Jackie Mason is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stand-up comedianStand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
and movie actor.
Early life
Born
Yacov Moshe Maza in
Sheboygan-Airport:Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.-Roads:Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S...
,
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, he grew up on the
Lower East SideThe Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Mason graduated with a
Bachelor of ArtsA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from the
City College of New YorkThe City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
. At age 25, he was ordained a
rabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
(as his three brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had been) in
LatrobeLatrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States, approximately southeast of Pittsburgh.The city population was 7,634 as of the 2000 census . It is located near the Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Three years later he resigned to become a comedian.
Comedy career
Mason had several one-man comedy
stage showStage Show was a popular music variety series on American television originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Produced by Jackie Gleason, the CBS-TV show included the first national television appearances by Elvis Presley.The series began as a...
s over the years. His first
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show was called
The World According to Me, which was well-received. Later, he had a show at the
John Golden TheatreThe John Golden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 252 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan. Designed in a Moorish style along with the adjacent Royale Theatre by architect Herbert J. Krapp for Irwin Chanin, it opened as the Theatre Masque on February 24 1927 with the play Puppets of Passion...
, called
Politically Incorrect, which ran into
trademarkA trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
problems because it was performed at the same time that
Bill MaherWilliam "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
's TV show
Politically IncorrectPolitically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
was on the air. Bill Maher brought a lawsuit against Mason's production, which was dismissed as 'frivolous.' To this day, Mason is able to use this show title, and it is one of his most successful road productions. Between these shows, Mason played the lead in a short-lived television show called
Chicken SoupChicken Soup is an American sitcom that aired on ABC, starring Jackie Mason and Lynn Redgrave.-Overview:The series focuses on the interfaith relationship of a middle-aged Jewish man, Jackie , and an Irish Catholic woman, Maddie...
alongside
Lynn RedgraveLynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
.
In 1992, Mason won an
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his
voice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "
Like Father, Like Clown"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpson family that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski,...
", making him the first guest star to win an Emmy for his role. Jackie has also appeared in
The Simpsons episodes "Today I Am A Clown" and "
Once Upon a Time in Springfield"Once Upon a Time in Springfield" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. It was promoted as the 450th episode of the series, but is actually the 451st, and aired alongside The Simpsons 20th...
".
In a 2005 poll to find the Comedian's Comedian, Mason was voted among the top-50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was also ranked #63 in
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
His full length motion picture
One Angry Man has been released in 2010 throughout the US and Canada.
Jackie has completed a new full length feature film "Jackie Goldberg Private Dick" for release in late 2011.
Jackie was a comedian at the Fieldston Hotel in Swan Lake, NY in the summer of 1955. He was let go because his act was too ahead of its time.[Citation?] The patrons had never been exposed to a comic who seemed to be ridiculing them. A few years later, Don Rickles came along; but, audiences had become open to this brand of humor.
"Middle finger" incident
On October 18, 1964 in an appearance on
The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, Mason allegedly gave host
Ed SullivanEdward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
the
fingerIn Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
on air. Footage of the incident shows Mason doing his stand-up comedy act and then looking toward Sullivan, commenting that Sullivan was signaling him. Sullivan was reportedly letting Mason know (by pointing two fingers) that he had only a couple minutes left, as the program was about to cut away to show a speech by
PresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
. Mason began working his own fingers in his act to make fun of the situation, and pointed toward Sullivan with his middle finger slightly separated. Sullivan was clearly angered by this, and banned Mason from the show. Mason denied knowingly giving Sullivan the middle finger (he later claimed that he had never even heard of the middle finger gesture at that time) and later filed a libel suit. He made a comeback appearance on the TV program two years later, and Sullivan publicly apologized to him. At that time, Mason opened his monologue by saying, "It is great to see all of you in person again." Mason dropped the lawsuit, but would never appear on the show again.
Use of the term schvartze
In 1991, Mason was criticized by African-American organizations such as the NAACP when he called
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mayorA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
David DinkinsDavid Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
"a fancy
schvartze with a
moustacheA moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...
." He later apologized.
Mason referred to
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as a "schvartze" during a performance in New York City on March 12, 2009.
Schwarz means "black" in
YiddishYiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
political commentator
Angela McGlowanAngela McGlowan is a political commentator and CEO of Political Strategies & Insights , a government affairs, political strategy, public relations, and advocacy consulting firm based in Oxford, Mississippi, with an office in Washington, D.C...
(who is black) defended Mason's remarks and his use of the term schvartze.
Statements on Arabs in Israel
Mason counseled
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i leaders to consider the total expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, the
West BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, and
Gaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. Mason and Felder wrote, “We have paralyzed ourselves by our sickening fear of World Opinion, which is why we find it impossible to face one simple fact: We will never win this war unless we immediately threaten to drive every Arab out of Israel if the killing doesn't stop.” They added:
Jews for Jesus lawsuit
On August 28, 2006, Mason filed a
lawsuitA lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against the group
Jews for JesusJews for Jesus is a conservative, Christian evangelical organization that focuses on the conversion of Jews to Christianity. Its members consider themselves to be Jews – either as defined by Jewish law, or as according to the view of Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus defines “Jewish” in terms of...
for using his likeness in a pamphlet. His image was used next to the tag line "Jackie Mason...a Jew for Jesus!?" Mason said in court papers filed in New York:
Mason has claimed that the group was using his image and fame to gain attention and converts. The group responded to the suit by saying, "Shame on him for getting so upset about this." The lawsuit was settled in 2006, with Jews for Jesus apologizing.
One Jerusalem
In January 2001, Mason co-founded the organization
One JerusalemOne Jerusalem is an organisation with the stated mission of "maintaining a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel". It was founded as a response to the Oslo Peace Process, specifically, out of a concern that the settlement might lead to Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem's Temple...
in response to the
Oslo peace agreementThe Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
. Its stated cause is "Maintaining a united
Jerusalem as the un-divided capital of Israel.”
Selected TV, film and radio roles
- The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
(1961–1968) frequent guest appearances
- The Stoolie (1972) - Roger Pitman
- Sleeper
Sleeper is a 1973 futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman, and directed by Allen. The plot involves the adventures of the owner of a Greenwich Village, NY health food store played by Woody Allen who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and defrosted 200...
(1973) - Voice of robot tailor (uncredited)
- The Jerk
The Jerk is a 1979 American comedy film. Directed by Carl Reiner, the film was written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias. This was Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh and Jackie Mason.-Plot:The film begins...
(1979) - Harry Hartounian
- History of the World: Part I (1981) - Jew #2
- Caddyshack II
Caddyshack II is the 1988 sequel to the 1980 golf comedy film Caddyshack. The film stars Jackie Mason, Dan Aykroyd, Robert Stack, Dyan Cannon, Chevy Chase, Jonathan Silverman, and Jessica Lundy.-Plot:...
(1988) - Jack Hartounian
- Chicken Soup
Chicken Soup is an American sitcom that aired on ABC, starring Jackie Mason and Lynn Redgrave.-Overview:The series focuses on the interfaith relationship of a middle-aged Jewish man, Jackie , and an Irish Catholic woman, Maddie...
(1989) - Jackie Fisher
- The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
- Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in four episodes:
- "Like Father, Like Clown
"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpson family that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski,...
" (1991)
- "Today I Am a Clown" (2003)
- "Once Upon a Time in Springfield
"Once Upon a Time in Springfield" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. It was promoted as the 450th episode of the series, but is actually the 451st, and aired alongside The Simpsons 20th...
" (2009)
- "Treehouse of Horror XXII
"Treehouse of Horror XXII" is the third episode of the twenty-third season and the twenty-second Halloween episode of the animated comedy series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 30, 2011...
" (2011)
- The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...
episode "Beddy Bye/The Grass Is Greener" (2003) - Harvey Sandman a.k.a The SandmanThe Sandman is a mythical character in Western folklore who brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of children while they sleep at night.-Representation in traditional folklore:...
, a.k.a The Mattress King
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
- The Quandary PhaseThe Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase are radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless produced in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4...
(2005) - The East River Lifeform
- 30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
episode The Collection"The Collection" is the third episode of NBC's second season of 30 Rock, and the twenty-fourth episode overall. It was written by producer Matt Hubbard and directed by producer Don Scardino, and first aired on October 18, 2007 in the United States...
(2007) - Himself (small guest appearance)
- The Drinky Crow Show
The Drinky Crow Show is an American animated television series created by Eric Kaplan and Tony Millionaire, based on the latter's comic strip Maakies. The pilot episode aired on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim on May 13, 2007. The series premiered on November 23, 2008 and...
episode "Aspire" (2009) - Mort Cooper
- Jackie Goldberg: Private Dick (2010) - Jackie Goldberg
Television specials
- Jackie Mason's The World According to Me! (1988)
- An Audience with Jackie Mason (1990)
- Jackie Mason on Campus (1992)
- Jackie Mason at the London Palladium (1996)
- Jackie Mason: A Night at the Opera (2002)
Discography
- I'm the Greatest Comedian in the World, Only Nobody Knows it Yet! (1962)
- I Want to Leave You with the Words of a Great Comedian (1963)
- The World According to Me! (1987)
- Brand New (1991)
- Politically Incorrect
- In Israel
- Live at the London Palladium (1997)
- All New! Much Ado About Everything (2003)
- Prune Danish
- The Unholy Tour
- Freshly Squeezed
- The Ultimate Jew (2008)
One-man shows
- Jackie Mason's the World According to Me! (1986–1988)
- Jackie Mason: Brand New (1990–1991)
- Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect (1994–1995)
- Love Thy Neighbor (1996–1997)
- Much Ado About Everything (1999–2000)
- Jackie Mason: Prune Danish (2002–2003)
- Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed (2005–2006)
- Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew (2008)
Video blogging
Mason has appeared in over 200 self-written video blog entries on
YouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, in which he gives his opinions on current events and politics.
External links