Anne Meara

Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. With her husband Jerry Stiller, she was half of the 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. In 2007, Stiller and Meara were honored with a joint star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 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.

Early years Meara was born on September 20, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York City, Both of her parents were of Irish descent. An only child, she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, on Long Island. When Anne was 11 years old, her mother died by suicide when she turned on her oven and inhaled the gas.

When she was 18, Meara spent a year studying acting at the Dramatic Workshop at The New School and at HB Studio under Uta Hagen in Manhattan. The following year, in 1948, she began her career as an actress in summer stock. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. In her later years, she had a recurring role in Sex and the City (as Mary Brady), and appeared in two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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.

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.

Writing and consulting In 1995, Meara wrote the comedy After-Play, which became an off-Broadway production. 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.

Personal life Religion Meara was born, baptized, and raised a Roman Catholic. She converted to 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.

Children Meara and her husband had two children, Amy and Ben.

Death Meara died on May 23, 2015, aged 85, in Manhattan, from natural causes. She had been living in the Hebrew Home for the Aged following several strokes.

Acting credits Film 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 1964–65 Linus! The Lion Hearted Voice Animated TV series, 3 episodes 1971 Dames at Sea Joan Television Special 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 1986 The Stiller and Meara Show Anne BenderCo-writer; Canceled after a few weeks1987 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 Murphy Brown Reena Bernecky 2 episodes 1996 Homicide: Life on the Street Donna DiGrazi 1997 Jitters mother TV movie 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) 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" 2004–12 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ida Becker Irene Kerns Episode: "Scavenger" Episode: "Dreams Deferred" 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

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

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

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

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