Jerry Stiller, a veteran actor best known for his role on Senifeld, died over the weekend of natural causes.
He was 92 years old.
The star’s passing was confirned via Twitter by his very famous son, Ben Stiller, who wrote the following on Sunday night:
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.
Stiller beghan his impressive carerr 1950s alongside his wife Anne Meara — and then had a resurgence in the late 1990s with his iconic Seinfeld character, Frank Costanza.
Fans of this beloved sitcom will never forget Stiller’s Festivus celebration on Seinfeld, as well as the often-usedd phrase “Serenity now!” and his invention of a bra for men, known as the “bro.”
He earned an Emmy nomination in 1997 for his Seinfeld performance.
But Stiller also had a long and well-respected career in the profession long before he turned into George Constanza’s dad.
On the big screen, for instance, he portrayed Walter Matthau’s police sidekick in the thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and Divine’s husband Wilbur Turnblad in John Waters’ comedy Hairspray.
He also wrote an autobiography, “Married to Laughter,” about his 50-plus year marriage to soul mate and comedic cohort Meara, who passed away in 2015.
The pair made 36 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and Stiller guest-starred on an assortment of his television shows, from Murder She Wrote to Law & Order.
For most modern-day consumers of entertainment, however, Stiller will forever be the remembered as the cantakerous and hilarious Frank Constanza.
In a 2005 Esquire interview, he recalled that he was out of work and not even the first choice for this role, the father to Jason Alexander’s neurotic George.
“My manager had retired,” he said. “I was close to 70 years old, and had nowhere to go.”
This portrayal landed Stiller a spot playing Vince Lombardi in a Nike commercial and then the role of another over-the-top dad on the long-running sitcom King of Queens with Kevin James and Leah Remini.
Stiller also starred opposite his son in Zoolander and his last film role was in the 2016 sequel, Zoolander 2.
Stiller earned a drama degree at Syracuse University after serving in World War II.
He then headed to New York City to launch his professional life as an actor.
May Jerry Stiller rest in peace.