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The cast of “Seinfeld” is mourning the patriarch of the iconic sitcom. Co-stars Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander have shared somber tributes to the late great Jerry Stiller, who died of natural causes at 92, his family announced Monday morning. Stiller played Frank Costanza, the cantankerous father of George Costanza (Alexander), on Seinfeld’s eponymous show. …
The cast of “Seinfeld” is mourning the patriarch of the iconic sitcom.
Co-stars Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander have shared somber tributes to the late great Jerry Stiller, who died of natural causes at 92, his family announced Monday morning.
Stiller played Frank Costanza, the cantankerous father of George Costanza (Alexander), on Seinfeld’s eponymous show.
But neither Seinfeld nor Alexander chose to honor Stiller’s work on the ’90s sitcom. Instead, the two called to mind Stiller’s comedy work with his wife and comedic partner, Anne Meara.
“As a kid, I delighted at every occasion I got to see Jerry Stiller and his wife-partner Anne Meara,” Alexander 60, told The Post. “I watched Jerry on TV, on the stage and in clubs. He was always perfection as a comic and a truly gifted actor. Getting to work with him and know him has been one of the great honors and joys of my life.”
Alexander went on to say that Stiller wasn’t just his TV father.
“He was as much a second father to me as any friend could be, the most loving, gentle, kind, humble and generous man,” he said. “I cherish every moment in his company. Stiller and Meara are together again and heaven is funnier for it. My condolences to Ben and Amy and their families. And finally to my TV dad and dear, dear friend — serenity now.”
Seinfeld, 66, also honored the legacy Stiller made before he joined the show in its fifth season by sharing a simple, captionless photo of himself with the power couple’s 1967 comedy album, “Ed Sullivan Presents: The Last Two People in the World.”
During the ’60s and ’70s, Stiller and Meara appeared an impressive 36 times on Sullivan’s show and recorded albums like the kind Seinfeld photographed. Prior to their run on the show, they were among the first and most famous graduates of the legendary improv troupe Second City, which opened in 1959.
Meara, whom he wrote about in his 2000 memoir, “Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara,” died in 2015.
Seinfeld otherwise kept his remarks minimal. His rep tells The Post that Seinfeld has no further comment on what the album meant to him.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine Benes, hasn’t yet publicly shared thoughts or comment to The Post on Stiller’s passing, but just one week ago, she recalled one of her favorite moments with Stiller in an Instagram Live conversation with Alexander. Bloopers of a scene in the show’s eighth season show Elaine cracking up as Frank confronts her at the police station where George has been arrested in a movie-bootlegging scheme gone wrong.
“It’s fun to watch the bloopers, I have to say,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “I don’t watch the episodes themselves very much, but watching the bloopers really takes me back to the fun that we had.”
