Posted on 07/24/2021 6:54:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Jackie Mason, the sometimes-controversial standup comedian who unapologetically embraced Jewish themes and political incorrectness, achieving a national profile through a series of successful one-man shows on Broadway without substantial work in film or television, died Saturday in Manhattan. He was 93.
The New York Times said his death was confirmed by his friend Raoul Felder.
Mason was one of the last of the Borscht Belt comedians, and he married that sensibility to strong views on racial and ethnic politics.
He also recurred on “The Simpsons” as the voice of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, the father of Krusty the Clown, winning his second Emmy for his efforts in 1992 and most recently voicing the character in a 2014 episode. He also appeared as himself in a 2007 episode of “30 Rock.”
In the 2004 TV special “Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time,” he was ranked No. 63.
The comic received a 1987 special Tony Award for his highly successful solo effort “Jackie Mason’s The World According to Me!,” which ran for 573 performances. (He received an Emmy for writing the show after it aired on television in 1988.)
The one-man Broadway outings that followed included “Jackie Mason: Brand New” in 1990-91, “Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect” in 1994-95, “Love Thy Neighbor” in 1996-97, “Much Ado About Everything” in 1999-2000 and “Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed” in 2005. His final one-man show, “Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew,” skipped Broadway.
Variety wrote of “The Ultimate Jew”: “The show is one long jab at the world’s hypocrisy, dusted with one-liners from the ‘take my wife, please’ vaults. Mason can be painfully old-fashioned, like when he tells the millionth joke about expensive restaurants serving small portions, but he doesn’t seem to care. For an aging crowd often ignored by the entertainment industry, the comedian’s refusal to be modern — and his mockery of modern ways — may be a comforting show of solidarity.”
“It’s harder to be amused,” Variety continued, “when Mason turns to minority groups. Inevitably, his barbs are about the foolishness of those who are not like himself and his aging, Jewish fanbase.”
Various recordings of his live performances proved quite successful on television or home video.
He defended his caricature again and again by saying it was his right to be “politically incorrect,” but they certainly did not endear him to minority groups. He denigrated then-New York City Mayor David Dinkins by using a Yiddish defamatory word for an African American — a term he used frequently in his act — generating controversy.
Mason made his feature debut in 1972 as the star of “The Stoolie” and later starred in “Caddyshack II” in 1988. The Washington Post declared that he looked “meek and miserable” in the part and was “upstaged by the gopher puppet.” In 2010 he starred as himself in the film “One Angry Man,” a courtroom dramedy that he also wrote.
He had supporting roles in a few other films, including Steve Martin vehicle “The Jerk” and Mel Brooks’ “The History of the World: Part I.”
On television he starred in the brief sitcom 1989 “Chicken Soup” and hosted 1992’s “The Jackie Mason Show,” which saw panelists address the topics of the day with irreverence in a manner that made the program something of a precursor to Bill Maher’s “Politically Incorrect,” which premiered the following year. (Comedy Central, which hosted the Maher program, was unhappy, however, when Mason came out with his 1994 one-man show “Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect” and sued the comic, seeking unsuccessfully to force a name change.)
Jacob Moshe Maza was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, but grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He was ordained as a rabbi — there had been many in his family — but ultimately resigned from his post at a synagogue to become a comedian.
He brought an early version of his insult-heavy humor to a Borscht Belt hotel in the mid-’50s, but the audience was not ready for the sort of comedy that Don Rickles would later make more acceptable.
Mason made several appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” during the 1960s, but his relationship with Sullivan soured over Mason possibly having given the finger to Sullivan during one show; Mason sued Sullivan for libel and won, and the publicity helped his career at the time. Over the course of the decade he also appeared repeatedly on “The Joey Bishop Show” and “The Merv Griffin Show,” among others.
He made his Broadway debut in 1969 with the play “A Teaspoon Every Four Hours,” which he co-wrote. It ran in previews for 97 performances but upon opening closed after a single outing.
His career hits its stride with his first solo effort on Broadway, “Jackie Mason’s The World According to Me!,” in 1986.
Mason is survived by his wife, Jyll Rosenfeld, whom he married in 1991, and a daughter.
I’ve seen him on an Ed Sullivan rerun telling joke about then current President Kennedy! He was great for over 60 years.
RIP Jackie.
OK I’ll bite: What is the “Yiddish defamatory word for an African American”?
say hello to Buddy
May flights of angels sing him to his rest.
Basically resorts up in the Catskills, where middle class (mostly Jewish but not entirely) working class New Englanders would go in the summer to vacation and get out of the cities. The Borscht Belt was a sort of circuit for comedians and other entertainers to go entertain the people on vacation at dinner or cocktail hours.
Mel Brooks may be one of the last standing.
Back in the day Jews were not allowed in the Hamptons and snooty places. Hilton, in particular, had a no Jews allowed policy. Kid summer camps had the same issue.
So we created our own resorts.
The TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Masel on Amazon is largely focused on it.
It’s pretty much the birthplace of truly American modern humor.
Schwartze I think. In Blazing Saddles
it’s what Mel Brooks, as a Jewish-sounding
Indian, says when he sees Cleavon Little.
Mason:”The only people these days with
Jewish names are black people.Whoopi
Goldberg!” (heard on a radio ad for his
stage show)
Inspired voice of the blue aardvark in
Depatie Freleng’s Ant and the Aardvark
Well, quite a bit of it takes place in New Jersey!
In Woody Allen's movie Annie Hall, Allen's character Alvy Singer is a comedy writer. There's a short but funny scene where he's interviewed for a job by a second-rate (or maybe third-rate) Borscht Belt comic, played by Johnny Haymer, who wants him to write "a little French number" for his act. Alvy Singer looks at him like he's a total flake.
:)
May he rest in peace.
I live out West, so I had no idea. Very Interesting.
I was walking up Sixth Avenue in NYC one evening when someone walking in the other direction said hello to me. It was Jackie Mason! I don’t know why he said anything to me but I wushed him a good night.
Thanks for all the laughs Mr. Mason, RIP.
So we created our own resorts.
Right, I forgot to mention that aspect of the situation, not intentionally.
It's kind of strange that the hoity-toity resorts didn't want Jews, at least to me, if for no other reason than that the Jewish girls were way cuter than the gentile girls. IMHO. I can't picture who the goyim were trying to protect from whom.
I'm not Jewish, btw. But I did grow up in New York State, and since I was a semi-serious musician in high school and college I met and hung out with a lot of Jewish kids.
One of the last of the great comedians. RIP.
Boruch Dayan Emes (”G-d is the True Judge”). May he rest in peace. He brought a lot of enjoyment for thousands of people.
He was an original. RIP
It’s unsettling to see how much Homer and Krusty look alike.
It’s important to point out the main reason the Borscht Belt came into existence. Many/most resort hotels in the Northeast US were restricted (i.e., would not let Jews stay there) up to the late 1950’s/early 60’s.
Well we’re loud and obnoxious, stereotypically.
New money Jews coming to the white shoe country club is the entire gag behind Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack.
And for the record, my family was in Israel since WWII.
My American wife’s speaks fondly of the Catskills.
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