Ben Stiller Remembers Late Father Jerry on ‘Fallon’
Written by SOURCE on May 20, 2020
Beloved comedian Jerry Stiller passed away last week at the age of 92, and Tuesday his son Ben Stiller stopped by Fallon to pay tribute to the comedy icon. On the most recent episode of The Tonight Show, Ben shared stories both hilarious and touching about his late father.
“I figured it would be good to do it, because it would be a chance to talk about my dad a little bit,” he said at the start of the clip. “It’s a weird time now, you know, and people can’t really gather together, and you can’t do sort of a [service]. … I think somewhere down the line we’ll do a memorial for him, when everybody can get together. Because there’s so many people who loved him and who he worked with. But I thought it would be nice to be able to just have a moment to celebrate him a little bit.”
Noted for his often brash characters on the screen, Jerry Stiller “couldn’t be more opposite in real life,” Ben noted. He also recalled the “first and last time” he took LSD, which caused him to panic and immediately contact his parents. They were busy shooting an episode of Love Boat in Los Angeles, but Ben still managed to get in contact with Jerry. “I said, ‘Dad, I took some acid.’ I think his first thought was like, ‘Acid, he drank battery acid.'”
Ben remarked that Jerry was a “very, very supportive dad,” and that he “came to everything.” He added, “I remember the first job I had was a play in New York, The House of Blue Leaves. … He would do what they call ‘second acting,’ he’d come in during the second act. … He’d do that all the time because he just wanted to watch and enjoy it.”
During his interview with Fallon, Still also spoke about teaming up with Jack Black for a Celebrity Escape Room to help support charities during the coronavirus pandemic.
Watch both clips from the episode above.
