Anne Meara

Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer Ben Stiller. She was also featured on stage, on television, and in numerous films and later became a playwright. During her career, Meara was nominated for four Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, and she won a Writers Guild Award as a co-writer for the television movie The Other Woman.

Anne Meara
Meara in 1975
Born	(1929-09-20)September 20, 1929 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 23, 2015(2015-05-23) (aged 85) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupations	Comedian actress
Years active	1948–2015
Spouse	Jerry Stiller ​ (m. 1954)​
Children	2, including Ben

Early years

Meara was born on September 20, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York City,^[1] to Mary (née Dempsey)^[1] and Edward Joseph Meara, a corporate lawyer for American Standard.^[2] Both of her parents were of Irish descent.^[3] An only child, she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, on Long Island. When Anne was 11 years old, her mother committed suicide.^[1]

When she was 18, Meara spent a year studying acting at the Dramatic Workshop at The New School and at HB Studio^[4] under Uta Hagen in Manhattan. The following year, in 1948, she began her career as an actress in summer stock.^[1]

Career

Comedy team

Publicity photo of Meara and Jerry Stiller, 1965

Meara met actor-comedian Jerry Stiller in 1953, and they married soon after. Until he suggested it, she had never thought of doing comedy. "Jerry started us being a comedy team," she said. "He always thought I would be a great comedy partner."^[1] They joined the Chicago improvisational company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City) and, after leaving, formed the comedy team of Stiller and Meara. She debuted off-Broadway in 1958 in Ulysses in Nighttown, based on the work by James Joyce. In 1961, she and Stiller were performing in nightclubs in New York and by the following year were considered a "national phenomenon", said the New York Times.^[1]

Their often improvised comedy routines brought many relationship foibles to live audiences. Their skits focused on domestic themes, as did Nichols and May, another comedy team from the Chicago Compass Players project during that period. "They were Nichols and May without the acid and with warmth," notes author Lawrence Epstein.^[5] They also added a new twist to their comedy act, he adds, by sometimes playing up the fact that Stiller was Jewish and Meara was Catholic.^[6] After Nichols and May broke up as a team in 1961, Stiller and Meara were the number-one couple comedy team by the late 1960s. And as Mike Nichols and Elaine May were not married, Stiller and Meara became the most famous married couple comedy team since Burns and Allen.^[7]

After some years honing the act, Stiller and Meara became regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show, with 36 appearances,^[7] and other TV programs, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They released their first LP in 1963, Presenting America's New Comedy Sensation: Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara Live at The Hungry I, which became a hit. By 1970, however, they broke up their act because it was affecting their marriage: "I didn't know where the act ended and our marriage began," complained Meara in 1977.^[7] Stiller agreed, fearing, "I would have lost her as a wife."^[7]

Television, stage, film, and video

During the 1970s, Meara and Stiller wrote and performed many radio commercials for Blue Nun Wine. In 1975, she starred in her own series, Kate McShane, on CBS. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1976; however, the show was canceled after ten episodes.^[8][9] She had a recurring role on the sitcom Rhoda as airline stewardess Sally Gallagher, one of the title character's best friends. She had roles as Mrs. Curry in The Boys from Brazil (1978) and as Mrs. Sherwood in Fame (1980).

In the 1970s, she provided narration for segments of the educational television series Sesame Street consisting of scenes from silent films.

Meara in an episode of The Corner Bar, 1973

Meara co-starred with Carroll O'Connor (with whom she had appeared onstage off-Broadway many years earlier in Ulysses in Nighttown) and Martin Balsam in the early 1980s hit sitcom Archie Bunker's Place, which was a continuation of the influential 1970s sitcom All in the Family. She played Veronica Rooney, the bar's cook, for the show's first three seasons (1979–1982). During that time, she acted in the movie Fame (1980), in which she played English teacher Elizabeth Sherwood.^[10] She appeared as Dorothy Halligan Deaver, the grandmother, in the TV series ALF in the late 1980s. The Stiller and Meara Show, her own 1986 TV sitcom, in which Stiller played the deputy mayor of New York City and Meara portrayed his wife, a television commercial actress, was unsuccessful. From 1999 to 2007, Meara guest starred in The King of Queens (where her husband played Arthur Spooner), first as Mary Finnegan, then as Veronica Olchin (mother of Spence, who was played by Patton Oswalt). Veronica and Arthur were married in the series finale.

Starting in October 2010, Meara and Jerry Stiller began starring in a Yahoo! web series called Stiller & Meara produced by Red Hour Digital, a production company owned by their son Ben Stiller.^[11][12]

In 2011, she accepted a role in the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore with Conchata Ferrell, AnnaLynne McCord, Minka Kelly, and B. Smith.^[13]

Writing and consulting

In 1995, Meara wrote the comedy After-Play, which became an off-Broadway production.^[1][14] In her later years, she portrayed recurring roles on the television shows Sex and the City (as Mary Brady) and The King of Queens (as Veronica Olchin). During the 2004–05 season, she appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In 2009, Meara wrote her personal life reflections in a New York-focused online blog titled Mr. Beller's Neighborhood -- New York City Stories. In it, Meara recalled her mother's death and her childhood experiences at Catholic boarding school.^[15]

Personal life

Religion

Meara was born, baptized, and raised a Roman Catholic. She converted to Judaism six years after marrying Stiller.^[16][17] She insisted that she did not convert at Stiller's request, explaining, "Catholicism was dead to me." She took her conversion seriously and studied the Jewish faith in such depth that her Jewish-born husband quipped, "Being married to Anne has made me more Jewish."^[18] They discussed how they met and their early career during a guest appearance on the TV game show What's My Line? in 1968.^[19]

Children

Meara and her husband had two children, Amy and Ben.^[20]

Death

Meara died on May 23, 2015, aged 85, in Manhattan. She had been living in the Hebrew Home for the Aged following several strokes and reportedly died of natural causes.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Sources: TCM;^[22] AllMovie;^[23]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	The Out-of-Towners	Woman in Police Station
	Lovers and Other Strangers	Wilma
1972	Irish Whiskey Rebellion	Goldie Fain-Follies Star
1977	Nasty Habits	Sister Geraldine
1978	The Boys from Brazil	Mrs. Curry
1980	Fame	Mrs. Sherwood
1984	In Our Hands		Documentary
1986	The Longshot	Madge
	The Perils of P.K.
1987	My Little Girl	Mrs. Shopper
1989	That's Adequate	Charlene Lane
1990	Awakenings	Miriam
1992	Highway to Hell	Medea
	Through an Open Window		24-minute short
1993	So You Want to Be an Actor	Herself	Short subject
1994	Reality Bites	Louise
	The Search for One-Eye Jimmy	Holly Hoyt
1995	Heavyweights	Alice Bushkin
	Kiss of Death	Bev's Mother
1996	The Daytrippers	Rita Malone
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Mrs. Langstrom
	Southie	Mrs. Quinn
1999	The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man
	Judy Berlin	Bea
	Brooklyn Thrill Killers		29-minute short
	A Fish in the Bathtub	Molly
2000	Amy Stiller's Breast	Herself	Short subject
	The Independent	Rita
2001	Zoolander	Protestor	Uncredited
	Keeping It Real: The Adventures of Greg Walloch		Documentary
	Get Well Soon	Linda
2002	Like Mike	Sister Theresa
	The Yard Sale		19-minute short
2003	Crooked Lines	Hard Boiled
2004	Chump Change	Casting Director
2006	Night at the Museum	Debbie
2007	The Mirror
	The Shallow End of the Ocean	Voice of Alice	28-minute short
2009	When the Evening Comes	Marion Corrado
	The Queen of Greenwich Village		13-minute short
	Another Harvest Moon	Ella
2014	Simpler Times		33-minute short with Jerry Stiller
	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Winnie	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1954–55	The Greatest Gift	Harriet	219 episodes
1954	The Philco Television Playhouse	Betty Blake	Episode: "Man on the Mountaintop"
1959	The DuPont Show of the Month	Performer	Episode: "Oliver Twist"
1960	Ninotchka	Anna	ABC TV movie	[24]
1964–65	Linus! The Lion Hearted	Voice	Animated TV series, 3 episodes
1971	Dames at Sea	Joan	Television Special	[25]
1971–72	The Courtship of Eddie's Father	Bunny Sterling Annie Dempsey	2 episodes
1971–73	Love, American Style	Various roles
1973	The Paul Lynde Show	Grace Dickerson	3 episodes
	The Corner Bar	Mae/Jennifer Bradley	Cast member, 7 episodes
1974	Medical Center	Rose Miller	Episode: "The Enemies"
1975	Kate McShane	Kate McShane	Canceled after 10 episodes
1976–77	Rhoda	Sally Gallagher	7 episodes
1977–78	Take Five with Stiller & Meara
1979–83	Love Boat	Various roles	3 episodes
	Archie Bunker's Place	Veronica Rooney	52 episodes
	HBO Sneak Previews		Costarred with Jerry Stiller
1983	The Other Woman	Peg Gilford	TV movie (CBS); Meara co-wrote the teleplay with Lila Garrett	[26]
1986	The Stiller and Meara Show	Anne Bender	Co-writer; Canceled after a few weeks
1987	Saturday Night Live	Bartender	Episode: "Charlton Heston/Wynton Marsalis"
1987–89	ALF	Dorothy Halligan	7 episodes
1987–89	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Mrs. Salters	Episode: "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book"
1988–93	Murder, She Wrote	Winnie Tupper Banner Mae Shaughnessy	2 episodes
1990	Monsters	Greta	Episode: "One Wolf's Family"
1991	The General Motors Playwrights Theater	Rose Finker	Episode: "Avenue Z Afternoon"
	Shalom Sesame	Miriam	Episode: "Show 10: Passover"
	American Playhouse	Bernice Shapiro	"The Sunset Gang": segment: "The Detective"
1992–99	All My Children	Peggy Moody	5 episodes
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Patricia Lennon	Episode: "Love off Limits"
1994	In the Heat of the Night	Roda	Episode: "Poor Relations"
	Great Performances: The Mother	Mrs. Geegan	PBS TV movie, October 24, 1994	[27]
	Murphy Brown	Reena Bernecky	2 episodes
1996	Homicide: Life on the Street	Donna DiGrazi
1997	Jitters	mother	TV movie	[28]
1999	After Play		Writer and cast member
1999–02	Oz	Aunt Brenda O'Reily	2 episodes
1999 2003–07	The King of Queens	Mary Finnegan (1999) Veronica Olchin (2003–07)	10 episodes
2001	What Makes a Family	Evelyn Cataldi	TV movie (Lifetime)	[29]
	Ed	Barbara Gennacarro	Episode: "The Test"
	Will & Grace	Mrs. Friedman	Episode: "Star-Spangled Banter"
2002–04	Sex and the City	Mary Brady	4 episodes
2003	Good Morning, Miami	Claire's Friend	Episode: "The Slow and the Furious"
	Charlie Lawrence	Pauline Lawrence	Episode: "If It's Not One Thing It's Your Mother"	[30]
2004–12	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ida Becker Irene Kerns	Episode: "Scavenger" Episode: "Dreams Deferred"	[31]
2006	Four Kings	Ruth	Episode: "Pilot"
2009	Mercy	Estelle Thalberg	Episode: "The Last Thing I Said Was"
2009–10	Wonder Pets!	Granny Ginny/Granny Winny	2 episodes: Voice
2010	Gravity	Mrs. Talbot	Episode: "Old People Creep Me Out"
2011	Rip City	Myrt	TVLand sitcom pilot that did not sell	[32]

Theatre

Year	Title	Credit(s)	Notes	Ref.
1956	A Month in the Country	Katina the maid	Phoenix Theatre, Off-Broadway	[33]
	The Good Woman of Setzuan	Niece		[34]
1957	Miss Loneyhearts	Sick-of-it-All	Music Box Theatre, Broadway	[35]
1958	As You Like It	Audrey	Joseph Papp Public Theater, Off-Broadway	[36]
	Ulysseys in Nighttown	Various roles	Rooftop Theatre, Off-Broadway	[37]
1971	The House of Blue Leaves	Bunny Flingus	Truck and Warehouse Theatre, Off-Broadway	[38]
1984	Spookhouse	Performer	Playhouse 91, Off-Broadway	[39]
	A... My Name Is Alice	Writer	Top of the Gate, Off-Broadway	[40]
1988	Romeo and Juliet	Nurse	Joseph Papp Public Theater, Off-Broadway	[41]
	Eastern Standard	May Logan	John Golden Theatre, Broadway	[42]
1993	Anna Christie	Marthy Owen	Center Stage Right, Broadway	[43]
1995	After-Play	Terry Guteman Playwright	Theatre Four, Broadway	[44]
2000	Down the Garden Paths	Playwright	Minetta Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway	[45]
2011	Love, Loss and What I Wore	Performer	Westside Theatre, Off-Broadway	[46]

Radio

• I'd Rather Eat Pants, National Public Radio, 2002

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
1976	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Television	Rhoda	Nominated	[citation needed]
1976	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Kate McShane	Nominated
1981		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Archie Bunker's Place	Nominated
1982				Nominated
1997		Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Homicide: Life on the Street	Nominated
1984	Writers Guild of America Awards	Original/Adapted Comedy Anthology	The Other Woman	Won
1993	Tony Awards	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Anna Christie	Nominated	[47]
1996	Outer Critics Circle Award	John Gassner Award	After-Play	Won

• On February 9, 2007, Meara and Jerry Stiller received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7018 Hollywood Blvd.

References

1. "Anne Meara, Comedian and Actress, Dies at 85". The New York Times. May 24, 2015. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
2. "E.J. Meara, Creator Of Comedy Skits, 73". The New York Times. December 16, 1966. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012.
3. Bloom, Nate (March 17, 2009). "A Pint of Guinness, A Cup of Manischevitz: Some Irish/Jewish Connections". InterfaithFamily.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
4. HB Studio Alumni
5. Epstein, Lawrence. Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair with Comedy Teams, PublicAffairs, Perseus Book (2004) p. 224
6. Johnny Carson (August 27, 2012). "Stiller & Meara on Computer Dating". Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018 – via YouTube.
7. "Anne Meara, Comedian of Stiller & Meara Fame, Dies at 85" Archived May 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Hollywood Reporter, May 24, 2015
8. Kate McShane TV Guide
9. "Anne Meara Biography and Emmy" emmys.com, retrieved August 17, 2018.
10. "Mrs. Sherwood's Classroom in Fame Archived March 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, video clip
11. "Meet Ben Stiller's Parents on New Yahoo! Web Show". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2010.
12. "Stiller & Meara". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on March 12, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
13. Gans, Andrew (April 14, 2011). "Minka Kelly, Susan Sullivan Set for Love, Loss... Off-Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on April 20, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
14. "After-Play" script, Dramatists Play Service (1996)
15. Meara, Anne (June 8, 2009). "Old Nuns".
16. O'Toole, Lesley (December 22, 2006). "Ben Stiller: 'Doing Comedy Is Scary'". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 8, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2006.
17. "LA Times". pqarchiver.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
18. Elkin, Michael (July 28, 1995). "ON THE SCENE: Stiller and Meara marry comedy and a home life". Jewish Exponent. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
19. "Stiller & Meara on "What's My Line?" (1968) Archived May 26, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, video
20. Gallagher, Donald W. (December 8, 1985). "COMEDY'S FIRST COUPLE FIND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS". Orlando Sentinel. p. F9. ProQuest 276713421. Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara are so familiar to the average American that sitting down to talk with them is like relaxing with neighbors over a cup of coffee. [...] The couple's love for the theater has rubbed off on their children. Both daughter Amy, 24, and son Ben, 20, are acting students in New York.
21. "Actress and Comedian Anne Meara, Mother of Ben Stiller, Dies at 85". Variety. May 24, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
22. "Anne Meara Filmography", tcm.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
23. "Filmography", allmovie.com, Retrieved August 14, 2018.
24. Ninotchka, tcm.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
25. "Dames at Sea Bell System Family theatre presents Ann Margret, Dames at Sea", princeton.edu. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
26. " 'The Other Woman' Overview", tcm.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
27. O'Connor, John J. "Television Review: Nostalgia For Drama Of TV Past", nytimes.com, October 24, 1994.
28. Kelleher, Terry. "Picks and Pans Review: 'Jitters'", people.com, May 5, 1997.
29. Wertheimer, Ron. "Television Review; In This Fight Over Custody, Parents Loved Each Other", nytimes.com, January 22, 2001.
30. " 'Charlie Lawrence' Cast", tvguide.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
31. "'Law & Order: SVU' Enlists Patricia Arquette, Anne Meara". The Hollywood Reporter. November 6, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
32. "Fran Drescher, Rita Moreno, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, Kristen Johnston, Christine Taylor and Sherri Shepherd Among Hollywood Stars Signed for TV Land Pilots Taping February 2011", prnewswire.com, February 8, 2011.
33. A Month in the Country, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
34. The Good Woman of Setzuan, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
35. Miss Loneyhearts, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018
36. As You Like It, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
37. Ulysseys in Nightown, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
38. The House of Blue Leaves, broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
39. Spookhouse, broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
40. A... My Name Is Alice, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
41. Romeo and Juliet, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
42. Eastern Standard, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
43. Anna Christie, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
44. After-Play lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
45. Isherwood, Charles. "Review. Down the Garden Paths", Variety, November 19, 2000.
46. Hetrick, Adam. "Conchata Ferrell, Anne Meara Explore Love, Loss... Off-Broadway, Starting April 27", Playbill.com, April 27, 2011.
47. "Anne Meara". Playbill.com. Retrieved May 11, 2020.

External links

• Stiller & Meara Yahoo podcast
• Anne Meara at IMDb
• Anne Meara at the Internet Broadway Database
• Anne Meara at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Production: Anna Christie – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, January 1993
• Anne Meara at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Anne Meara at the Comedy Hall of Fame