“The King of Queens” cast pays tribute to late costar Jerry Stiller in special 25th-anniversary reunion
The King of Queens cast is remembering their late costar Jerry Stiller.
In celebration of the sitcom's 25th anniversary, Kevin James, Leah Remini, Gary Valentine, Victor Williams, Patton Oswalt, and more reunited for a table read, Q&A session, and to pay tribute to Stiller, who died at 92 in 2020. As part of their homage, they presented a video chronicling Stiller's life, featuring his son Ben, his daughter Amy, Ray Romano, Ricki Lake, and more.
Ben explained that his father's work was his life, adding, "Acting was what kept him young, what kept him going, and the camaraderie that he had with his fellow actors on [The King of Queens], I know, meant so much to him."
Said Romano, "The first time I met Jerry Stiller was on The King of Queens. The most exciting part was getting to meet Jerry Stiller, my favorite character. Kevin James — very funny! Very funny! But without a doubt, Jerry Stiller was my favorite character on the show."
Throughout the clip, several cast members could be seen wiping away tears. When it concluded, series co-creator and executive producer Michael Weithorn noted that while it was lovely to get the cast back together again, to do so without Stiller was "very bittersweet."
"He was the soul of the show in a very real way," he said. "He grounded us. He was a veteran who I think on camera and off camera really had a history and a professionalism that I think we all fed off of and made the show just grow deeper. He lived a long, full life, but nevertheless, no matter how good a life and long a life somebody leads, when they're gone you really feel the loss. It's sort of surreal that they don't exist anymore. We can't go to New York and stop in and see Jerry on Riverside Drive and say, 'How you doing?' It's really… he was a beautiful, beautiful man, and he was responsible for the fact that we're all here doing this right now. It never would've happened without him."
Remini, who played series lead Carrie, recalled Stiller being "the dad" of the show, both literally and metaphorically. Stiller starred as Carrie's father, Arthur, who often antagonized his son-in-law Doug (James).
"Jerry could've been in the first scene and they said, 'It's okay for you to go. You don't have to stay all night while we're filming,' and he would stay," she said. "Jerry knew that most people who came to the show wanted to meet Jerry. They'd get our picture and sign the script and they'd be like, 'Is Jerry here? Is Jerry here?' Because he talked to everybody."
Remini continued, "He would just talk to you because he just loved people and he was so gracious in that way. It was just that he was that guy that was willing to tell you many stories."
James added that Stiller always "cared so much" about everyone on set and remembered an instance in which the comedian nursed him back to health when he was feeling sick on set. After explaining his symptoms, James said that Stiller instructed him to 'lay down" and "lift up your shirt" and then put his warmed-up hands on his stomach.
"I thought it was going to be one of those things where he moves your stomach around and then leaves. He was there for an uncomfortably long, very long time, where he's just looking right in my eyes and I didn't know what to do," James jokingly recalled. "I'm just kinda looking at him and, honestly, a minute went by where nothing was said and his hands were hot and then he pulls 'em off and I don't know if it was placebo or I just wanted him off of me, but I instantly felt better and was able to do the show."
CBS via Getty Images 'The King of Queens' stars Jerry Stiller, Kevin James, and Leah Remini
James added, "He wanted to be there because he cared — as soon as he heard, he didn't care about the doctors or anybody else. He wanted to be there for [me]. I miss him so much. He's just the greatest. Like Ben said… 'A lot of people see him how he acts.' He's always the cranky old man yelling and screaming, but it was never the way he was. He was an angel. He was a great man."
Gary Valentine, who played Doug's cousin Danny Heffernan, revealed that the entire cast and crew would receive holiday gifts and cards from Stiller even after the series ended in 2007. "Every Christmas getting a card and a tie from him… like, I never even thought of giving him a Christmas gift and he's giving me a Christmas gift," he said. "He was just such a pleasant person."
Victor Williams, who starred as Doug's friend Deacon Palmer, added, "I remember the show was over and, years later, still getting cards from Jerry was phenomenal."
Patton Oswalt, who played Doug's pal Spencer "Spence" Olchin, remembered how easy it was for Stiller to send the audience into hysterics with his impeccable delivery.
"There's a scene in an early episode where he comes in the kitchen, Kevin's standing there, and his line is 'Good morning, Douglas,'" he said. "It's not a joke line — they're just starting the conversation — and that line got such a huge laugh. The way he said it, complete abandon. It actually got such a laugh it threw the rhythm off and they had to retake the beginning [and] almost tell the audience, without telling them, like, 'Hey, don't laugh at that line.' He could get laughs with just 'hello!' I don't know how he did it. It was amazing."
Remini added that Stiller often made the cast laugh during takes whenever he would dramatically shut his eyes and clap his hands. "Jerry would open his eyes and be like, 'What's so funny?'" she said. "And we'd be like, 'You, Jerry, you!'"
Watch the full reunion in the video above.
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