Another legend, who helped pave the way for other funny women, passed away this weekend. Anne was more than just the mother of Ben Stiller and Jerry Stiller’s comedy partner, she was a great actress in her own right. The last thing I clearly recalled seeing her do was Boys From Brazil, she was one of the American mothers of an adopted Hitler infant.
Of course she was funny, there’s scores of clips from The Ed Sullivan Show and I remember her co-hosting duties on coming attractions for HBO in 1979-80. The most memorable comedy thing for me was Anne playing a tough-as-nails, chain-smoking, swearing nun. When demonstrated the character being an aggressive football player, I snickered loudly. Seeing nuns being “human” or “vulgar” was unthinkable as a kid in parochial school. Nasty Habits, thank you imdb.com, now I won’t be wracking my brain all evening.