"Was it love at first sight? It wasn't then ~ but it sure is now."

~ Anne Meara, when asked about her marriage to Jerry Stiller. (NY Times)

Anne Meara has gone to that great casting call in the sky. She was 85. While headlines are proclaiming "Ben Stiller's Mother Dead," (and I'm sure she was proud of being his mom), let's remember she was a talent in her own right and a working actress for decades.

She started out in show biz with Jerry Stiller, working with the Improvisational Compass Players, which was to later become SCTV. Stiller and Meara soon became a fast-paced, sardonic, urban humor team (with countless appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show) ~ they often played off the fact that he was Jewish and she was an Irish Catholic (although in real life, she had long ago converted to Judaism).

She went on to act in countless TV shows and movies including, but not limited to, "What's My Line", "The Carole Burnette Show", and "The Tonight Show". Anne Meara always seemed ready to laugh and banter with her husband. It's hard to imagine there was ever a time when those two weren't a team and hard to imagine they are separated now by time and fate, at least for a while.

Take a bow, Miss Meara. You did good.