Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara Review

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(More customer reviews)For those of you who may only think of Jerry Stiller as Mr. Costanza, George's father on Seinfeld or perhaps as hot young actor Ben Stiller's father, think again because he's so much more. The more is candidly revealed in his highly enjoyable memoir Married To Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara. The son of Polish Jews and a child of the Depression, Stiller's boyhood was spent on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Apartments, often in public projects, were changed frequently - the family moved ten times in a dozen years. His mother, Bella, was evidently a premier bargainer as Stiller vividly remembers the day just before his 13th birthday when she took him shopping for a Bar Mitzvah suit. "She took me down to Orchard Street," he writes. "Orchard Street made Baghdad seem like kindergarten when it came to bargains, but my mother's bargaining skills were honed to razor sharpness." They found a wool suit, complete with knickers, one pair of pants and a vest for thirteen dollars. He loved it. She cuffed him for saying that lest the shop keeper know he liked the suit. After offers, counter offers, and a shouting match on the street, she obtained the suit for $6.50.
First a taxi driver and then a bus driver, Stiller's father or "Deddy" was often unemployed (who took a cab during the Depression?) To ease the ache of poverty, "Deddy," "a frustrated performer who sometimes played the saxophone" took his son to vaudeville shows. And so, Stiller's love for comedy began. "Laughter seemed to dissipate the pain of being unemployed," Stiller remembers, "Even my mother's anguish subsided when Eddie Cantor sang...........More than anyone else Eddie Cantor made us aware that the entire country was in a Depression and we weren't alone. My mind danced when Eddie was on. I wanted to be Eddie Cantor. I thought he could change the whole world. I too could change the world if I were a comedian." Later, eager to leave an acrimonious home where battles were often fought over the lack of money, Stiller enlisted in the Army. Here, his street learned lesson - "never squeal" - almost got him into trouble when he was falsely accused of buying liquor while on duty. But the guilty party eventually confessed, and a relieved Stiller left the service for drama study at Syracuse University. Professor Sawyer Falk, his lifelong mentor, soon convinced the aspiring actor that he could indeed conquer the stage. Returning to New York to hopefully launch his theatrical career, Stiller met an "angel faced" Irish Catholic girl named Anne Meara. They feel in love, and after she announced that she wanted him to marry her they said their vows at City Hall. The couple never dreamed that they would someday become one of the most popular and successful comedy teams in show business. Early on, each were pursuing individual goals in the theater. But eventually, almost by serendipity, they put together a skit which was in reality a larger than life picture of themselves. Their act debuted in the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village and soon made its way to that day's television mecca - The Ed Sullivan Show, where they appeared numerous times to rave reviews. Two children, Amy and Ben, enriched their lives. They were, as the saying goes, in high clover. Later years brought a series of commercials, most memorably one for Blue Nun wines. Stiller continued to appear in the theater, both on and off Broadway. Then television called again and he became the peace seeking father of George Costanza on Seinfeld. Over fifty years in show business have brought the author lots of laughs and many lessons - all of which he shares in this noteworthy account of an actor's life and marriage. He may not have changed the world as was his boyhood dream, but he surely gives it a great deal of pleasure.

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