"Zoolander 2" star Ben Stiller seems to be slowly recovering from the death of his mother, Anne Meara. The veteran actress and comedian died on May 23, Saturday. She was 85.
"Thank you so much for all the kind words about Anne. All of us in our family feel so lucky to have had her in our lives," tweeted the late actress' star son who is currently filming "Zoolander 2" in Rome along with Owen Wilson and Justin Bieber.
The greiving son of the yesteryear star was spotted out in public for the first time since his mother's death on Sunday. He was supported by his wife, Christine Taylor, as the two were photographed in the streets of Rome on Sunday.
Other than the 49-year-old star, many other celebrities including Steve Martin, Sarah Silverman and Larry King took to Twitter to pay their tributes to the departed actress.
Meara is being recalled as a talented and gracious actress of 1960s. Coupled together with her husband Jerry Stiller, she performed famously as Stiller & Meara on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and other programs in the 1960s. As a matter of fact, the couple, who were also performing in nightclubs in New York at that time, was called a "national phenomenon."
Apart from TV shows, the actress also ventured out into the film world and won many accolades for her hit flicks including "The Longshot," and "My Little Girl." She was nominated for four Emmy awards in her lifetime and won a Writer Guild award for co-writing the movie "The Other Woman," The Guardian reported.
Meara, who was raised as catholic, met and married Jerry in 1954 and soon converted to Reform Judaism. The couple often famously used their religious background in their performances, adding a new twist to their comedy acts. They eventually went on to become the most famous married couple comedy team since Burns and Allen.
Later, Meara ventured out in writing and a few solo appearances in TV shows like "Sex and the City" as Mary Brady and "The King Of Queens." She also guided and mentored young performers till the end, as told by Judy Gold to CNN.