et al.: 's other Gerry

Published by SURFACE, 2012 1 Magazine, Vol. 14, Iss. 2 [2012], Art. 9 Other ••••••••••••••••••• e y

JERRY STILLER '50 HAS BROUGHT AMERICA SOME OF ITS MOST UNLIKELY LIVING•ROOM

HEROES, FROM HERSHEY HOROWITZ TO FRANK COSTANZA. So WHY IS HE SO SURPRISED

THAT THE WORK KEEPS COMING? BY NANcy CHAMBERS

here there's comedy, there's biography. Or at if he is still married to his beloved Anne in real life. To­ W least a best-selling joke book. There's Leading day he plays Costa nza. Yes, Costanza: George's father With My Chin by Jay Leno, J/lfy Point And I on the top-rated sitcom Seinfe!d, now in its ninth season. Do Ha"e One by Ellen D eGeneres, Pri~Jate PartJ by That's Frank Costanza, the religious-icon importer who Howard Stern, and 's Seinfangua.9e. modeled the first "mansierre," a bra for men. Stiller was Carson. Cosby. Sullivan. Letterman. R eiser. Rivers. introduced as George's dad in season five, replacing actor Rock. O'Donnell. They all have 'em. If it's not by them, , w ho was deemed too tall for the short, it's about them, or a collection of their greatest hits. But pudgy Costanza genes (Seinfe!d fanatics take note: In a no matter how thoroughly you search the web and the nearly unprecedented TV repair job, Stiller now appears card catalogs, you won't find memoir, unauthorized in Randolph's scenes from season four). But after nearly trash, or publi shed schtick about one of the most re­ five Seitz{e!d seasons, Stiller still doesn't get one thing: 'Tm nowned husband-a nd-w ife comedy duos since George absolutely enthralled by the fact that people can relate to and Gracie. Publishers take note: There is a n opening this guy." It's true that Frank and Estell e Costanza a re for one more tome in the annals of American comedy. over-the-top and cloyingly insane, but even Jason Alex­ J erry Stiller and w ere first introduced to ander, who plays son G eorge, has said, "They shou ld do a Ed Sullivan, and thus the world, w hile working the club spin-off." And billions of N ielsen watchers agree, unable circuit in the I950s. This was their bit: She was a tall, to get enough of Frank Costanza's crazed outbu rsts and Irish Catholic redhead; he, a short, dark, Jewish Romeo. wild schemes. It is J erry Stiller- not Seinfeld - who pro­ They were known as Mary E lizabeth Doyle and H ershey vides us with the insight as to why George is the way he Horowitz, the computer-dating dream team. "Turns out is: unlovably lovable. they're not ideally suited," Stiller explains from his vaca­ W ithout q uestion, though, the most lovable aspect of tion home on Nantucket isla nd in Massachusetts. "The Frank Costanza is that the role earned Stiller an Emmy computer screws up. The only thing they have in com­ nomination in 1997. "It was wonderful to be nominated be­ mon is they came from the same street." cause the characters we p lay are call ed recurring charac­ The couple's wily, quickfire dialogue of dating catastro­ ters a nd before then there was never a category for them. phes was a perennial crowd-pleaser. Stiller and M eara So for the years that Estelle Ha rris and I were playing might step on Sullivan's stage after a plate-spinner a nd George's parents, we were never allowed to be nominated ." lead into the Maguire Sisters. In later years the star­ Meara has won a Writer's G uild Award, been nom­ crossed-lover gag appealed to the same audience that inated five times for an Emmy and once for a Tony, a nd cheered the Rolling Stones. "It became something of a had roles in mainstream movies like AwalceningJ a nd trademark for us," Stiller says. "And E d Sullivan liked it Fame. And Stiller g lories devoted ly in her every success. very much. H e kept us around almost for the rest of his No husband could be prouder. But until the 1997 Emmys, life. H e popularized us. H e had faith in that material his own 4 0-odd years of work had gone conspicuously when no one else did." In a ll , they would make 36 ap­ unrecognized. "This was a big moment in my life be­ pearances on the landmark variety show. cause it was the first time anybody ever nominated me But J erry Still er doesn't play Horowitz any more, even for a nything," he says. "After that, the next step was 'Am

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WINTER 1997/98 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol14/iss2/9 2 The Takinget al.: Seinfeld's of other GerryPelham One-Two-Three • I going to win?'" Even though Stiller didn't win the Emmy for guys and the guys with the girls an,d the guys drinking beer" E Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, he admits to only tbe smallest were all laughing at his shows regularly. twinge of disappointment because he truly had received his "I was wonderful," Stiller remembers. "I come out and say, "best wish in life." "I was up against Sid Caesar (ff!ad About 'What did you think?' And Professor Falk says, 'You've got You), David Duchovny (The Larry Sa11derJ Show), James Earl to get out of here.' I say, 'Whaddaya mean?' And he says, Jones (FraJier), and Mel Brooks (who won for Mad About 'You've got bad habits. Bad habits."' Despite those tics, the You). All those people are really gifted, and you say, 'Well, I'm following Monday Falk assigned Stiller to produce, cast, one of the best."' direct, and run a student review. He called it Lo1~9 L[,,e Love. But this isn't even close to demonstrating Stiller's endear­ Stiller describes the experience as a "travail" involving a de­ ing humility. -a man frequently listed as a staple bilitating cast mutiny and his own academic probation. He of American comedy, a man who omits more than ha lf his ca­ failed every class that year, but the show turned a profit for reer's achievements to fit his life on a two-page bio-sincerely the University and helped Stiller not only redeem himself in believes he must add this overdue Emmy accolade to his re­ the eyes of the University, but land his first postgrad role sume. Granted, he doesn't carry the star power or audience of, with, no kidding, Burgess Meredith. The show was SiLver say, Matthew McConaughey, but WhiJtle at a playhouse in Watkins Glen, . Stiller he is almost surprised that he attributes those early breaks to Falk, and to a bachelor's de­ is so much more than our gree in speech and dramatic art from Syracuse, Class of 1950. favorite "Must-See TV" character actor. tiller met his better half in the quintessential actor's Shangout: an agent's office. It was a transitional, ex­ erald Stiller perimental time for comedy and he and Meara embraced G was born in it. They studied the new "cerebral" comedy and the New York City modernized comnudia r)eLL arte, which involved character on June 8, 1927. development and improvisational techniques. They The son of a were superb and lifted the comedic dating/sex struggle bus driver, he to a new level - a level that, with themes of harass­ moved 13 times ment, computer matching, and intra-office dating, is in 11 years. Like as timely now as it was 40 years ago. At that time, get­ many perform­ ting in front of any audience was a break, Stiller says. ers, he always Meara describes it as "a series of crumbles" instead of wanted to be an one big break. actor. At 18, "before The couple toured the bomb dropped," for years, even after he joined the Army. H e they started a family . was supposed to be trained "Then we had to as a Japanese translator. After start thinking of set­ the bomb, though, translators weren't tling down," Stiller quite so necessary, and he served in Italy in­ remembers, "though stead -playing football, running a film ex­ we did take our chil­ change, and getting into trouble. When here­ dren, Amy and Ben, turned to the states, he was too afraid to learn with us to Las Vegas, acting in the clubs and play houses, so he where t hey saw a lot decided to learn it at Syracuse University on of TV and sat in green the G.I. Bill. rooms and watched Since campus housing was crammed fu ll, their parents make he lived near the State Fairgrounds, working fools of themselves." as a "soda jerk on Salina Street" and selling The fact is, Stiller beer at the old MacArthur Stadium to get by. and Meara perfected His weekends were dedicated to making audi­ the art of being a ences laug h, even if it killed him. If there was husband-and-wife a club in town, Stiller would take his turn at duo and built a n en­ the mike. After a few initial bad nights, he Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara performed their star-crossed lovers routine terprise a round it. eventually developed a following. Feeling on . Today, Stiller plays the volatile Frank Costanza They used their in­ brave, he invited his most respected drama (above) on the popular sitcom Seinfeld. fluence to nab the professor, Sawyer Falk, to catch a show at the gig that placed them Casablanca on Genesee Street. on the pop culture map- perhaps more than Sullivan. It was In Stiller's mind, Falk was a demigod. "Sawyer Falk was a li ttle ad they did for Blue Nun wine . • the head of the National Theatre Conference of the whole The ad was a riot, but it left Stiller concerned . "It's been ," says Still er, a 1979 Arents Pioneer medalist. proven that when people laugh at commercials, what invari­ "He's the one who created the syllabus." Stiller remembers a bly happens is they won't remember the product, they'll thinking he'd "kill" the crowd that night because "the tough remember the joke." Despite Still er's fears, the ad "went

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SYRACUSE UN I VERS ITY M AGAZ I NE Published by SURFACE, 2012 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 14, Iss. 2 [2012], Art. 9 Ghc)st (>f Vince I <)t through the roof" because "Blue Nun, the delicious w hite had the disease and he was a struggling actor w ho couldn't wine that goes as well with meat as it does with fish," was the afford to take care of her. joke. And people remembered, buy ing so much Blue N un But life is more than just work and charity. Between per­ that it became a best-seller. forming in Meara's After-Play in summer stock and taping Humor has worked for Stiller in other successful pitches Seiufe!J in Los Angeles a ll a utumn, he needs to recharge. "One for companies like AT&T and Amalgamated Bank. Even a day my wife d ecided to buy a house and I had no idea this was football unenthusiast will remember last year's Super Bowl happening. I just found myself coming out here as a break," telecast, when Stiller dropped in on America in a Nike ad as Stiller explains from the harbor home in Nantucket. "Now the ghost of . I usually come here when I'm out of work and if l w ant to make sure I'll be working again, because 1 know the minute I tiller call s Riverside Drive in New York City home, but get here the phone's gonna be ringing!" It is, he says, their SBroadway hasn't always been as welcoming. In 1993 he "good luck place." appeared in Three J!lm on a Hot'Je with Tony R andall and Jack Stiller also gets a big charge from working w ith his children. Klugman. Time magazine not-so-nicely nicknamed the pro­ He starred w ith twenty-something son, Ben (of ReaLity BiteJ duction "Three Men in a Hearse." Three years later Stiller and FLirting With DiJaJter fame), joined an enormous all-star ensemble cast, including J eanne in a few projects, a nd has Tripplehorn, Amy Irving, a nd E ric Stoltz, for Chekhov's done theater (Beau JeJt) Three &1tet~1. R eviewers said Stiller played Chebutykin like w ith hi s daughter, Frank Costanza. "I was shocked," Stiller says. "You Amy Sawyer Stil­ never know how your work affects people. How Frank ler (named for Costanza could be compared with Chekhov, l'm at Falk) . When he a loss." isn't perform­ Today Stiller doesn't read the reviews until well after ing w ith them the opening, though he says it's impossible to avoid he's admiring them because you hear w hat people say anyway. them, but still He'd like to think reviews aren't important, but he trying to be won't lie. "It does affect you," he says. "It affects your tough. "I love ability to get more work as an actor. It a lso is a bench­ it, but I hold mark in your life." my breath when This kind of actor-to-actor advice is expected from I watch them Stiller. " I believe in perform," he says, payback," he says. "Jf inha ling at the w e had know n a lit­ thought. This is the tle more about the en­ adorable Dad quality tertainment business that, unlike his Costanza up front, we mig ht character, won him the En­ not have stepped in tertainment Father of the Y ear the mud puddles that award in 1977. we did." So w hen an Besides his kids' work, he enjoys the intelli­ assistant suggested gent wit of D ennis Miller and the "emotional Stiller and M eara doc­ vocabulary" of R obin Williams, with w hom he ument t heir advice filmed a television piece called Seize the Day. for the next genera­ Stiller, in fact, seems to seize everything. "I tion, they listened. do everything tha t comes my way, so to The couple created a speak," he says. video, So You Want to But futu re projects may hold even more of Be an Actor? covering a surprise career direction than the Frank everything from shop­ Costanza role did. "Maybe l could do some­ ping for a n agent to thing that captu res the imagination of people," w here aspiring actors he says. "It might be fun to stand there alone should study. " It's and not concern myself w ith a big set or won­ not something we Jerry Stiller, , and Estelle Harris team up on Seinfeld as der w hen the next show is going to come my went into for the the wildly dysfunctional Costanza family, known for their shouting match­ way." money," he says. es, schemes, and idiosyncratic habits_ Stiller is a lso writing down those life sto- Stiller's soundest ries- ready to share insig hts and experiences advice is a lso the most profound. It's widely accepted that that readers probably won't uncover in that slew of comedi­ Hollywood can be disenchanting, so "when it comes to reach­ an escapades now stacked on bookstore shelves. He modest­ ing people on a level that goes deeper than t·he work, you may ly hopes "people will find it interesting one day." have to give yourself some kind of situation or cause that you A nd if not? "It's nice to have your own version of w hat can identifY w ith," he says. One of Stiller's favorite causes is your life is," he says, "as opposed to what someone else thinks CancerCare, a group that aided his family w hen his mother of you."

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