sullivan Show and fronting an ad campaign for Blue Nun wine.  They had a short-lived TV comeback in 1986, with their own show in which Stiller played the deputy mayor of New York City and Meara portrayed his wife, an actress. 

Stiller got into acting after serving in the US Army during the Second World War, initially studying drama at Syracuse University. In the 1950s, he and Meara joined the Chicago improv company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City), beginning their partnership. In 1961, they were performing in nightclubs in New York, and by the following year were considered a 'national phenomenon' by the New York Times.

Stiller also plated Arthur Spooner on  The King of Queens and has appeared with his son in films including Zoolander and The Heartbreak Kid.

Last year he was rushed to hospital in New York with a mystery illness.

Published: 11 May 2020