Jackie Mason (1928-2021) American Comedian

Jackie Mason American Comedian (1928-2021)

Entertainer. Recognized for his hefty, Jewish dialect, he made a name for himself as a standup comedian on the nightclub circuit, record albums and in television, in addition to appearing sporadically in motion pictures.

Born Yacov Moshe Maza (some sources state year of birth as 1931), into an Orthodox-Jewish family, his father and grandfather were both rabbis. Mason himself was ordained a rabbi.

His family moved to New York when Jackie was five years old and following his father’s death, he got his start in entertainment during the late 1950s on the “Borscht Belt” circuit at the Catskill Mountains resort.

Where is Jackie Mason buried ?

This experienced led him to New York City nightclubs and later TV beginning with performances on Steve Allen’s show followed by Jack Paar and later “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

Mason will perhaps be remembered for a string of performances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” one in 1964 which led to his banning after an alleged incident in which Mason was accused of giving the “middle finger” in response to being rushed to finish his act.

As a result, he sued Sullivan which resulted in the case ending up being resolved by the New York State Supreme Court with Mason winning.

However, the event proved damaging to his later career. He experienced a starring role in the motion picture “The Stoolie” (1972) and went on to appear in the films “The Jerk” (1979), “History of the World: Part 1” (1981) and “Caddyshack II” (1988).

Mason starred in the short-lived TV series “Chicken Soup” (1989) and had a recurring role as ‘Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky’ in the series “The Simpsons” (1999 to 2011) which earned him an Emmy Award.

He starred on Broadway one-man-shows numerous times and received a Tony Award for “The World According to Me” (1986 to 1988, he also received an Emmy Award for the television adaptation) and earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for “Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed” (2005).