Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by the stage name
Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, social critic and
satiristSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
. His 1964 conviction in an
obscenityAn obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in New York state history.
Early life
Lenny Bruce was born
Leonard Alfred Schneider in
MineolaMineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, grew up in nearby Bellmore, and attended
Wellington C. Mepham High SchoolWellington C. Mepham High School is a high school located on a campus in Bellmore, New York. It is the oldest of three high schools in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District...
. His parents divorced when he was five years old, and Lenny moved in with various relatives over the next decade. His mother, Sally Marr (née Sadie Kitchenberg), was a stage performer who had an enormous influence on Bruce's career. After spending time working on a farm, Bruce joined the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
at the age of 17 in 1942, and saw active duty in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In May 1945 he reported to his ship's medical officer that he was experiencing homosexual urges. This led to his Dishonorable Discharge in July 1945. However, he had not admitted to or been found guilty of any breach of naval regulations and successfully applied to have his discharge changed to "Under Honorable Conditions ... by reason of unsuitability for the naval service".
After a short stint in
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
spent living with his father, Bruce settled in
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...
, hoping to establish himself as a comedian. However, he found it difficult to differentiate himself from the thousands of other show business hopefuls who populated the city. One locale where they congregated was Hanson's, the diner where Bruce first met the comedian Joe Ancis, who had a profound influence on his approach to comedy. Many of Bruce's later routines reflected his meticulous schooling at the hands of Ancis.
In 1947, soon after changing his last name to Bruce, he earned $12 and a free spaghetti dinner for his first stand-up performance in Brooklyn, New York. He was later a guest—and was introduced by his mother, who called herself "Sally Bruce"—on the
Arthur Godfrey's Talent ScoutsArthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts is an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958...
show, doing a "
BavarianBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
mimic" of American movie stars (e.g.,
Humphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
).
Career
Bruce's early comedy career included writing the screenplays for
Dance Hall RacketDance Hall Racket is a 1953 American film directed by Phil Tucker starring Lenny Bruce and his wife Honey Harlow.-Plot summary:...
in 1953, which featured Bruce, his wife,
Honey HarlowHoney Harlow Bruce Friedman was a stripper and showgirl best remembered as the wife of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce.-Biography:...
, and mother, Sally Marr, in roles;
Dream Follies in 1954, a low-budget
burlesqueAmerican Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...
romp; and a children's film,
The Rocket Man, in 1954. He also released four albums of original material on Berkeley-based
Fantasy RecordsFantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
, with rants, comic routines, and satirical interviews on the themes that made him famous:
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, moral philosophy,
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
,
patriotismPatriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
,
religionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
,
lawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, race,
abortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
,
drugsA psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
, the
Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and Jewishness. These albums were later compiled and re-released as
The Lenny Bruce Originals. Two later records were produced and sold by Bruce himself, including a 10-inch album of the 1961 San Francisco performances that started his legal troubles. Starting in the late 1950s, other unissued Bruce material was released by
Alan DouglasAlan Douglas is an American record producer who has worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He runs his own record label, Douglas Records....
,
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and
Phil SpectorPhillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, as well as Fantasy. Bruce developed the complexity and tone of his material in
Enrico BanducciEnrico Banducci was an American impresario. Banducci operated the hungry i nightclub in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, where he launched the careers of Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters, and Barbra Streisand, and featured Woody Allen and Dick Cavett before they were...
's North Beach nightclub, "The
hungry iThe hungry i was originally a nightclub in North Beach, San Francisco. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold it to Enrico Banducci in 1950.-The name:How the club's name came about is something of a mystery...
," where
Mort SahlMorton Lyon "Mort" Sahl is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor. He occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. He was the first comedian to record a live album and the first to perform on college campuses...
had earlier made a name for himself.
His growing fame led to appearances on the nationally televised
Steve AllenStephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
Show, where he made his debut with an unscripted comment on the recent marriage of
Elizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
to
Eddie FisherEdwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
, wondering, "will Elizabeth Taylor become bat mitzvah?" He also began receiving mainstream press, both favorable and derogatory. Syndicated Broadway columnist
Hy GardnerHy Gardner was a columnist for the New York Herald Tribune, host of The Hy Gardner Show, and a regular panelist on the first incarnation of To Tell The Truth. In 1957 Gardner also appeared on the show made up as a clown along with guest challenger Paul Jung...
called Bruce a "fad" and "a one-time-around freak attraction", while
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
declared him "undisciplined and unfunny".
On February 3, 1961, in the midst of a severe blizzard, he gave a famous performance at
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York. It was recorded and later released as a three-disc set, titled
The Carnegie Hall Concert. In the liner notes,
Albert GoldmanAlbert Harry Goldman was an American professor and author.Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines...
described it as follows:
Personal life
Bruce met his future wife,
Honey HarlowHoney Harlow Bruce Friedman was a stripper and showgirl best remembered as the wife of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce.-Biography:...
, a
stripperA stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. They were married that same year, and Bruce was determined to have her end her work as a stripper.
In 1953, Bruce and Harlow eventually left New York for the
West CoastWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, where they got work as a double act at the Cup and Saucer in Los Angeles, California. Bruce then went on to join the bill at the club Strip City. Harlow found employment at the Colony Club, which was widely known to be the best
burlesqueAmerican Burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860s and evolved to feature ribald comedy and female striptease...
club in Los Angeles at the time.
In late 1954, Bruce left Strip City and found work within the
San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
at a variety of strip clubs. As the master of ceremonies, his job was to introduce the strippers while performing his own ever-evolving material. The clubs of the Valley provided the perfect environment for Bruce to create new routines: according to Bruce's primary biographer,
Albert GoldmanAlbert Harry Goldman was an American professor and author.Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines...
, it was "precisely at the moment when he sank to the bottom of the barrel and started working the places that were the lowest of the low" that he suddenly broke free of "all the restraints and inhibitions and disabilities that formerly had kept him just mediocre and began to blow with a spontaneous freedom and resourcefulness that resembled the style and inspiration of his new friends and admirers, the jazz musicians of the modernist school."
Honey and Lenny's daughter Kitty Bruce was born in 1955. In 1959, Lenny's divorce from Honey was finalized.
Legal troubles
This desire to end his wife's stripper days led Bruce to pursue schemes that were designed to make as much money as possible. The most notable was the Brother Mathias Foundation scam, which resulted in Bruce's arrest in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
later that year for impersonating a
priestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. He had been soliciting donations for a
leperLeprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
colony in
British GuianaBritish Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(now
GuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
) under the auspices of the "Brother Mathias Foundation", which he had legally chartered - the name was his own invention, but possibly referred to the actual Brother Matthias who had befriended
Babe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
at the Baltimore orphanage to which Ruth had been confined as a child. Bruce had stolen several priests' clergy shirts and a clerical collar while posing as a laundry man. He was found not guilty because of the legality of the New York state-chartered foundation, the actual existence of the Guiana
leper colonyA leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
, and the inability of the local clergy to expose him as an impostor. Later, in his semifictional autobiography
How to Talk Dirty and Influence PeopleHow to Talk Dirty and Influence People is an autobiography by Lenny Bruce, the scathing social satirist and comedian, who died in 1966 at age 40 of a drug overdose...
, Bruce revealed that he had made about $8,000 in three weeks, sending $2,500 to the leper colony and keeping the rest.
On October 4, 1961, Bruce was arrested for obscenity at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco; he had used the word
cocksucker and riffed that "
to is a preposition,
come is a
verbA verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
", that the sexual context of
comeOrgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
is so common that it bears no weight, and that if someone hearing it becomes upset, he "probably can't come". Although the jury acquitted him, other law enforcement agencies began monitoring his appearances, resulting in frequent arrests under charges of obscenity.
Bruce was arrested again in 1961, in
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, for
drug possessionDrug possession is the crime of having one or more illegal drugs in one's possession, either for personal use, distribution, sale or otherwise. Illegal drugs fall into different categories and sentences vary depending on the amount, type of drug, circumstances, and jurisdiction.A person has...
the same year, and again in Los Angeles, California, two years later. The Los Angeles arrest took place in then-unincorporated West Hollywood, and the arresting officer was a young deputy named
Sherman BlockSherman Block was the 29th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from January 1982 until his death.He was preceded by Peter Pitchess and succeeded by Lee Baca....
, who would later become County Sheriff. The specification this time was that the comedian had used the word
schmuck__notoc__Schmuck or shmuck in American English is a pejorative meaning an obnoxious, contemptible or detestable person, or one who is stupid or foolish. The word entered English from Yiddish, where it has similar pejorative meanings, but its original meaning in Yiddish is penis...
, an insulting Yiddish term that is an obscene term for penis. While the charges may have been as cited, "shmuck" is Yiddish for moron. The officer was incorrect; the word he most likely had in mind was the Yiddish word "putz" as translation for penis.
In April 1964, he appeared twice at the
Cafe Au Go GoThe Cafe au Go Go was a Greenwich Village night club located in the basement of 152 Bleecker Street. The club featured many well known musical groups, folksingers and comedy acts between the opening in February 1964 until closing in October 1969. Originally owned by Howard Solomon who sold the club...
in
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, with undercover police detectives in the audience. On both occasions, he was arrested after leaving the stage, the complaints again pertaining to his use of various obscenities.
A three-judge panel presided over his widely publicized six-month trial, prosecuted by Asst. Manhattan D.A.
Richard KuhRichard Henry Kuh was a partner at the law firm of Warshaw Burstein Cohen Schlesinger & Kuh, LLP. He was New York County District Attorney in 1974.- Education :...
, with Bruce and club owner Howard Solomon both found guilty of obscenity on November 4, 1964. The conviction was announced despite positive testimony and petitions of support from - among other artists, writers and educators -
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
,
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
,
Jules FeifferJules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
,
Allen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
,
Norman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
,
William StyronWilliam Clark Styron, Jr. was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, which included...
, and
James BaldwinJames Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, and Manhattan journalist and television personality
Dorothy KilgallenDorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York...
and
sociologistSociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Herbert Gans. Bruce was sentenced, on December 21, 1964, to four months in a workhouse; he was set free on
bailTraditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
during the
appealAn appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
s process and died before the appeal was decided. Solomon later saw his conviction overturned; Bruce, who died before the decision, never had his conviction stricken. Bruce later received a full posthumous gubernatorial pardon.
Last years
Despite his prominence as a comedian, Bruce appeared on network television only six times in his life. In his later club performances Bruce was known for relating the details of his encounters with the police directly in his comedy routine. These performances often included rants about his court battles over obscenity charges, tirades against
fascismFascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and complaints that he was being denied his right to
freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
.
He was banned outright from several U.S. cities, and in 1962 was banned from performing in Sydney, Australia. At his first show there, Bruce took the stage, declared "What a fucking wonderful audience" and was promptly arrested.
Increasing drug use also affected his health. By 1966 he had been
blacklistA blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed by nearly every nightclub in the United States, as owners feared prosecution for obscenity. Bruce did have a famous performance at the
Berkeley Community TheatreThe Berkeley Community Theatre is a theatre, located in Berkeley, California on the campus of Berkeley High School. The Art Deco-style theater has 3,491 seats, including a balcony section...
in December 1965. It was recorded and became his last live album, titled "The Berkeley Concert"; his performance here has been described as lucid, clear and calm, and one of his best. His last performance took place on June 25, 1966, at
The FillmoreThe Fillmore Auditorium is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights neighborhoods.In 1968,...
Auditorium in San Francisco, on a bill with
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and
The Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
. The performance was not remembered fondly by
Bill GrahamBill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
, who described Bruce as "whacked out on amphetamines"; Graham thought that Bruce finished his set emotionally disturbed. Zappa asked Bruce to sign his
draft cardConscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
, but the suspicious Bruce refused.
At the request of
Hugh HefnerHugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
and with the aid of
Paul KrassnerPaul Krassner is an author, journalist, stand-up comedian, and the founder, editor and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine The Realist, first published in 1958...
, Bruce wrote an autobiography. Serialized in
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
in 1964 and 1965, this material was later published as the book
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. Hefner had long assisted Bruce's career, featuring him in the television debut of
Playboy's PenthousePlayboy's Penthouse is an American variety / talk television show hosted by Playboy founder and then-editor/publisher Hugh Hefner. It was first broadcast on October 24, 1959 and ran in syndication for slightly more than one year with a second season starting on September 9, 1961 with Jack E...
in October 1959.
Death and posthumous pardon
On August 3, 1966, Bruce was found dead in the bathroom of his
Hollywood HillsThe Hollywood Hills is an affluent and exclusive neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, in the southeastern Santa Monica Mountains. It is bound by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Vermont Avenue to the east, Mulholland Drive to the north, and Sunset Boulevard to the south.-Hollywood Hills...
home at 8825 W. Hollywood Blvd. The official photo, taken at the scene, showed Bruce lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other
narcoticThe term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s paraphernalia. According to legend a policeman at the scene said, “There is nothing sadder than an aging hipster” which itself possibly was one of Lenny Bruce’s lines. Record producer
Phil SpectorPhillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, a friend of Bruce's, bought the negatives of the photographs to keep them from the press. The official cause of death was "acute
morphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
poisoning caused by an accidental
overdoseThe term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...
."
His remains were interred in
Eden Memorial Park CemeteryEden Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery located at 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard, Mission Hills, California, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.-Notable interments:*John Brown , actor*Lenny Bruce , comedian...
in
Mission Hills, CaliforniaMission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, but an unconventional memorial on August 21 was controversial enough to keep his name in the spotlight. The service saw over 500 people pay their respects, led by Spector. Cemetery officials had tried to block the ceremony after advertisements for the event encouraged attendees to bring box lunches and noisemakers.
Dick SchaapRichard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author.-Early life and education:...
eulogized Bruce in
Playboy, with the memorable last line: "One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty.
That's obscene."
His epitaph reads: "Beloved father - devoted son/Peace at last."
Bruce is survived by his daughter, Kitty Bruce (born Brandy Kathleen Bruce), who lives in
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...
.
At the time of his death, his girlfriend was comedienne Lotus Weinstock.
On December 23, 2003, 37 years after his death, New York Governor
George PatakiGeorge Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
granted Bruce a posthumous
pardonClemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
for his obscenity conviction.
Legacy
Bruce was the subject of the 1974 biographical film
LennyLenny is a 1974 American biographical film about the comedian Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Julian Barry is based on his play of the same name.-Plot:...
directed by
Bob FosseRobert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
and starring
Dustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
(in an
Academy Award-nominated Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
role), and based on the
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...
stage play of the same name written by
Julian BarryJulian Barry is an American screenwriter and playwright best known for his Oscar-nominated script for the film Lenny about comedian Lenny Bruce, which Barry adapted from his successful Broadway play of the same name...
and starring
Cliff GormanCliff Gorman was an American stage and screen actor. He won an Obie award in 1968 for the stage presentation of The Boys in the Band, and went on to reprise his role in the 1970 film version....
in his 1972
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winning role.
The documentary
Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the TruthLenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth is a 1998 documentary film directed by Robert B. Weide about the comedian Lenny Bruce. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film was narrated by Robert De Niro....
, directed by
Robert B. WeideRobert B. Weide is an American screenwriter, producer, and director, perhaps best known for his Emmy-winning work on documentaries and Curb Your Enthusiasm.-Career:Weide's career began with an early passion for the Marx Brothers...
and narrated by
Robert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, was released in 1998.
In 2004,
Comedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
listed Bruce at number three on its list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All-Time, placing above
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
and below
George CarlinGeorge Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
.
In popular culture
Lenny is pictured in the top row of the Beatles 1967 album
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- The clip of a news broadcast featured in "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night
"7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" is the twelfth and final track on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, a 1966 album by Simon and Garfunkel. The track consists of an overdubbing of two contrasting recordings: a simple arrangement of the Christmas carol "Silent Night", and a simulated "7 O'Clock News"...
" by Simon & Garfunkel carries the ostensible newscast audio of Lenny Bruce's death. In another track on the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and ThymeParsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is the third album by Simon & Garfunkel, released in the United States on October 10, 1966. Its name comes from the second line of the album's first track, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", an English folk song from the 16th century, paired with a counter-melody and...
, "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert MacNamara'd Into Submission)", Paul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
sings, "... and I learned the truth from Lenny Bruce, that all my wealth won't buy me health."
- Tim Hardin
James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
's fourth album, released in 1968 Tim Hardin 3 Live in ConcertTim Hardin 3 Live in Concert is a live album by folk artist Tim Hardin, released in 1968. It was re-issued on CD in 1995 by Polydor, and in 2006 by Lilith Record with four bonus tracks.-Reception:...
, includes his song Lenny's Tune written about his friend Lenny Bruce.
- Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
's 1967 album Chelsea GirlChelsea Girl is the debut solo album by Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records, also home to The Velvet Underground. The name of the album is a reference to Andy Warhol's 1966 film Chelsea Girls, which Nico starred in...
includes a track entitled "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce", written by Tim HardinJames Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
. In it she describes her sorrow and anger at Bruce's death.
- Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's 1981 song "Lenny Bruce" describes a brief taxi ride shared by the two legends. In the last line of the song, Dylan recalls: "Lenny Bruce was bad, he was the brother that you never had."
Alternative rock band
R.E.M.R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
mentioned Bruce twice in the 1987 song "
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"It's the End of the World as We Know It " is a song by the rock band R.E.M., which appeared on their 1987 album Document, the 1988 compilation Eponymous, and the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987...
," including the line, "Lenny Bruce is not afraid."
Christian Slater while playing "Hard Harry" the pirate radio host in the 1990 movie "Pump up the volume", checks out the book "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" from the school library. The movie deals with themes of restricted freedom of speech in modern America.
The chorus for the song "Imaginary Friends" on the 2005
Nada SurfNada Surf is an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1992, the New York band consists of Matthew Caws , Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca .-Early years:...
album
The Weight is a GiftThe Weight Is a Gift is Nada Surf's fourth full-length album. It was produced by Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla and mixed by Geoff Sanoff. It was released in 2005 and features vocals from the Long Winters frontman John Roderick...
includes the line, "Lenny Bruce's bug eyes stare from an LP, asking me just what kind of fight I got in me."
During the song "La Vie Boheme A" in the musical
RentRent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
, Lenny Bruce is listed among the influences upon underground culture alongside Langston Hughes.
Books by or about Bruce
- Bruce, Lenny. Stamp Help Out! (Self-Published pamphlet, 1962)
- Bruce, Lenny. How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People is an autobiography by Lenny Bruce, the scathing social satirist and comedian, who died in 1966 at age 40 of a drug overdose...
(Playboy Publishing, 1967)
By others:
- Barry, Julian. Lenny (play) (Grove Press, Inc. 1971)
- Bruce, Honey
Honey Harlow Bruce Friedman was a stripper and showgirl best remembered as the wife of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce.-Biography:...
. Honey: The Life and Loves of Lenny's Shady Lady (Playboy Press, 1976, with Dana Benenson)
- Bruce, Kitty. The (almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce (1984, Running Press) (includes a graphically spruced up reproduction of 'Stamp Help Out!')
- Cohen, John, ed., compiler. The Essential Lenny Bruce (Ballantine Books, 1967)
- Collins, Ronald
Ronald K.L. Collins is the Harold S. Shefelman Scholar at the University of Washington School of Law and was a scholar at the Washington, D.C., office of the First Amendment Center from 2002-09. During his tenure there he wrote and lectured on freedom of expression and oversaw the component of the...
and David SkoverDavid Michael Skover is the Fredric C. Tausend Professor of Law at the Seattle University School of Law. He teaches, writes, and lectures in the fields of federal constitutional law, federal courts, free speech & the internet, and mass communications theory. He is also a regionally acclaimed...
, The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall & Rise of an American Icon (Sourcebooks, 2002)
- DeLillo, Don
Don DeLillo is an American author, playwright, and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries...
. UnderworldUnderworld is a postmodern novel published in 1997 by Don DeLillo. It was nominated for the National Book Award, was a best-seller, and is one of DeLillo's better-known novels....
, (Simon and Schuster Inc., 1997)
- Denton, Bradley
Bradley Clayton Denton is an American science fiction author. He has also written other types of fiction, such as the black comedy of his novel Blackburn, about a sympathetic serial killer....
. The Calvin Coolidge Home For Dead Comedians, an award-winning collection of science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
stories in which the title story has Lenny Bruce as one of the two protagonists.
- Goldman, Albert
Albert Harry Goldman was an American professor and author.Born in Dormont, Pennsylvania, Albert Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines...
, with Lawrence SchillerLawrence Julian Schiller is a noted American film producer, director and screenwriter.-Career:Schiller was born in 1936 in Brooklyn, and grew up outside of San Diego, California...
. Ladies and Gentlemen—Lenny Bruce!! (Random House, 1974)
- Josepher, Brian. What the Psychic Saw (Sterlinghouse Publisher, 2005)
- Kofsky, Frank
Frank Kofsky was an American Marxist historian, author, and Professor of History at California State University, Sacramento, from 1969 until his death. A musician himself, Kofsky also wrote several books on jazz, mainly concentrating on the avant-garde of the 1960s and the relationship between...
. Lenny Bruce: The Comedian as Social Critic & Secular Moralist (Monad Press, 1974)
- Kringas, Damian. Lenny Bruce: 13 Days In Sydney (Independence Jones Guerilla Press, Sydney, 2010) A study of Bruce's ill-fated September 1962 tour down under.
- Smith, Valerie Kohler. Lenny (novelization based on the Barry-scripted/Fosse-directed film) (Grove Press, Inc., 1974)
- Thomas, William Karl. Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet (first printing, Archon Books, 1989; second printing, Media Maestro, 2002; Japanese edition, DHC Corp. Tokyo, 2001)
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1966 |
The Lenny Bruce Performance Film |
Himself |
includes animated short film Thank You Masked Man by John Magnuson Associates |
| 1974 |
Lenny Lenny is a 1974 American biographical film about the comedian Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Julian Barry is based on his play of the same name.-Plot:...
|
Biography starring Dustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
as Lenny Bruce |
Hoffman was Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor,
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role,
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 2011 |
Looking for Lenny |
Documentary featuring interviews with Mort Sahl, Phyllis Diller, Lewis Black, Richard Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Jonathan Winters, Robert Klein, Shelley Berman and others |
North American Premiere Toronto Jewish Film Festival May 2011, Screened at Paris Beat Generation Days April 2011 |
Partial Discography
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1958 |
Interviews of our times |
Works by Bruce; and Henry Jacobs and Woody Leifer. |
| 1959 |
The sick humor of Lenny Bruce |
|
| 1960 |
Togetherness (Elect me, I am not a nut) |
|
| 1961 |
American |
(Recorded 1960?) |
| 1961 |
Carnegie Hall concert |
Recorded Feb. 2 1961. |
| 1961 |
Live at the Curran Theater |
Recorded Nov. 19, 1961--(released 1971). |
| 1964 |
To is a preposition, come is a verb |
Released 2005 on Douglas Records, with original 2000 |
| 1965 |
Berkeley concert |
Recorded Dec. 12, 1965. |
| 1965 |
Lenny Bruce is out again |
Produced by Phil Spector. |
Audio/video
External links
- The Official Lenny Bruce Website
- "Famous Trials: The Lenny Bruce Trial, 1964", University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Includes Linder, Douglas, "The Lenny Bruce Trial: An Account", 2003. WebCitation archive.
- Azlant, Edward. "Lenny Bruce Again", Shecky Magazine, August 22, 2006
- Gilmore, John. "Lenny Bruce and the Bunny", excerpt from Laid Bare: A Memoir of Wrecked Lives and the Hollywood Death Trip (Amok Books, 1997). ISBN 978-1878923080
- Harnisch, Larry. "Voices", Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, April 13, 2007. (Reminiscences by saxophonist Dave Pell)
- Kaufman, Anthony. Archive.org archive of "Robert Weide's 'Lenny Bruce': 12 Years in-the-Negotiations" (interview with Swear to Tell the Truth producer), Indiewire.com, April 16, 2008
- Hentoff, Nat
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
. "Lenny Bruce: The crucifixion of a true believer", Gadfly March/April 2001
- Smith, Daniel V. "The Complete Lenny Bruce Chronology" (fan site)
- Appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts radio show, 1949 (mp3), November 27, 2011
- "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet" Memoir and pictures from Bruce's principal collaborator, Media Maestro 2001.
- The Pot Smokers, a satirical article by Lenny Bruce, reprinted in The (Almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce
Idioms for Marijuana Cigarettes, by Lenny Bruce, reprinted in The (Almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce