Jerry Stiller Movies
To the public at large, Jerry Stiller is best known as the husband and comedy partner of actress/director Anne Meara, and as the father of comedian Ben Stiller. For those addicted to the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, Stiller will never be anyone else than Frank Costanza, the eternally kvetching father of born-loser George Costanza (Jason Alexander). While Stiller would be the first to welcome recognition on these terms, to acknowledge him for the above-mentioned reasons alone would be grossly unfair. A stage performer from the age of 10, Stiller majored in drama at the University of Syracuse, then took to the road in a touring company of Peter Pan. Honing his comic timing to perfection under the tutelage of revue director Billy Barnes, Stiller chose to concentrate his laughmaking skills in the Classics, specifically Shakespeare. He made his off-Broadway debut in a 1953 production of Coriolanus, and subsequently paid homage to the Bard of Avon as a member of such prestigious troupes as the Stratford (Connecticut) Shakespeare Festival and Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park. Stiller made his Broadway bow in 1975 as ill-tempered gangster Carmine Vespucci in Terence McNally's The Ritz, a part he recreated in the 1976 film version. Among his many other film credits are Lovers and Other Strangers (1970), Hairspray (1988) and the made-for-television Seize the Day (1987). The actor's series-TV resumé includes the roles of Barney Dickerson in The Paul Lynde Show (1972), Gus Duzik in Joe and Sons (1975) and Sid Wilbur in Tattinger's (1988). He also co-starred with wife Anne Meara in the syndicated Take Five with Stiller and Meara (1977), and provided voiceovers for the animated Linus the Lionhearted (1964) and the multipart Ken Burns TV special Baseball (1994). Jerry Stiller has been honored with the Radio Advertising Bureau's Voice of Imagery Award for his persuasive radio and TV spots on behalf of the Public Broadcasting System. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1999
After four decades in show business, the husband and wife comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara finally make their big-screen debut together in this story about a marriage on its last legs. Sam (Stiller) and Molly (Meara) have been married for over 40 years. Their children are grown and living on their own, and the romance has drifted out of their relationship; arguing has become their favored method of communication. But the bickering goes too far when Molly asks Sam to get rid of the carp he's keeping in the tub in their guest bathroom. Sam informs Molly that if she doesn't like the fish, she can leave -- and Molly takes him up on the offer, moving in with their son Joel (Mark Ruffalo). This is hardly good news for Joel, who is having problems with his wife and feeling tempted to stray by an attractive blonde at work. Meanwhile, Sam and Molly's daughter Ruth (Jane Adams) tries to convince her father to win back her mother, but Sam receives some surprising competition when Molly starts dating an old friend named Lou (Bob Dishy). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, (more)
Paul Bogart directed this 1974 televised production of Arthur Miller's classic play, A Memory of Two Mondays. An dramatic and comedic ensemble piece, the one-act traces several years in the lives of a group of characters working in an auto parts warehouse during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Featuring Harvey Keitel as Jerry, the play also stars George Grizzard, Barnard Hughes, Estelle Parsons, Jerry Stiller, Dick Van Patten, and Jack Warden. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel
In the wake of the 45-million-dollar gross of the original Airport (1970), Universal was all but required by an act of Congress to produce Airport '75. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Alan Murdock, the former test pilot who must keep a disabled 747 from crashing in flames. The crisis begins when a businessman (Dana Andrews), flying his small private plane, suffers a fatal heart attack and the plane smashes into the cockpit of the 747. Following Murdock's radioed instructions, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes over the controls. The special-guest passenger lineup includes Helen Reddy as a singing nun (a character wickedly satirized in the 1980 parody Airplane!), Myrna Loy as an alcoholic, and Sid Caesar as a garrulous passenger. While Airport '75 yielded only 25 million dollars at the box office, the franchise continued, spawning Airport '77 a few years later and Airport '79 two years after that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Karen Black, (more)
- 1982
Jerry Stiller (Seinfeld, King of Queens) guest stars as Gordy, an old pal--and longtime romantic rival--of diner owner Mel (Vic Tayback). When middle-aged Gordy shows up with a sexy young woman on his arm, Mel is determined to outdo his friend. To this end, Mel "persuades" waitress Jolene (Celia Weston) to pose as his fiance--a pretense which Jolene may have to uphold all the way to the altar! This episode was filmed for Alice's sixth season, but held back due to a Hollywood writer's strike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
On the cusp of stardom, standup comic Maija DiGiorgio suffered an emotional breakdown while performing before a room packed with a number of the comedy industry's head honchos -- whom were on the receiving end of DiGiorgio's obscenity-laced outburst -- at the Aspen Comedy Festival. Subsequently faced with a nearly industry-wide blacklisting as a result, the comic (and film school graduate) came upon the idea of creating a film journal to document her struggles within the industry, as well as within her own psyche. The result is Bitter Jester, DiGiorgio's 2003 film that started as a document of self-examination and evolved into an examination of success and achievement within the standup circuit. Greatly assisted by the contacts and prestige of executive producer Richard Belzer -- a friend and former employer of DiGiorgio's boyfriend and co-conspirator Kenny Simmons -- DiGiorgio proceeds to gain access to a surprising berth of comedy legends, including Chevy Chase, Richard Pryor, Phyllis Diller, Whoopi Goldberg, and George Carlin, all of whom dispense insightful and sometimes surprising opinions about their individual achievements. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- PG
This comedic look at a Jewish summer camp in the 1950's stars Jason Biggs, Jerry Stiller, and Elliot Gould. For one small group of people, immigrant culture eventually finds its place among the tensions rumbling between sexes, generations, and cultures. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Stiller, Zachary Taylor, (more)
Actor and playwright Stephen Burrows makes his directorial debut with this independent comedy that takes a witty look at the downside of working in the movie business. Steve (Burrows) is a writer, actor, and comic who years ago left his hometown of Milwaukee, WI, for the bright lights of Hollywood and who, after years of struggling, has managed to get his foot in the door of show business thanks to his appearance in a widely seen commercial for a personal hygiene product called "Crotch Fresh." Steve decides to pay a visit to his friends in the Midwest, and while in Milwaukee he meets Sam (Traci Elizabeth Lords), an attractive woman interested in knowing more about his career in entertainment. As Steve and Sam get to know each other, he regales her with a number of remarkable stories about fascistic acting coaches, egocentric producers, and studio heads too young to hold a driver's license. Stephen Burrows was able to persuade a number of his well-known colleagues to appear in Chump Change, including Tim Matheson, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Fred Willard, and Abe Vigoda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Traci Lords, (more)
- 1998
- G
This German-made children's fantasy (with English dialogue) employs marionettes from Germany's acclaimed Augsburger Puppet Theatre to tell a tale of lovers in the rodent community beneath the streets of Manhattan. The screenplay was adapted from the children's book by Tor Seidler (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986), illustrated by Fred Marcellino, and expanding on the 1995 short film pilot Monty Spinneratz. The tale focuses on artist Monty Mad-Rat Jr. and politician's daughter Isabella Noble-Rat. Isabella is impressed when Monty takes her on a tour of New York's underground sewers, but her family doesn't want her dating beneath her station. Meanwhile, the "democratcy" is threatened by both rising drain waters and a chemical concocted for a mass extermination of the rat populace. Fortunately, Monty has some magical Mexican shells which could save the situation. Four onscreen performers here (Lauren Hutton, Beverly D'Angelo, Jerry Stiller, Josef Ostendorf) have no strings attached. In Germany, this film opened to a $3 million box office. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Hutton, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
- 2002
Not many stand-up comedians are openly gay, and fewer still are handicapped, but comic Greg Walloch just so happens to be both, and he's developed a growing cult following for his act, in which he pokes politically incorrect fun at his sexual preferences, his physical condition, and how society and the world around him reacts to both. F**k The Disabled (which is meant not as an epithet, but a polite request) is a documentary about Greg Walloch, in which he discusses his life and career while also sharing highlights from his nightclub act. F**k The Disabled also includes interviews with a number of Greg's admirers, including Stephen Baldwin, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, and Michael Musto. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Adam Shankman's adaptation of the stage musical Hairspray, itself an adaptation of the non-musical John Waters film of the same name, stars Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high-school student whose only dream is to be on a local Baltimore teen dance program. While her father (Christopher Walken) tells her to follow her dreams, her mother Edna (John Travolta in drag) reminds her that she doesn't look like the girls on that show. After impressing the show's host (James Marsden), Tracy earns a coveted spot on the program, but when she becomes a popular addition to the cast, she earns the wrath of the prettiest girl in school -- a girl whose mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) just happens to operate the local television station. Tracy's visit to detention hall opens her eyes to the racial tension on the show, as does the budding relationship between her best friend (Amanda Bynes) and an African-American boy named Seaweed (Elijah Kelley). Thus empowered, Tracy attempts to integrate the races on her favorite program. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
Forever interested in the kitsch built into past eras, director John Waters chooses the TV dance show craze of the early '60s for his playful focus in Hairspray. Ricki Lake plays Tracy Turnblad, just one of several alliteratively named characters coming of age in 1962 Baltimore, where "The Corny Collins Show" is the most popular American Bandstand-type program, watched by hundreds of young dreamers each day after school. Being chosen to dance on it is the ultimate status symbol and every young girl's dream, and Tracy improbably wins a featured spot when she infiltrates a dance contest and makes a better impression than her favored rival, the catty Amber von Tussle (Colleen Fitzpatrick). Always able to have fun, even when she's being mocked by the jealous popular girls, Tracy wins the affections of Amber's boyfriend and soon begins leading a movement to integrate the dance show, which has previously featured blacks only in a once-weekly theme night. She is arrested following a demonstration at a local theme park owned by Amber's father (Sonny Bono), who subscribes to the same theory of race relations as "The Corny Collins Show." Tracy's adventures are also filtered through her loving but eccentric parents (Divine and Jerry Stiller) and involve a humorous cultural clash with pot-smoking beatniks (Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora). ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricki Lake, Michael St. Gerard, (more)
Camp Hope is a summer camp for fat kids; it is also the locale of this Disney family comedy. All of the kids at Camp Hope have a weight problem. It is the one place they can go without feeling different. But when the previous owners declare bankruptcy, the camp is purchased by an obnoxious fitness freak who becomes obsessed with changing his chubby charges into budding body builders. He immediately begins serving them low calorie foods and subjecting them to rigorous exercises. Part of his motivation is greed: he is in the process of writing a book, and filming an infomercial on weight loss. The boys at camp rebel and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, (more)
- 1991
- R
This semi-spoof of the Orpheus legend stars Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson as newlyweds whose car is pulled over by Beezelbub (Patrick Bergin), who kidnaps the girl and takes her to Hell. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Chad Lowe, (more)
- 1995
When an aging convicted murderer is slated to be executed after 16 years on death row, the condemned man's daughter takes Col. Barnfather (Clayton LeBouef) hostage, demanding that her father's case be reopened. While Bolander (Ned Beatty) races against time to find any shred of evidence that might free the death-row prisoner, Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) and Russert (Isabella Hoffman) try to forget their differences long enough to defuse the hostage crisis. And on a lighter note, new tavern owner Munch (Richard Belzer) may be talked into investing in a microbrewery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, (more)
Dan Bartlett (John Cusack) is a lovestruck teen who misses his plane to the Caribbean in this engaging comedy. He was to join sweetheart Lori (Wendy Gazelle) and her father Bill (Monte Markham) in the tropical paradise. Determined to get to the island, his efforts are stalled by three natives with a penchant for marijuana. After he shakes the stoners, Dan is captured by the pirate Mac MacClaren (Robert Loggia). He escapes the scurvy buccaneer only to land in jail on bogus charges. Dan later follows his sweetheart to a yacht where her family is being hijacked by another crook. Veteran funnyman Jerry Stiller provides comedy relief. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Robert Loggia, (more)
- 1984
This compilation documentary covers the massive anti-nuclear peace march held in New York City on June 12, 1982, including the preparations that led up to the march and interviews with concerned and knowledgeable people on the issue of peace, as well as Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in World War II (see No More Hibakusha). The producers, Robert Richter and Stan Warnow have smoothly spliced-together views of the protest march, its speakers and musicians, filmed by more than 40 separate individuals. Among the noted artists who either were there to lend their presence or contributed their talents in one way or another to the success of the protest (estimated at 1,000,000 people) are Pete Seeger, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Roy Scheider, Orson Welles, Ellen Burstyn, Joan Baez, Judd Hirsch, Bianca Jagger, Susan Sarandon, Jill Clayburgh, and others. Meryl Streep and Anne Twomey did a moving voiceover of the testimony of the Japanese atomic bomb blast survivors. Among the non-artistic notables adding stature to the event were Dr. Benjamin Spock, and Helen Caldicott, representing Physicians for Social Responsibility. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dr. Helen Caldicott, Benjamin Spock, (more)
- 1996
A "deadbeat dad" is found murdered in a hotel room. The suspects include the victim's embittered father-in-law Max Schaffer (Val Avery) and two women in the dead man's life. Ultimately the prosecution of the case boils down to jury sympathy for a long-suffering and arguably justified perpetrator -- not to mention a terminal leukemia patient. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
A Jewish jeweler is murdered and his body is burned. Early evidence suggests that the killing may have been motivated by the anti-Semitism of four black youths. But the detectives and the DA's office uncover proof that the murder was committed for an entirely different, but equally odious, motivation -- and that the murderer was not entirely unknown to the victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
Anthony John Denison stars as Carmine DeCarlo, a man trying to break free of familial mob ties after his middle-aged lover (Anne Francis) dies. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony John Denison, Catherine O'Hara, (more)
- 1981
The 1981 TV version of Madame X was the seventh filmization of the old war-horse play by Alexandre Bisson. This time around, Tuesday Weld (replacing Susan Blakely) plays the poor woman (an airline stewardess in this version) who marries "outside her class" (hubby is a Presidential candidate). She is disgraced, gives up her baby to her wealthy in-laws, and sinks into a life of degradation. 25 years later the woman is accused of murder, and is defended in court by her own grown-up offspring. Adaptor Edward Anhalt makes a few feeble stabs at updating the story, adding drug abuse to the woman's descent into prostitution. Also, her child is now a girl instead of a boy, rabbeting a tentative feminist angle in the proceedings. Other than that, the 1981 Madame X has even less to offer than the lavish but empty 1966 Lana Turner version--except for an offbeat appearance by comedian Jerry Stiller as a slimy blackmailer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Keith Michell returns in the role of Dennis Stanton, an ex-jewel thief turned insurance investigator. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) links up with her old friend Dennis when she arrives in San Francisco to attend the opening of a prestigious opera. Before long, things become "operatic" for real when a celebrated tenor, who had previously shot another man (in self-defense, he claimed) who'd been making overtures to the tenor's pretty protégée, succumbs to a suspicious heart attack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rodney Dangerfield co-wrote and stars in this comedy about a businessman who learns that when it comes to marriage, strength is in numbers. Monte Peterson (Dangerfield) is a real estate developer whose business acumen exceeds his success in romance; after finalizing his third divorce, Monte heads to Utah, where he discovers a small town called Redwood Springs. There, Monte finds an estate for sale which would be an ideal location for a ski resort. While closing the deal, Monte discovers that there are a few strings attached -- Brother Wallace, the late owner, was a member of a little-known religious sect, and his will specifies the new owner must join the church. Monte isn't too thrilled when he's told buying the land would mean giving up tobacco, liquor, and gambling, but he cheers up considerably when he learns that the sect embraces polygamy, and that Brother Wallace's three lovely young widows -- Stephanie (Judy Tylor), Virginia (Kate Luyben), and Emily (Angelika Baran) -- would be happy to marry him. Soon Monte picks up another piece of land next door, and two more wives to go with it, Sarah (Emmanuelle Vaugier) and Megan (Anita Brown). But Preston Gates (John Byner), a crooked real estate man, has been buying up most of the town on behalf of gangster Tony Morano (Andrew Dice Clay), and soon Preston and Tony are trying to figure out a way to take Monte's new resort away from him (and his spouses) before Tony's boss Don Giovanni (Jerry Stiller) gets angry. My Five Wives also stars Molly Shannon, John Pinette, and Rob Deleeuw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Andrew Dice Clay, (more)
A woman trying to keep a momentary indiscretion quiet finds herself in more trouble than she ever imagined in this comedy written and directed by Robert Benton. Nadine Hightower (Kim Basinger), who is significantly more beautiful than intelligent, is fast-talked into posing for some cheesecake pictures by sleazy photographer Raymond Escobar (Jerry Stiller). When Nadine learns that Escobar plans to use the pictures for a set of racy playing cards, Nadine decides to steal the photos back, and she enlists the help of her soon-to-be-former husband Vernon (Jeff Bridges), who is already engaged to the winner of a local beauty pageant. In the midst of the robbery, intruders shoot and kill Escobar in the next room; Nadine and Vernon grab an envelope marked "Nadine" and make tracks. But the envelope doesn't contain any photos; instead, there are plans for a road to be built in town that reveal dirty dealings by local politicians, and now Nadine and Vernon are on the run from both Escobar's killers and land baron Buford Pope (Rip Torn). Popular country and western group Sweethearts of the Rodeo perform several tunes for the film's soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, (more)
- 1976
An all-star female cast (Glenda Jackson, Melina Mecouri, Geraldine Page, Sandy Dennis, Anne Jackson, Anne Meara, and Dame Edith Evans) enliven this satirical treatment of the Nixon Watergate scandal, Nasty Habits -- based on Muriel Sparks's novella The Abbess of Crewe. When a dying abbess (Dame Edith Evans) of a Pennsylvania convent is ready to name Sister Alexandra (Glenda Jackson) as her successor, Sister Alexandra and her two flunkies (Sandy Dennis and Anne Jackson) try to get the abbess to sign a document of intent. But their plans are dashed when liberal Sister Felicity (Susan Penhaligon) arrives and wants to change the institution. Her arrival delays the signing of the document of intent, and before the abbess can sign the paper she dies.Now the job of running the convent is up for grabs, with Sister Alexandra employing Nixon-like techniques of surveillance and dirty tricks to get the goods on Sister Felicity. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Melina Mercouri, (more)
Two of the members of popular boy band 'N Sync make their feature acting debuts with this light romantic comedy. Lance Bass stars as shy Kevin Gibbons, an advertising executive in Chicago who's notoriously maladroit at dealing with the opposite sex. After a chance encounter with his dream girl (Emmanuelle Chriqui) aboard the El train, Kevin forgets to ask for her name and phone number and plasters the Windy City with posters seeking his lost love connection. Kevin's quest to find the mystery girl soon attracts the attention of a newspaper reporter and he becomes a media darling, while his roommates Rod (Joey Fatone), Randy (James Bulliard), and Eric (Gregory Qaiyum) take full advantage of the amorous response by Chicago's female population to their friend's heartbroken search. On the Line (2001) co-stars Dave Foley and Jerry Stiller, along with singer Al Green as himself. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, (more)
