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Ben Stiller Donates Stiller & Meara Archive as Documentary Nears Apple TV+ Debut

The gift ensures a publicly accessible home for decades of creative materials at the National Comedy Center.

Overview

  • Stiller formally donated Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara’s career archive to the National Comedy Center as his first documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, rolls out.
  • The Apple Original Films documentary opened in select theaters on October 17 and is slated to stream on Apple TV+ on October 24, following its New York Film Festival premiere on October 5.
  • The museum and its archivists describe the collection as spanning tens of thousands of pages, including early improv notes, handwritten sketch drafts, love letters, recordings, and home movies.
  • Stiller says the film grew from filming his parents’ New York apartment after Jerry Stiller’s 2020 death, serving as a way to connect and process grief when no memorial was possible during COVID.
  • Select pieces from the archive will be exhibited in Jamestown, N.Y., as the film blends family history with candid reflections on career, parenting, and the legacy of a landmark comedy partnership.