Jerry Stiller died "peacefully", according to his son Ben Stiller.
The former ‘Seinfeld’ actor passed away earlier this month at the age of 92, and his fellow star son Ben has revealed Jerry wasn’t in any pain when he died, and kept up his "sense of humour" in his final days.
Ben said: "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. 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."
Jerry’s death was not related to coronavirus, and as a result, Ben, 54, and his sister Amy were able to stay with him during his last moments.
The ‘Zoolander’ star added: "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."
Prior to Jerry’s tragic passing, Ben had also lost his mother Anne Meara – who was Jerry’s wife and longtime collaborator – after she passed away in early 2019.
And Ben says growing up with parents who were both performers allowed him to develop his own love for acting.
He told The New Yorker: "We hardly ever sat down to have dinner together as a family. But, by the same token, I think we were a pretty close family. And it was just not your typical, traditional setup.
"My first instinct, when I was eight, nine, ten years old, was that I knew I loved movies and I wanted to be a director. And my dad really supported that. He went out and got a Super 8 camera, and got me the editing equipment, and would act in movies that I would make. He was just there, all the time, for that."