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Comedian Jackie Mason died today in the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. According to the Hollywood Reporter, his long-time friend and lawyer confirmed his death after he (Jackie) had confided in the lawyer that he had difficulty breathing. Mason died in his sleep at the age of 93.
Jackie Mason’s Early Life
Jackie Mason was born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on June 9, 1928. He came from a long line of rabbis from his father to his great-grandfather. As he grew up he found himself working as a busboy at resorts and eventually got promoted to lifeguard. Mason then went on to attend the City College of New York where he would graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in his double major of Sociology and English. And when he turned 25 he became a rabbi just like his 3 brothers. Jokes during his sermons became a common thing. After his father died he would end up resigning as a rabbi and began his stand-up career.
Stand Up Life
Most of his stand-up routine would be a hard look at what is important to us, mostly ridiculing not only himself but also his audience. Here is a bit of the controversial comedian’s routine from The Ed Sullivan Show back in 1966.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Yutmo-3oc&ab_channel=TheEdSullivanShow
During a bit on The Ed Sullivan Show, Sullivan thought that Mason had given him the middle finger during one of his stand-up routines. Sullivan even went as far as to cancel his six appearance contract with the comedian, costing Mason a lot of money. Apparently, he did not give Sullivan the middle finger, but was doing a bit to make fun of Sullivan who was singling to Mason that they were two minutes away from cutting away from the routine. Mason always maintained his innocence.
During the 80’s he would do a lot of Broadway work and even won an Emmy for his voice-over work in The Simpsons episode by the name of “Like Father, Like Clown.”  And he was ranked as one of the top 50 comedians of all time in a 2005 Comedian’s Comedian poll by his fellow comedians and comedian insiders.
Our condolences go out to comedian Jackie Mason’s family.