Jerry Stiller was known to millions as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld or one-half of the Stiller and Meara comedy team, but to Ben Stiller, he was, simply, Dad. The actor dropped by The Tonight Show on Tuesday, where he talked about his famous father, who died last week from natural causes at the age of 92. “He was a very, very supportive dad,” Stiller said. “I remember the first job I had was a play in New York, The House of Blue Leaves… He would do what they call second acting. He’d come in during the second act… He’d do that all the time, because he just wanted to watch and enjoy it.”
The Night at the Museum star also talked about the first time he did LSD. He was 16 years old at the time, and “I got freaked out, scared, and my first instinct was, ‘I’m going to call my parents.’ Because every kid calls his parents on LSD, right? But maybe that speaks to our relationship too,” Stiller told host Jimmy Fallon. He continued:
“I think his first thought was ‘acid — he drank battery acid.’ And I said, ‘No, LSD,’ and I could hear the silence on the other end of the phone, because I think he [had] that feeling of like, ‘I failed as a parent.’ And the next thing he said was, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ And he started to talk me down, even though he knew nothing about drugs. He said, ‘I know what you’re feeling. When I was 10 years old I smoked a Pall Mall cigarette and I was sick for two days.’”
Slightly different experiences, but it’s the thought that counts. Watch the interview above.
