Jerry Stiller, one of Syracuse University’s most famous drama alumni will return to his alma mater tonight.

He will speak at 8 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel in an event sponsored by Hillel. Best known for his roles as George Costanza’s dad on ‘Seinfeld’ and currently as Arthur on ‘King of Queens,’ Stiller began his Broadway career in 1975’s ‘The Ritz’ and appeared in the film version of ‘Hairspray.’ Tickets for the show are $3 for students and $6 for the general public.

This will be Stiller’s third appearance at SU since his graduation in 1950. Though this will not be a stand-up comedy show, the speech will be filled with funny stories, said Joel Miller, executive director of Hillel.

‘The first reason we brought him is because he’s an SU alum,’ Miller said. ‘Number two, he’s Jewish, and number three, he’s very funny. He’s current and has wide appeal. Everyone knows him.’

‘Whenever you get an actor to come back, it shows the quality of the school,’ said Scott Fein, program director at Hillel. ‘This helps cement SU’s VPA program in history.’

Stiller does not normally speak at colleges, so it took some convincing for him to make the trip to SU, Miller said.

‘We had to work with the Speakers Bureau,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t do this sort of thing for a living, so he had a few questions about what we were looking for. After we chatted, he seemed excited about coming.’

‘We really want to get a lot of students involved,’ said Morgan Brodey, administrative vice president of the Hillel Jewish Student Union. ‘It’s not just a Jewish speaker.’

Stiller’s wife and comedic partner, Anne Meara, accompanied him to Syracuse, and the two arrived yesterday afternoon. Brodey was uncertain whether Meara will be participating in Stiller’s speech.

‘She might say something,’ Brodey said. ‘She had a microphone on when we were setting up for rehearsal. I was with them for about half an hour today, and I was laughing the whole time.’

‘He’s amazingly talented,’ said Judith Kalaora, a sophomore Spanish and acting major. ‘I didn’t become familiar with his work until ‘Seinfeld,’ and I was probably most incredibly amused by his work in ‘Zoolander.’ I don’t want to cut short all of the work he’s done on Broadway, but ‘Zoolander’ was hysterical.’

The speech will be held in Hendricks Chapel, which has a 1,000-seat capacity, instead of Goldstein Auditorium because of scheduling conflicts. However, organizers wanted a venue that was big enough so that no one would have to be turned away, said Miller, who hopes for a sold-out show.

‘He’s a good role model,’ Miller said. ‘People come to SU and have some goals set aside. He’s proof that people can do it.’

‘He started off doing drama at Syracuse,’ Brodey said. ‘He really started his whole career here. He knew what he wanted to do coming into school, and it brought him to where he is today.’

Published on April 12, 2004 at 12:00 pm