|
Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara:
Jerry and Anne met at a casting call in 1953 and were married the next
year. They started doing improv in 1959, with the Compass Players in St.
Louis. By the time they began creating sketches, they had a clear understanding
of their relationship. They lived together, they worked together, they
knew each other. While the unmarried Nichols-and-May team was best portraying
strangers meeting in cold, rigid situations, Jerry and Anne's trademarks
were warmth and believability. Their best-known routines were about learning
to live together: Could a short Jewish guy and a tall Irish girl make
a go of it. Ed Sullivan was such a fan of Stiller and Meara that he booked
them every two months––more than 30 appearances over the years.
And they always won over the audience with down-to-earth sketches about
their contrasting backgrounds––how unlikely opposites can attract.
They were living proof, after all.
Excerpts from:
Presenting America's New Comedy Sensation: Jerry Stiller and Anne
Meara (Live at the Hungry i), Verve Records, 1963, LP.
Laugh When You Like, Atlantic Records, 1972,
LP.
|
