Anne Meara
Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. 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.
Also recorded as Meara Stiller · Meara · Anne Meara Stiller
Anne Meara
CBS Television · eBay item photo front photo back · Public domain
- Name
- Anne Meara
- Born
- 20 September 1929
- Died
- 23 May 2015
- Birthplace
- New York City, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Comedian
- Full name
- Anne Therese Meara.
- Nationality
- United States
- Education
- HB Studio · St. Agnes High School · The New School
- Known for
- The King of Queens
- Honours
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame · Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay · Outer Critics Circle Award
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. 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.
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Note VALÉORINE
Anne Meara (1929–2015) was an American actor, actress and comedian, among other activities. Born Anne Therese Meara in Brooklyn, the actor died in Upper West Side.
Anne Meara studied at HB Studio and The New School. The actor was a member of Stiller and Meara.
Works include The King of Queens. Languages used include English. Anne Meara received Outer Critics Circle Award and star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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wikidata · Q257217 · wikipedia · Anne Meara
In this article
Biography
Biography
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.
Anne Meara studied at HB Studio, St. Agnes High School and The New School. The recorded working language is English. Works named in the authority record are The King of Queens. Distinctions recorded are star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and Outer Critics Circle Award.
Photo of Eugene Roche as Frank Flynn and Anne Meara as Mae from the television program The Corner Bar.
ABC Television · eBay item photo front photo back
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Anne Meara • Born — 20 September 1929 • Died — 23 May 2015 • Birthplace — New York City, U.S. • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — * Comedian • actress • Years Active — 1948–2015 • Children — Amy Stiller and Ben Stiller • Relatives — Christine Taylor (daughter-in-law)
Early years
Early years
Meara was born on September 20, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Mary (née Dempsey) and Edward Joseph Meara, a corporate lawyer for American Standard. 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.
Comedy team
Comedy team
• Illustration — Publicity photo of Meara and Jerry Stiller, 1965 Meara met actor-comedian Jerry Stiller in 1953, and they married soon after. 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 Chicago improvisational company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City) and, after leaving, formed the comedy team of Stiller and Meara. She debuted off-Broadway in 1958 in Ulysses in Nighttown, based on the work by James Joyce. In 1961, she and Stiller 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 relationship foibles to live audiences. Their skits focused on domestic themes, as did Nichols and May, another comedy team from the Chicago Compass Players project 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."
Writing and consulting
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.
Religion
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
Children
Meara and her husband had two children, Amy and Ben.
Death
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.
Television
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 Bender — Co-writer; Canceled after a few weeks • 1987 — 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
Theatre
• Year — Title — Credit(s) — Notes — Ref. • 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
Radio
• I'd Rather Eat Pants, National Public Radio, 2002
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Anne Meara was recorded at birth as Anne Therese Meara. The authorities additionally record the headings Meara Stiller, Meara and Anne Meara Stiller. Her recorded language was English. Her recorded confession was Judaism. She married Jerry Stiller. 2 children are recorded: Amy Stiller and Ben Stiller.
Identity
Identity
Anne Meara is recorded as having received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and Outer Critics Circle Award. Meara received star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and Outer Critics Circle Award.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2015
Anne Meara died at Upper West Side.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Brooklyn.
Birth place
Upper West Side.
Death place
Television, stage, film, and video
Television, stage, film, and video
During the 1970s, Meara and Stiller wrote and performed many radio commercials for Blue Nun Wine. In 1975, she starred in her own series, Kate McShane, on CBS. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1976; however, the show was canceled after ten episodes. 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. • Illustration — Eugene Roche and Meara in an episode of The Corner Bar, 1973 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.
Film
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
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q257217: Anne Meara
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Anne Meara”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Meara, Anne (20 Sept. 1929–23, May 2015), actress, comedian, and playwright, American National Biography Online, 2018
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2018
Awards and nominations
• Year — Award — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. Reference(s) • 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.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.E.J. Meara, Creator Of Comedy Skits, 73. The New York Times. December 16, 1966.
- 2.Bloom, Nate. A Pint of Guinness, A Cup of Manischevitz: Some Irish/Jewish Connections. InterfaithFamily.com. March 17, 2009.
- 3.Anne Meara, Comedian and Actress, Dies at 85. The New York Times. May 24, 2015.
- 4.HB Studio Alumni
- 5.Epstein, Lawrence. Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair with Comedy Teams, PublicAffairs, Perseus Book (2004) p. 224
- 6.Johnny Carson. Stiller & Meara on Computer Dating. August 27, 2012.
- 7."Anne Meara, Comedian of Stiller & Meara Fame, Dies at 85" , Hollywood Reporter, May 24, 2015
- 8.Kate McShane TV Guide
- 9."Anne Meara Biography and Emmy" emmys.com, retrieved August 17, 2018.
- 10."Mrs. Sherwood's Classroom in Fame , video clip
- 11.TVGuide.com. Meet Ben Stiller's Parents on New Yahoo! Web Show. TV Guide.
- 12.Yahoo!. Stiller & Meara.
- 13.Gans, Andrew. Minka Kelly, Susan Sullivan Set for Love, Loss. Off-Broadway. Playbill. April 14, 2011.
- 14."After-Play" script, Dramatists Play Service (1996)
- 15.Meara, Anne. Old Nuns. June 8, 2009.
- 16.O'Toole, Lesley. Ben Stiller: 'Doing Comedy Is Scary'. The Independent. December 22, 2006.
- 17.LA Times. pqarchiver.com.
- 18.Elkin, Michael. ON THE SCENE: Stiller and Meara marry comedy and a home life. Jewish Exponent. July 28, 1995.
- 19."Stiller & Meara on "What's My Line?" (1968) , video
- 20.Gallagher, Donald W. COMEDY'S FIRST COUPLE FIND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. Orlando Sentinel. F9. December 8, 1985.
- 21.Actress and Comedian Anne Meara, Mother of Ben Stiller, Dies at 85. Variety. May 24, 2015.
- 22.Anne Meara Filmography. Turner Classic Movies.
- 23.Anne Meara Filmography. AllMovie.com.
- 24.Ninotchka, tcm.com. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- 25."Dames at Sea Bell System Family theatre presents Ann Margret, Dames at Sea", princeton.edu. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- 26." 'The Other Woman' Overview", tcm.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- 27.O'Connor, John J. "Television Review: Nostalgia For Drama Of TV Past", nytimes.com, October 24, 1994.
- 28.Kelleher, Terry. "Picks and Pans Review: 'Jitters'", people.com, May 5, 1997.
- 29.Wertheimer, Ron. "Television Review; In This Fight Over Custody, Parents Loved Each Other", nytimes.com, January 22, 2001.
- 30." 'Charlie Lawrence' Cast", tvguide.com. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- 31.'Law & Order: SVU' Enlists Patricia Arquette, Anne Meara. The Hollywood Reporter. November 6, 2012.
- 32."Fran Drescher, Rita Moreno, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, Kristen Johnston, Christine Taylor and Sherri Shepherd Among Hollywood Stars Signed for TV Land Pilots Taping February 2011", prnewswire.com, February 8, 2011.
- 33.A Month in the Country, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 34.The Good Woman of Setzuan, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 35.Miss Loneyhearts, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018
- 36.As You Like It, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 37.Ulysseys in Nightown, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 38.The House of Blue Leaves, broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 39.Spookhouse, broadwayworld.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 40.A... My Name Is Alice, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 41.Romeo and Juliet, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 42.Eastern Standard, lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 43.Anna Christie, ibdb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 44.After-Play lortel.org. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- 45.Isherwood, Charles. "Review. Down the Garden Paths", Variety, November 19, 2000.
- 46.Hetrick, Adam. "Conchata Ferrell, Anne Meara Explore Love, Loss... Off-Broadway, Starting April 27", Playbill.com, April 27, 2011.
- 47.Anne Meara. Playbill.com.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Meara, Anne (20 Sept. 1929–23, May 2015), actress, comedian, and playwright, American National Biography Online, 2018Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Agnes High School and The New School.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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