Jerry Stiller was a mensch, he could act with the best of them, too

(JTA)-The first thing Jerry Stiller said to me when we met was a compliment.

Several weeks earlier, I had interviewed him over the phone for an article tied to an appearance in an HBO miniseries. But Stiller's roots were always in the theater, so despite his successes, it wasn't surprising to find him in the smallish regional Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, where I had arranged to meet him.

He was starring in "After-Play," a brilliant examination of life at midstage as seen through the eyes of two couples who go out for a post-theater drink. A discussion about the play they've just...