R.I.P. Anne Meara

May 27, 2015 5:44 AM

Anne Meara passed away this past weekend at the age of 85. Meara was a remarkable actress and commedian who is known to modern audiences for her work on "King of Queens", "Sex and the City" and, of course, her slightly famous son Ben Stiller. But Meara also laid claim to one of the longest comedy partnerships in the entertainment industry with her husband Jerry Stiller, whom she first met in 1953 and started working with in the early 1960's. Here are some choice clips from five decades back: Highlights from Stiller and Meara on the Ed Sullivan show. Stiller and Meara illustrate how to break up with someone. Audio of their "Last Two People in the World" and "Moments of Truth behind TV Commecials" sketches.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI (30 comments total)

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posted by Smart Dalek at 5:47 AM on May 27, 2015

Oh, man. This is sad.

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posted by Thorzdad at 5:51 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:00 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by dr_dank at 6:07 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by alms at 6:16 AM on May 27, 2015

For those of us who are old enough to think of Ben Stiller as Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller's son, rather than vice versa, her passing is sad indeed.
posted by Sir Rinse at 6:21 AM on May 27, 2015 [32 favorites]

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posted by Room 641-A at 6:28 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by Gelatin at 6:29 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by LobsterMitten at 6:46 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by allthinky at 6:52 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by Kinbote at 6:55 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by jonp72 at 7:01 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by orme at 7:03 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by fairmettle at 7:12 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by sfred at 7:19 AM on May 27, 2015

She was one of our comedy greats. She's somebody whose impact I think is going to be reevaluated at some point and will come to be viewed as one of the most influential comedians of the twentieth century.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:25 AM on May 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

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posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 7:40 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by On the Corner at 7:43 AM on May 27, 2015

A wonderful, hilarious lady. She'll be missed, by her old fans, her new fans, and of course her family.
posted by easily confused at 7:53 AM on May 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

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Farewell, you super funny woman. Thanks for all the belly laughs. I was never surprised that Ben turned out so well, given his gifted mom and dad.
posted by bearwife at 8:58 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by SisterHavana at 9:05 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:29 AM on May 27, 2015

Some of my earliest comedy TV memories are of Stller and Meara.

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posted by Windopaene at 9:29 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by BlahLaLa at 10:17 AM on May 27, 2015

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posted by Mental Wimp at 10:49 AM on May 27, 2015

Anne Meara was the Ginger Rogers of comedy*.

*as in "did everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in high heels".
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:02 AM on May 27, 2015

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One note from the NYT obituary:

She met Mr. Stiller in 1953 and married him soon after, but it would be some time before they began working as a team. The idea, they both agreed, was his; she did not think of herself as a comedian, but because work was scarce she reluctantly agreed.

“Jerry started us being a comedy team,” she said in 2008. “He always thought I would be a great comedy partner. At that time in my life, I disdained comedians.”

She had to be talked into doing comedy. If she'd gotten like one more decent off-Broadway job in the '50s, we'd be sitting here taking Ben Stiller's word for it that his mom was funny.
posted by Etrigan at 11:09 AM on May 27, 2015 [8 favorites]

Damn.

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posted by MissySedai at 6:56 PM on May 27, 2015

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posted by Fibognocchi at 8:35 PM on May 27, 2015

She's mostly fixed in my mind as the english teacher from original 'Fame' movie. She was so, so good in that.
posted by h00py at 5:58 AM on May 29, 2015