Personal Life
The eldest of four children, Stiller was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Jewish parents, Bella (née Citrin) and William Stiller, a bus driver. He lived in the Williamsburg and East New York neighborhoods before his family moved to the Lower East Side, where he attended Seward Park High School. A drama major at Syracuse University, he gained a Bachelor's degree in Speech and Drama in 1950.
In the 1953 Phoenix Theater production of Coriolanus (produced by John Houseman), Jerry Stiller (along with Gene Saks and Jack Klugman) formed "the best trio of Shakespearian clowns that had ever seen on any stage."
Stiller has two children, who followed in his own footsteps, actor/comedian Ben Stiller and actress Amy Stiller.
Stiller is a member of the National Fraternity Tau Delta Phi.
Read more about this topic: Jerry Stiller
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or life:
“It is very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base.”
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