Ben Stiller Calls His Mom An 'Extraordinary Woman'

American comedian Ben Stiller is still reeling from the loss of his mother Anne Meara, who passed away on May 23, 2015. She was 85.

The Zoolander actor took to Instagram to share his feelings about his mother. He posted a vintage photo of her and gave it the short yet simple caption: "My mom Anne. She was an extraordinary person," Stiller captioned. "Miss her."

Stiller is not the only one who is missing Meara, since several other celebrities offered words of condolences and shared the memories with the late actress and comedian.

Samuel L. Jackson wrote on Twitter, "I did 2 films with Anne Meara, a lovely, gracious & Funny Lady. We lost one of the Good Ones! RIP Ms Anne."

Meanwhile, Larry King thought to share his two cents' worth of opinion as he tweeted: "Anne Meara was a wonderfully talented and gracious lady."

Another comedian Steve Martin also took to Twitter and said, "Stiller and Meara have been a wonderful presence in comedy my whole life. Now Anne Meara is gone, and I salute her."

In response, Stiller tweeted back: "Thank you so much for all the kind words about Anne. All of us in our family feel so lucky to have had her in our lives."

Meara became popular during the 1960s by being a part of the comedy tandem called Stiller and Meara, the other half being her husband Jerry Stiller. Throughout her entire career, she has appeared on stage, television, numerous films, and even became a playwright.

She was even nominated four Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, and later won a Writers Guild Award for co-writing the TV movie The Other Woman.

She has two children with her husband - Amy and Ben Stiller. Just like their parents, the two also pursued an acting career. Meara is survived by her husband, two children, and two grandchildren.

Meara grew up as a Roman Catholic but after six years of being married to Stiller, she decided to convert to Reform Judaism. She stressed that she did not change religions due to Stiller's insistence or influence and simply explained, "Catholicism was dead to me."

She became very serious about her conversion and studied the Jewish faith with much fervor and dedication. Even Jerry, who was born and raised a Jew was impressed by his wife's decision and had to comment, "Being married to Anne has made me more Jewish."