Ben Stiller has opened up about his final moments with father Jerry Stiller, following the Seinfeld star’s death at the age of 92.
Speaking to the New Yorker, Ben revealed that his comedian father had begun to “slow down” in the days prior to his death.
“He was just slowing down a lot, and he was dealing with a lot of issues,” Ben said. “And so the last week or two were tougher for him. But he went peacefully, and he had a sense of humour, for sure, until the end.”
He continued, “I hesitate to call it a sense of humour. He was just funny, and so he was always himself. He was almost ninety-three, and I think his body was kind of at that point where it was time.”
Ben went on to explain that he and his sister were allowed to be with Jerry during his final days, as his health issues weren’t related to COVID-19.
“My sister and I were able to be with him. And, just due to the fact that he didn’t have a coronavirus-related illness, and he had been ailing for a while, we were able to be with him, which I’m very, very grateful for,” he said.
Last week, the Zoolander star confirmed the sad news of his father’s death over Twitter, which was followed by an outpouring of tributes across social media, including messages from his former Seinfeld castmates Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, who created an Instagram account just to pay respect to the late star.
Jerry Stiller was best known for starring as George Costanza’s hot-headed father Frank on legendary ’90s sitcom Seinfeld, for which he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series back in 1997. He then went on to play Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens alongside Kevin James.
Check out some of Jerry Stiller’s best moments from Seinfeld:
