Jerry Stiller, who died today at age 92, leaves behind a legacy that’s virtually unparalleled among living entertainers. In his 65-plus year career, he established himself as a star comedian (one half-of the husband-wife duo, Stiller and Meara), an accomplished stage actor (appearing in shows such as Terrence McNally’s The Ritz and David Rabe’s Hurlyburly), and a distinguished presence onscreen (his 100+ credits included everything from The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three to Zoolander). But it was his recurring role as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld—and as that character’s spiritual offspring, Arthur Spooner, on the subsequent New York sitcom King of Queens—where he fully honed his trademark: the volatile, force-of-nature father.
No one was a better yeller. No one was a better gesticulator. And no one was a more unorthodox line reader. Those are some of the qualities that, in the view of longtime Seinfeld writer Jeff Schaffer, made him not just a fan favorite, but an on-set liability. “That’s how I’ll remember Jerry—so many times being on set and having tears in my eyes from laughing, and saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to be here a while,’” Schaffer says. “Because no one could look this guy in the face while he’s doing this stuff and not laugh.”
Before being hired as a writer in 1994, Schaffer was simply a fan of Seinfeld. And like many other fans, Frank Costanza was one of his favorite characters to quote (“You got the rooster, the hen, and the chicken. The rooster goes with the chicken. So who’s having sex with the hen?”). For a character who appeared in fewer than 30 of 180 episodes of the show, Frank Costanza was responsible for an outside number of the show’s indelible moments—Festivus, the manzier, Serenity Now. And once Schaffer joined the show, Stiller’s unique delivery made him a “dream” to write for. “When you have this cast that’s the funniest cast on television and this person comes in and just keeps assassinating them, you have to have respect for that person.” Here, Schaffer takes us through what it was like to write for Jerry Stiller, some favorite Frank Costanza memories, and elaborates on what made the man so special.
GQ: I’m sorry for your loss.
Jeff Schaffer: It’s the comedy world’s loss. It’s not what you want to wake up to on a Monday morning.
As sad as it is, it’s brought me a lot of joy digging into all of Jerry’s great moments.
Larry [David] and Alec [Berg] and I were on a chain just circling through some great moments. So it was actually really sweet and fun.
Were there any that especially stood out to you?
Here’s the thing: Every day that Jerry was on set was a great day. He had such a unique cadence. It was like his volume control had no surge protector. So there would be quiet times punctuated with these sporadic eruptions. And his timing was so unique and so goddamn funny. He made us laugh so hard.
But the person that he just slayed was Julia [Louis-Dreyfus]. Julia could not keep a straight face when she was in a scene with him. I remember during the episode “The Little Kicks,” where George is the bad boy and his dad had to come take him home, Jerry had a scene with Julia, and he was yelling at Julia, and you can see her trying to hold it in but her side is useless. And then he says it again, and the damn breaks. It took so many takes. It might’ve been the scene that took more takes than any I had seen on Seinfeld. Because once she starts laughing, everyone’s a goner.