Meara Mortal

Anne Meara, who spent more than 50 years in show business, yet no one can actually remember anything she did, has died at the age of 85. Given the frenzied rage her husband, Jerry Stiller, and son Ben, were able to summon so easily in their performances, one can only imagine what a deranged bitch she must have been at home. Meara and Stiller were well known for their skits on variety shows of the 1960s, becoming regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show, then she went on to get her own series on CBS in 1975, Kate McShane, for which she was nominated for an Emmy despite the series lasting just 10 episodes. Other vaguely memorable roles were the cook on Archie Bunker’s Place, the grandmother on ALF and Jerry’s occasional dalliance on The King of Queens.