Ben Stiller

---
name: "Ben Stiller"
relatedPeople:
  - "bill-maher"
  - "seth-macfarlane"
  - "george-clooney"
  - "harrison-ford"
date: "2012-05-27"
sources:
  - sourceTitle: "Christina Taylor: Sweet for the holidays"
    sourceUrl: "http://articles.mcall.com/2010-12-03/entertainment/mc-christine-taylor-20101203_1_christmas-tree-homemade-ornaments-holidays"
  - sourceTitle: "Jonathan Ross interviews Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller Part 2"
    sourceUrl: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8-2ofOhJko#t=03m32s"
  - sourceTitle: "Stiller 'softy' in real life"
    sourceUrl: "http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/991119/stiller.shtml"
  - sourceTitle: "Jews Quotes, New Jews Quotes"
    sourceUrl: "http://www.quoteidea.com/jews-quotes"
  - sourceTitle: "Ben Stiller's Federal Campaign Contribution Report"
    sourceUrl: "http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Ben_Stiller.php"
  - sourceTitle: "Ben Stiller is disappointed in Obama"
    sourceUrl: "http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/1111/Ben_Stiller_is_disappointed_in_Obama.html"
  - sourceTitle: "Stars out for Michelle Obama NYC bash"
    sourceUrl: "http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-20/news/31212051_1_first-lady-starry-crowd-dynamic-duo"
  - sourceTitle: "Hollywood and \"The Cove\" Join Forces for Dolphin Awareness PSA"
    sourceUrl: "http://mashable.com/2010/04/22/the-cove-psa/"
summaries:
  religion: "Stiller was brought up in a Jewish/Catholic home and he identifies with both faiths."
  politicalViews: "Stiller is a liberal Democrat and big contributor to the Democratic Party."
---

Ben Stiller was born and raised in New York City in a Jewish family of entertainers. His father is famous comedian Jerry Stiller.

Stiller's mother, Anne Meara, was raised Irish Catholic, but converted to the Jewish faith.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Farticles.mcall.com%2F2010-12-03%2Fentertainment%2Fmc-christine-taylor-20101203_1_christmas-tree-homemade-ornaments-holidays" title="Christina Taylor: Sweet for the holidays">[1]</a> As a result, Stiller considers himself both Jewish and Catholic, saying:

>I'm Jewish and Catholic. Oh yeah, a lot of guilt.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DU8-2ofOhJko%23t%3D03m32s" title="Jonathan Ross interviews Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller Part 2">[2]</a>

Stiller had a bar mitzvah, but his family celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays growing up, though his upbringing was admittedly more Jewish.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishaz.com%2Fjewishnews%2F991119%2Fstiller.shtml" title="Stiller &apos;softy&apos; in real life">[3]</a> and now that Stiller is married to a Catholic woman, actress Christina Taylor, he is raising his family the same way.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Farticles.mcall.com%2F2010-12-03%2Fentertainment%2Fmc-christine-taylor-20101203_1_christmas-tree-homemade-ornaments-holidays" title="Christina Taylor: Sweet for the holidays">[4]</a>

Of course, the Jewish comedian has become a real-life cliche, so it wouldn't be right to not end with a bit of funny stuff. Stiller recounts performing with his father at a Jewish function:

>We covered 'Hey, Jude.' My father panicked, misunderstanding the lyrics and thinking our lead singer was belting out 'Hey, Jew' to a roomful of Holocaust survivors.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.quoteidea.com%2Fjews-quotes" title="Jews Quotes, New Jews Quotes">[5]</a>

## Big money politics

Stiller is a major supporter of the Democratic Party, having contributed nearly $50,000 to various Democratic candidates and causes since 2002.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsmeat.com%2Fcelebrity_political_donations%2FBen_Stiller.php" title="Ben Stiller&apos;s Federal Campaign Contribution Report">[6]</a> He donated to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2008, but forked over a whopping $25,000 to Obama, putting to shame his $4,600 to Clinton.

In 2012, Stiller expressed some disappointment in Obama's first four years, saying:

>I'm disappointed that we haven't seen more bold decisions from him and a willingness, I think, to maybe stick to more of what he had, in his campaign, had said in terms of what he was willing to do.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fblogs%2Fclick%2F1111%2FBen_Stiller_is_disappointed_in_Obama.html" title="Ben Stiller is disappointed in Obama">[7]</a>

But in a classic "he's better than the other guy" moment, Stiller still showed up at a New York City party/fundraiser hosted by first lady Michelle Obama.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Farticles.nydailynews.com%2F2012-03-20%2Fnews%2F31212051_1_first-lady-starry-crowd-dynamic-duo" title="Stars out for Michelle Obama NYC bash">[8]</a>

He's pretty liberal, at least in terms of the animal rights issue. Stiller joined a slew of celebrities pals in a public service announcement designed to raise awareness about the killing of dolphins off the coast of Japan.<a class="source-citation" href="#http%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2F2010%2F04%2F22%2Fthe-cove-psa%2F" title="Hollywood and &quot;The Cove&quot; Join Forces for Dolphin Awareness PSA">[9]</a>

Fact about the Identity Politics views of Ben Stiller

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