Anne Meara

Anne Meara
Anne Meara in 1975
Born	(1929-09-20)September 20, 1929 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	May 23, 2015(2015-05-23) (aged 85) Manhattan, New York, United States
Cause of death	Natural causes
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1954–2014
Spouse(s)	Jerry Stiller ​ ​ (m. 1954;  2015)​
Children	Amy Stiller, Ben Stiller
Comedy career
Medium	Stand-up comedy, film, television, theatre, books
Genres	Observational comedy, insult comedy, shock humor, black comedy, ribaldry, improvisational comedy

Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband, Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of a prominent 1960s comedy team, Stiller and Meara. She was also featured on stage, television, in numerous films, and later became a playwright.

During her career, Meara was nominated for four Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, and won a Writers Guild Award as a co-writer for the TV movie, The Other Woman.

Early years

Meara was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of parents of Irish descent, Mary (née Dempsey) (1894-1941) and Edward Joseph Meara (1893-1980), a lawyer. An only child, she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York on Long Island. When Anne was 12 years old, her mother committed suicide.

When she was 18, Meara spent a year studying acting at the Dramatic Workshop at The New School in Manhattan. The following year, 1948, she began her career as an actress in summer stock.

Career

Comedy team

Meara met actor-comedian Jerry Stiller in 1953 and they married the following year. 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." They joined the improvisational company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City), and after leaving, formed the comedy team of Stiller and Meara. In 1961 they were performing in nightclubs in New York, and by the following year were considered a "national phenomenon," said the New York Times.

Their often-improvised comedy routines brought many of their real-life relationship foibles to live audiences. Their skits focused on domestic themes, as did Nichols and May, another comedy team during that period. "They were Nichols and May without the acid and with warmth," notes author Lawrence Epstein. 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. 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.

After some years honing the act, Stiller and Meara became regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show, with 36 appearances, 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. Stiller agreed, fearing "I would have lost her as a wife."

Television, stage, film, video

During the 1970s, Meara and Stiller wrote and performed many radio commercials together for Blue Nun Wine. She had a recurring role on the sitcom Rhoda as airline stewardess Sally Gallagher, one of the title character's best friends. She also had a small role as "Mrs Curry" opposite Laurence Olivier in The Boys from Brazil (1978). In 1975 she starred in her own series Kate McShane on CBS, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award, but the series was cancelled after only 10 episodes.

Meara costarred with Carroll O'Connor 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 the role of 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. She also appeared as the grandmother in the TV series ALF in the late 1980s. Her own 1986 TV sitcom, The Stiller and Meara Show, 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 on 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, but divorced a year later.

Starting in October 2010, Meara and her husband 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.

She accepted a role in the Off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore for an April 27 through May 29, 2011, run with Conchata Ferrell, AnnaLynne McCord, Minka Kelly and B. Smith. She continued actively developing the next generation as demonstrated by teaching a technique and scene study class at HB Studio up until her death.

Writing and consulting

In 1995, Meara branched out to writing with the comedy, After-Play, which became an Off-Broadway production. 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 2004–05 season series run, she appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She was the consulting director of J.A.P. – The Jewish American Princesses of Comedy, a 2007 Off-Broadway production that featured live stand-up routines by four female Jewish comics juxtaposed with the stories of legendary performers from the 1950s and 1960s: Totie Fields, Jean Carroll, Pearl Williams, Betty Walker and Belle Barth.

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

Personal life

Religion, marriage, family

Meara was raised a Roman Catholic. She converted to Reform Judaism six years after marrying Stiller. 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." They discussed how they met and their early career during a guest appearance on the TV game show, What's My Line? in 1968.

Together, Meara and her husband had two children, Amy (born 1961) and Ben (born 1965).

Death

Meara died on May 23, 2015, at her home in Manhattan, at the age of 85. No exact cause was provided but some sources cite "natural causes." She is survived by her husband, two children, and two grandchildren.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	The Out-of-Towners	Woman in Police Station
1970	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
1986	The Perils of P.K.
1987	My Little Girl	Mrs. Shopper
1989	That's Adequate	Charlene Lane
1990	Awakenings	Miriam
1992	Through an Open Window		24-minute short
1992	Highway to Hell	Medea
1993	So You Want to Be an Actor	Herself	Short subject
1994	Reality Bites	Louise
1994	The Search for One-Eye Jimmy	Holly Hoyt
1995	Heavyweights	Alice Bushkin
1995	Kiss of Death	Bev's Mother
1996	The Daytrippers	Rita Malone
1998	The Thin Pink Line	Mrs. Langstrom
1998	Southie	Mrs. Quinn
1999	The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man
1999	Judy Berlin	Bea
1999	Brooklyn Thrill Killers		29-minute short
1999	A Fish in the Bathtub	Molly
2000	Amy Stiller's Breast	Herself	Short subject
2000	The Independent	Rita
2001	Zoolander	Protestor	Uncredited
2001	Keeping It Real: The Adventures of Greg Walloch		Documentary
2001	Get Well Soon	Linda
2002	Like Mike	Sister Theresa
2002	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
2007	The Shallow End of the Ocean	Voice of Alice	28-minute short
2008	Sex and the City: The Movie
2009	When the Evening Comes	Marion Corrado
2009	The Queen of Greenwich Village		13-minute short
2009	Another Harvest Moon	Ella
2014	Simpler Times		33-minute short with Jerry Stiller
2014	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Winnie	Voice (last role where she was partnered with Jerry Stiller, playing Harvey)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954–1955	The Greatest Gift	Harriet
1954	The Philco Television Playhouse	Betty Blake	Episode: "Man on the Mountaintop"
1959	The DuPont Show of the Month		Episode: "Oliver Twist"
1960	Ninotchka	Anna
1964–1965	Linus! The Lion Hearted		animated TV series, 3 episodes
1971	Dames at Sea	Joan	Episode: "November 15, 1971"
1971, 1972	The Courtship of Eddie's Father	Bunny Sterling (1971) / Annie Dempsey (1972)	2 episodes
1971, 1973	Love, American Style		2 episodes
1973	The Paul Lynde Show	Grace Dickerson	3 episodes
1973	The Corner Bar	Mae / Jennifer Bradley	cast member, 7 episodes
1974	Medical Center	Rose Miller	Episode: "The Enemies"
1975	Kate McShane	Kate McShane	cancelled after 10 episodes
1976–1977	Rhoda	Sally Gallagher	7 episodes
1977-1978	Take Five with Stiller & Meara
1979, 1981, 1983	Love Boat		3 episodes
1979–1982	Archie Bunker's Place	Veronica Rooney	52 episodes
1979–1982	HBO Sneak Previews		costarred with Jerry Stiller
1983	The Other Woman	Peg Gilford	TV movie; Meara co-wrote the teleplay with Lila Garrett
1986	The Stiller and Meara Show		canceled after a few weeks, cast member and co-writer
1987–1989	ALF	Dorothy Halligan	appeared in 7 episodes; wrote one episode in 1989
1987–1989	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Mrs. Salters	Episode: "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book"
1988, 1993	Murder, She Wrote	Winnie Tupper Banner (1988) / Mae Shaughnessy (1993)	2 episodes
1990	Monsters		Episode: "One Wolf's Family"
1991	The General Motors Playwrights Theater	Rose Finker	Episode: "Avenue Z Afternoon"
1991	American Playhouse		"The Sunset Gang" (4/5/91); Bernice Shapiro in segment "The Detective"
1992–1999	All My Children	Peggy Moody
1992–1999	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Patricia Lennon	Episode: "Love off Limits"
1994	In the Heat of the Night	Roda	Episode: "Poor Relations"
1994	Great Performances: "The Mother"		TV movie, Oct. 24, 1994
1994	Murphy Brown	Reena Bernecky	2 episodes
1996	Homicide: Life on the Street	Donna DiGrazi	2 episodes
1997	Jitters
1999	After Play		writer and cast member
1999, 2002	Oz	Aunt Brenda O'Reily	2 episodes
1999, 2003–2007	The King of Queens	Mary Finnegan (1999) / Veronica Olchin (2003-7)	10 episodes
2001	What Makes a Family	Evelyn Cataldi	TV movie
2001	Ed	Barbara Gennacarro	Episode: "The Test"
2001	Will & Grace	Mrs. Friedman	Episode: "Star-Spangled Banter"
2002–2004	Sex and the City	Mary Brady	4 episodes
2003	Good Morning, Miami	Claire's Friend	Episode: "The Slow and the Furious"
2003	Charlie Lawrence	Charlie's Mother	Episode: "If It's Not One Thing It's Your Mother"
2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ida Becker	Episode: "Scavenger"
2006	Four Kings	Ruth	Episode: "Pilot"
2009	Mercy	Estelle Thalberg	Episode: "The Last Thing I Said Was"
2009–2010	Wonder Pets!	Granny Jenny / Linny's Grandmother	2 episodes
2010	Gravity	Mrs. Talbot	Episode: "Old People Creep Me Out"
2011	Rip City	Myrt	TVLand sitcom pilot that did not sell
2012	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Irene Kerns	Episode: "Dreams Deferred"

Theatre

• Love, Loss and What I Wore (April 27, 2011 – May 28, 2011, rotating cast)
• "Down the Garden Paths" (November 19, 2000 – January 14, 2001, playwright)
• "After-Play" (1995, playwright & and also played Terry Guteman from May 16, 1995 – April 28, 1996, As playwright, she won the 1995 Outer Critics Circle Award John Gassner Award)
• "Anna Christie" (1993, as Marthy Owen; Tony Award nominee for Best Featured Actress in a Play)
• "Eastern Standard" (1988, as May Logan)
• "Romeo and Juliet" (1988, 9 performances, as Nurse, Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival)
• "A... My Name Is Alice" (1984, co-writer; Women's Project & Productions)
• "Spookhouse" (1984, Harvey Fierstein comedy closed after 6 performances)
• "The House of Blue Leaves" (February 10, 1971 – December 3, 1971, as Bunny Flingus)
• "Ulysseys in Nightown" (1958)
• "As You Like It" (1958, as Audrey; Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival)
• "Miss Loneyhearts" (1957, as Sick-of-it-All)
• "The Good Woman of Setzuan" (1956 as Niece)
• "A Month in the Country" (1956, as Katina, a maid)

Radio

• I'd Rather Eat Pants, National Public Radio, 2002
• Dining Alone (Blue Nun wine ad with Jerry Stiller, winner Clio Award, 1975)

External links

• Stiller & Meara Yahoo podcast
• Anne Meara at IMDb
• Anne Meara at the Internet Broadway Database
• Template:Worldcat id
• 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