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Jerry Stiller

One of the few non-superstar performers with genuine cross-generational appeal, Jerry Stiller was an actor best known to younger audiences for his portrayal of two explosive and eccentric TV fathers - Frank Costanza on "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1989-1998) and Arthur Spooner on "King of Queens" (CBS, 1998-2007). But older TV fans and moviegoers remembered him as one half of Stiller and Meara, a popular comedy team with roots in the famed Second City improvisational group. Stiller also endeared himself to audiences with exuberant performances in features like John Waters' "Hairspray" (1985) and its 2007 remake. And he was a veteran of the New York stage, with frequent appearances in Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park productions, and on Broadway in "The Ritz" and "Hurlyburly" for Mike Nichols. The fact that he was also the father of the extremely successful comic film actor, Ben Stiller, was not lost on fans who could see that the comic apple did not fall from the tree.