Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; ; June 9, 1931 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me! garnered him a Special Tony Award; he also won an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, and an Emmy Award for his show, as well as a Grammy nomination. Later, his 1988 special Jackie Mason on Broadway won another Emmy Award (for outstanding writing) and another Ace Award, and his 1991 voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown" won Mason a third Emmy Award. Jackie Mason wrote and performed six one-man shows on Broadway.
Known for his delivery and voice, as well as his use of innuendo and pun, Mason's often culturally grounded humor was described as irreverent and sometimes politically incorrect.Zeke Jarvis (2015). Make 'em Laugh! American Humorists of the 20th and 21st Centuries: American Humorists of the 20th and 21st Centuries Make 'em Laugh! American Humorists of the 20th and 21st Centuries]Norman H. Finkelstein (2010). Jewish Comedy Stars: Classic to Cutting Edge A critic for Time magazine wrote that, throughout his career, Mason spoke to audiences: "... with the Yiddish locutions of an immigrant who just completed a course in English. By mail."
Early life Jackie Mason was born Yacov Moshe Maza on June 9, 1931 (according to the 1940 NYC census), in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the fourth and last son (and only son born in the United States) of six children of strict Orthodox Jewish parents. Jackie Mason's family included many rabbis, including his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and his great-great grandfather."A Mason by any Other Name," Jewish Book World (2006).
His father, Eli Maza, and his mother, Belle (neé Gitlin), were born in Minsk (then part of the Russian Empire) and immigrated to the U.S. after World War I, in the 1920s, along with the rest of Mason's family.Robert Wiener (October 12, 2006). "One Jew Talking: Jackie Mason heads to Newark" , New Jersey Jewish News
A Jewish refugee organization helped his father find a position in Sheboygan, as it needed a rabbi.Jackie Mason, Ira Berkow (1991). How to Talk Jewish, Macmillan When Mason was five years old, his family moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, largely so that he and his siblings could pursue a yeshiva education, where he grew up on Henry Street, Rutgers Street, and Norfolk Street.Ken Gross (February 23, 1987). "Too Much of a Ham to Remain a Rabbi, Broadway's Jackie Mason is Now the Toast of the Town", People There, his parents and their friends all spoke Yiddish.
As a teenager, Mason worked as a busboy at resorts in the Borscht Belt in New York's Catskill Mountains. He recalled: "Twenty minutes, at the Pearl Lake Hotel. I broke all the dishes. They made me a lifeguard. 'But I can't swim', I told the owner. 'Don't tell the guests', he says."
In 1953 Mason graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in his double major of English and sociology from the City College of New York.Joseph Dorinson (2015), Kvetching and Shpritzing: Jewish Humor in American Popular Culture, McFarland At age 18 he became a cantor, and at age 25 he received semikhah from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and was ordained a rabbi (as his three brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had been). He led congregations in Weldon, North Carolina, and at Beth Israel Congregation in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.Murry Frymer (November 12, 1991). "Jackie Mason Finally Reaches Stardom", Deseret NewsAdam Reinherz. "End of an era; Soon all that will remain will be Beth Israel's history legacy", The Jewish Chronicle He said that in synagogue, "I started telling more and more jokes, and after a while, a lot of gentiles would come to the congregation just to hear the sermons."
Eli Maza, his father, died in 1959.
Three years later, after his father died, he resigned from his job as a rabbi in a synagogue to become a comedian because, he said, "Somebody in the family had to make a living.""All About ... Jackie Mason", Jackie Mason; The Official Site, Retrieved July 14, 2014
Mason was the fourth of six children, with three older and two younger sisters. His three brothers all became rabbis, while both of his sisters married rabbis. Mason later recalled that entering the rabbinate seemed effectively predetermined in his family, saying that "it was unheard-of to think of anything else".
Despite his different career path, Mason remained close to his siblings. In 1987, he said that he gave money to the families of his three brothers and two sisters and described the siblings as "very close".
Career
Early years Mason wrote most of his own material. A sampling of his humor includes:
On doctors: "That's a great profession, a doctor. Where else can you ask a woman to get undressed and then send the bill to her husband?"
On trust, Mason said: "My grandfather always said that I shouldn't watch my money. That I should watch my health. So while I was watching my health, someone stole my money. It was my grandfather."Aubrey J. Sher, The Stand-Up Comedy Festival: Send In The Clowns
On what is important in life: "Money is not important. Love is important. Fortunately, I love money."Lawrence J. Epstein (2008). The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America
On pleasing people: "You can't please everyone. I have a girlfriend. I think she's the most wonderful person in the world. That's to me. But to my wife ..."Craig R. Whitney (November 23, 2008)."Britain Imports Mason Just for Fun", The New York Times
On fidelity: "Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe."
He was a comedian at the Fieldston Hotel in Swan Lake, New York, in the summer of 1955.Keith Loria (October 20, 2016)."Howard Theatre welcomes legendary comedian", Fairfax Times Mason was let go because his act was considered too far ahead of its time. The patrons had not been exposed to a comic who seemed to be ridiculing them. A few years later, Don Rickles came along, but at that point audiences had become open to this type of humor throughout the Borscht Belt. He adopted his stage name after appearing on the Barry Gray radio show.Jackie Mason – Biography, Billboard He performed at New York City nightclubs (where he was earning as much as $10,000 ($ in current dollar terms) a week), and on The Steve Allen Show, his first national TV appearance, in 1962, and the Tonight Show as well as on The Perry Como Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Garry Moore Show. The William Morris Agency advised him in 1962 to take elocution lessons so that he could shed his heavy Yiddish accent, but he refused.
Mason made several appearances as a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show during the 1960s. He claimed to have been on the episode which featured the American television debut of the Beatles, but he did not appear on any of the three shows that featured the Beatles.Ed Sullivan Show episode guide, thetvdb.com Mason stated during his appearance on the BBC show Desert Island Discs, in March 2012, that at the time he did not think much of the group, referring to them as "four kids in search of a voice who needed haircuts". It is possible that he confused the Beatles with The Animals, who appeared on the same show as Mason on October 18, 1964, to a similar audience of screaming young girls.
In 1962 he came out with his initial LP record, a best-seller entitled I'm the Greatest Comedian in the World, Only Nobody Knows It Yet, followed by I Want to Leave You with the Words of a Great Comedian.Bob Rolontz (August 10, 1963)."Clay Talks a Nice Fight Disk," Billboard
In the Desert Island Discs interview, he also related how Frank Sinatra and a group of others once came to his show in Las Vegas and Sinatra started heckling his act. Mason made uncomplimentary comments to Sinatra until he "and his whole group" left. When asked whether he thought it was naïve to do that, given Sinatra's connections with "the Mob", Mason said, "No, I said to myself...what could they do me?" He went on to describe how shots were later fired into his room which cracked all the windows. The police did not pursue an investigation.BBC Newshour, July 25, 2021.
"Middle finger" incident (1964) During his October 18, 1964, appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Mason allegedly gave host Ed Sullivan the finger on air. Footage of the incident shows Mason in the middle of doing his stand-up comedy act and then looking toward Sullivan, who had placed himself directly behind the camera, commenting that Sullivan was signaling him. Sullivan was reportedly letting Mason know (by holding up two fingers) that he had only two minutes left, and to cut his act short, as the program was about to cut away due to having been partly pre-empted by an impromptu speech by President Lyndon B. Johnson that the show carried.
Mason began working his own fingers into his act to make fun of the situation and pointed toward Sullivan with an index finger, a thumb, but not, as Sullivan mistakenly believed, his middle finger. Sullivan was infuriated by this, and banned Mason from future appearances on the show, canceling Mason's six-appearance contract worth $45,000 (). Mason denied knowingly giving Sullivan the middle finger; he later said that he had not heard of the middle finger gesture at that time.
To clear his name, Mason filed a libel suit on the grounds that Sullivan had defamed him at the New York Supreme Court. That court dismissed most of Mason's complaint. Both Mason and Sullivan appealed to the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division (which reinstated three additional causes of action against Sullivan) in June 1966.Barry Avrich (2016). Moguls, Monsters, and Madmen: An Uncensored Life in Show Business
Mason was nevertheless banned from the show for a period of time. Sullivan asserted that Mason was unpredictable and could not be trusted. Because of Sullivan's influence, he was branded as unreliable, volatile, and obscene, and he failed to get substantial television work for the next two decades.
Mason was given a comeback appearance on Sullivan's television program two years later, and Sullivan publicly apologized to him, but the damage was done. At that time, Mason opened his monologue by saying, "It is a great thrill ... and a fantastic opportunity to see me in person again." Mason later appeared on the show five times: April 23, 1967; February 25, 1968; November 24, 1968; July 22, 1969; and August 31, 1969. Mason later said: "It took twenty years to overcome what happened in one minute".
1969–1985
In 1969, Mason appeared twice on the CBS variety series The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. His first appearance, broadcast on January 19, featured Ray Charles; Mason performed stand-up, appeared in comedy sketches with Tom and Dick Smothers, and joined Charles for "Oy Vey Blues". Mason returned for an episode with Joan Baez that was scheduled for March 9, but CBS substituted a rerun after saying that the program had not been delivered in time for advance review. The episode, which included a Mason joke about children "playing doctor" and remarks by Baez concerning the imprisonment of her husband David Harris for refusing military service, was eventually broadcast on March 30 after some material was edited.
That year, Mason made his Broadway debut as Jewish widower Nat Weiss in the comedy play A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, which he wrote with Mike Mortman. The production played 97 previews before closing after its official opening performance, establishing a Broadway record for previews that was later surpassed by Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which played 182 previews before opening.
Mason continued appearing on television during the 1970s, including several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show in 1970.