Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Remembering Jerry Stiller of Seinfeld and The King of Queens; HBO Max Announces Santa Inc.

Actor and comedian Jerry Stiller, who was best known for his roles as Frank Costanza in Seinfeld and as Arthur Spooner in The King of Queens, has died. He died from natural causes at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on May 11. Mr. Stiller was 92.

Stiller married Anne Meara in 1954. The comedy duo Stiller and Meara was successful in the 1960s and 1970s. They made numerous appearances on variety and talk shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They played Barney and Grace Dickerson, Howie Dickerson's (John Calvin) parents, in four episodes of The Paul Lynde Show in 1972-1973. Some of their other sitcom guest appearances together included The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Love, American Style, Rhoda, Archie Bunker's Place and The Love Boat. They hosted HBO Sneak Previews from 1979 to 1982. They had a sitcom pilot called The Stiller & Meara Show in 1986. In 2010, they had a Yahoo! web series called Stiller & Meara.
He starred as Gus Duzik in the short-lived 1975-1976 CBS sitcom Joe and Sons. He was the best friend of Joe Vitale (Richard Casellano) and worked with him at the Hobooken Sheet and Tube Company. The series also starred Florence Stanley, Bobbi Jordan, Barry Miller and Jimmy Baio.
Stiller played Sid Wilbur, the loyal maitre d' at a posh Manhattan restaurant, in the 1988-1989 comedy-drama Tattingers. The cast included Stephen Collins, Blythe Danner, Patrice Colihan, Chay Lentin, Jessica Prunell, Mary Beth Hurt, Roderick Cook, Zach Grenier, Rob Morrow, Sue Francis Pai, Yusef Bulos, Robert Clohessy, Simon Jones, Chris Elliott and Anna Levine.

He appeared as the cantankerous Frank Costanza, the father of George Costanza (Jason Alexander) and husband of Estelle Costanza (Estelle Harris), in 26 episodes of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld from 1993 to 1998. Frank Costanza was a former cook in the Army and learned to speak Korean in while serving in the Korean War. He invented the holiday Festivus as a reaction to the cultural commercialism of Christmas. Stiller received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1997 and won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series in 1998 for the role. The series also starred Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards.

He starred as the eccentric Arthur Spooner in the 1998-2007 CBS sitcom The King of Queens. Arthur Spooner was the widowed father of Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini) and father-in-law of Doug Heffernan (Kevin James). He lived in the basement of their Rego Park, Queens, New York house. His fourth marriage was to Spence's (Patton Oswalt) mother Veronica Olcin (Anne Meara) in the final season. The series also starred Victor Williams, Larry Romano (1998-2001), Lisa Rieffel (1998), Gary Valentine (1999-2007) and Nicole Sullivan (2001-2005).
Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Phyllis, Private Benjamin, Alice, Amanda's, The Larry Sanders Show and Sex and the City.
He provided the voice of Uncle Max for The Lion King 1½ and Harvey for Planes: Fire and Rescue. Some of his other voice credits included Linus! The Lion Hearted, Teacher's Pet, Fish Hooks and Foodfight!.
Stiller appeared with his actor son Ben Stiller in films such as Zoolander, Heavyweights, Hot Pursuit, The Heartbreak Kid and Zoolander 2. Some of his other film credits included The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Ritz, Nadine, Hairspray (1988), A Fish in the Bathtub and My 5 Wives.
He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on December 12, 2005.
Survivors include his son Ben, daughter Amy (an actress) and two grandchildren. Anne Meara, his wife of over 60 years, died in 2015.
Mr. Stiller was a true comedic legend. He was perfectly cast as Frank Costanza and Arthur Spooner. He made everything he appeared in funnier. We thank him for the many laughs and entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.
Share your memories on our Seinfeld and The King of Queens message boards. View photos in our galleries.
DECADES TV Network will honor the life and career of late comedian and actor Jerry Stiller with two back-to-back episodes of The Dick Cavett Show featuring the icon and his wife Anne Meara. Airing Wednesday, May 13 at 9p ET, viewers can relive a 1995 interview where Stiller discusses Seinfeld and his days on The Ed Sullivan Show. Following at 9:30p ET, the DECADES network will present a 1995 interview with Anne Meara.

HBO Max announced it has ordered the adult animated series Santa Inc. from global content leader Lionsgate featuring voice performances by leads Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen. The 8 episode, half-hour series will be written by showrunner Alexandra Rushfield (Shrill) and will be produced by Rogen's Point Grey Pictures as part of their multiplatform partnership with Lionsgate. Santa Inc. is the story of Candy Smalls (Silverman), the highest-ranking female elf in the North Pole. When the successor to Santa Claus (Rogen) is poached by Amazon on Christmas Eve, Candy goes for her ultimate dream— to become the first woman Santa Claus in the history of Christmas.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, June 1
The Neighorhood - "Welcome to Baby Proofing" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While Marty heads to San Diego for a tech convention and Courtney is away for the weekend, Tina’s insistence on babysitting Daphne sparks a baby-proofing fiasco that leaves Calvin and Dave unexpectedly locked inside the bathroom.
The Neighorhood - "Welcome to Walk of Roses" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Calvin receives an unexpected honor that sparks mixed emotions, while Malcolm’s ghostwriting gig takes a wild turn after a viral outburst from his celebrity client.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 1)
Monday, June 1
- Tina Fey (The Four Seasons/Only Murders in the Building/30 Rock) - Watch Tina on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour..
- Marlon Wayans (Marlon/The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Brett Goldstein (Shrinking/Ted Lasso) - Brett is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia swings by the studio to talk about Your Friends & Neighbors on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Pixar's Toy Story 5 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am, on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings), and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Anna Faris (Mom) - Anna talks about Scary Movie on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie and Jamie Ray Newman talk about The Hunting Wives on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Erika Henningsen (The Four Seasons/Girls5eva) and Kerri Kenney-Silver (The Four Seasons/Maggie/Superstore/Reno 911!/The Ellen Show) - Erika and Kerri talk about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster/Sabrina the Teenage Witch) - Soleil appears on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea tells Drew about starring in Chess on Broadway plus she gets a surprise from a favorite restaurant of hers on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
11/04/25 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11/25 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02/25 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16/25 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16/25 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
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