Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; Yiddish: יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
Not to be confused with Jacqueline Mason.Jackie Mason
Yaakov Moshe Maza
June 9, 1928
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.
July 24, 2021 (aged 93)
New York City, U.S.
Stand-up
Television
Film
Radio
American
City College of New York (B.A.), Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem Lower East Side, NYC
1955–2021[1]
1
The World According to Me! and Jackie Mason on Broadway
His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me! won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, an Emmy Award, and earned 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. He wrote and performed six one-man shows on Broadway.[1]
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.[2][3] 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."[4]
Early life[edit]
Jackie Mason was born Yacov Moshe Maza on June 9, 1928 (according to the 1940 NYC census), in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the fourth and last son (and only son born in the United States) in a family of six children of strict Orthodox Jews.[3][5][6][7][8] Mason came from a long line of rabbis, which included his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather, and his great-great grandfather.[2][3][4][9]
His father Eli Maza and his mother, Belle (Gitlin), were born in Minsk, and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s with the rest of Mason's family; his father died in 1959.[10][6][11] A Jewish refugee organization helped his father find a position in Sheboygan, as it needed a rabbi.[12] 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.[3][5][6][12] There, his parents and their friends all spoke Yiddish.[12]
As a teenager, Mason worked as a busboy at resorts in the Borscht Belt in New York's Catskill Mountains.[3] 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."[5]
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.[4][13] At age 18 he became a cantor, and at age 25[14] he received semikhah from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein[15] and was ordained a rabbi (as his three brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had been).[3][8][16] He led congregations in Weldon, North Carolina, and at Beth Israel Congregation in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.[17][18] 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."[8] 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."[5][14]
Career[edit]
Early years[edit]
Mason wrote most of his own material.[4] A sampling of his humor is his commentary 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?"[8] And his commentary on what is important in life: "Money is not important. Love is important. Fortunately, I love money."[19] As well as his ruminations 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 ..."[20][21] And on trust: "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."[21] And on fidelity: "Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe."[21]
He was a comedian at the Fieldston Hotel in Swan Lake, New York, in the summer of 1955.[22] 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.[7] He performed at New York City nightclubs (where he was earning as much as $10,000 ($98,000 in current dollar terms) a week), and on The Steve Allen Show, his first national TV appearance, in 1962, and the Tonight Show with Steve Allen, as well as on The Perry Como Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Garry Moore Show.[2][4] The William Morris Agency advised him in 1962 to take elocution lessons so that he could shed his heavy Yiddish accent, but he refused.[7][8][19]
Political views[edit]
A longtime Democrat, Mason was a registered Republican by 2007.[4]: 48–49 He had spoken out in defense of Donald Trump.[41]
Mason was an admirer of Rabbi Meir Kahane.[42] He openly endorsed Kahane's plan to pay Israeli Arabs unwilling to accept Israeli sovereignty to emigrate. He also served as the honored speaker at a fundraising event for a yeshiva founded by Kahane.[43]
In an issue of the newspaper The Evening Star dated March 1, 1971, Jackie Mason was quoted as saying "Democratic principles shouldn't apply to Israel like they do to America".[44]
In January 2001, Mason co-founded the organization One Jerusalem in response to the Oslo peace agreement. Its stated cause is "Maintaining a united Jerusalem as the un-divided capital of Israel."[45]
Controversies[edit]
In 1991, Mason was criticized by African-American organizations including the NAACP, when he called New York City mayor David Dinkins "a fancy shvartze with a moustache";[46] Mason later apologized.[4] In 2009, Mason referred to Barack Obama as a shvartze during one of his stand-up routines, which prompted members of the audience to walk out.[47]
In 2003, Mason co-wrote an article that advised Israeli leaders to threaten the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.[48] Mason and Raoul 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."[48]
On 2006, Mason filed a lawsuit against the group Jews for Jesus for using his likeness in a pamphlet.[49] His image was used next to the tagline "Jackie Mason ... a Jew for Jesus!?" Mason said in court papers filed in New York: "While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a Matzah ball or kosher salami." Mason asserted 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."[49] The lawsuit was settled in 2006, with Jews for Jesus apologizing.[50]
In 2012, Mason said that a friend at the time, Kaoru Suzuki-McMullen, attacked him while leaving his apartment on West 57th Street in Manhattan. Suzuki-McMullen said she was attacked by Mason, but she was arrested.[51] Both sides agreed to drop the matter and all charges were dropped against Suzuki-McMullen.[52]
Death[edit]
Mason died on July 24, 2021, at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan after being hospitalized for over two weeks.[59][60][61]
Many celebrities and other notable figures mourned Mason's death. Gilbert Gottfried called him "one of the best."[60][62] Fox News personality Sean Hannity remarked that he was "irreverent, iconoclastic, funny, smart and a great American patriot."[60] Actor Henry Winkler tweeted that Mason put on "truly one of the funniest shows I have ever seen .. ever .. thank you Jackie and now you get to make heaven laugh."[60][63]
Legacy[edit]
Mason received a special Tony Award in 1987 for The World According to Me!.[97]
Mason won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for his 1988 HBO special The World According to Me! (also known as Jackie Mason on Broadway). He also won a 1992 Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as Rabbi Krustofsky on The Simpsons, shared with five of the show's regular cast members.[98][99]
In DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' animated cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, the Aardvark's voice was performed by John Byner as an imitation of Mason.[100][101]