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Jackie Mason, a rabbi-turned-comedian whose feisty brand of standup comedy led him to Catskills nightclubs, West Coast talk shows and Broadway stages, has died. He was 93.
Mason died Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan after being hospitalized for over two weeks, the celebrity lawyer Raoul Felder told The Associated Press.
The irascible Mason was known for his sharp wit and piercing social commentary, often about being Jewish, men and women and his own inadequacies. His typical style was amused outrage.
тАЬEighty per cent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe,тАЭ he once joked. Another Mason line was: тАЬPolitics doesnтАЩt make strange bedfellows, marriage does.тАЭ About himself, he once said: тАЬI was so self-conscious, every time football players went into a huddle; I thought they were talking about me.тАЭ
His death was mourned far and wide, from fellow comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who called him тАЬone of the best,тАЭ to Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity, who hailed Mason as тАЬirreverent, iconoclastic, funny, smart and a great American patriot.тАЭ
Mason was born Jacob Maza, the son of a rabbi. His three brothers became rabbis. So did Mason, who at one time had congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Comedy eventually proved to be a more persistent calling than God.
тАЬA person has to feel emotionally barren or empty or frustrated in order to become a comedian,тАЭ he told The Associated Press in 1987. тАЬI donтАЩt think people who feel comfortable or happy are motivated to become comedians. YouтАЩre searching for something and youтАЩre willing to pay a high price to get that attention.тАЭ
Mason started in show business as a social director at a resort in the Catskills. He was the guy who got everybody up to play Simon Says, quiz games or shuffleboard. He told jokes, too. After one season, he was playing clubs throughout the Catskills for better money.
тАЬNobody else knew me, but in the mountains, I was a hit,тАЭ Mason recalled.
In 1961, the pint-sized comic got a big break, an appearance on Steve AllenтАЩs weekly television variety show. His success brought him to тАЬThe Ed Sullivan ShowтАЭ and other programs.
He was banned for two years from the тАЬSullivanтАЭ show when he allegedly gave the host the finger when Sullivan signalled to him to wrap up his act during an appearance on Oct. 18, 1964.
MasonтАЩs act even carried him to Broadway, where he put on several one-man shows, including тАЬFreshly SqueezedтАЭ in 2005, тАЬLove Thy NeighborтАЭ in 1996 and тАЬThe World According to MeтАЭ in 1988, for which he received a special Tony Award.
тАЬI feel like Ronald Reagan tonight,тАЭ Mason joked on Tony night. тАЬHe was an actor all his life, knew nothing about politics and became president of the United States. IтАЩm an ex-rabbi who knew nothing about acting and IтАЩm getting a Tony Award.тАЭ
Mason called himself an observer who watched people and learned. From those observations he said he got his jokes and then tried them out on friends. тАЬIтАЩd rather make a fool of myself in front of two people for nothing than a thousand people who paid for a ticket,тАЭ he told the AP.
His humour could leap from computers and designer coffee to then-Sen. John Kerry, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Donald Trump. He was able to articulate the average JoeтАЩs anger, making the indignities of life seem funny and maybe just a little bit more bearable.
тАЬI very rarely write anything down. I just think about life a lot and try to put it into phrases that will get a joke,тАЭ he said. тАЬI never do a joke that has a point that I donтАЩt believe in. To me, the message and the joke is the same.тАЭ
On TV, Mason was a reliable presence, usually with a cameo on such shows as тАЬ30 RockтАЭ or тАЬThe SimpsonsтАЭ or as a reliable guest on late night chat shows. He performed in front of BritainтАЩs Queen Elizabeth II and his show тАЬFearlessтАЭ played LondonтАЩs West End in 2012.
He portrayed a Jewish ex-pajama salesman in love with an Irish-Catholic widow portrayed by Lynn Redgrave in a series called тАЬChicken SoupтАЭ in 1989 but it didnтАЩt last. During the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the British Broadcasting Corp.тАЩs Scottish service hired Mason as a weekly commentator.
MasonтАЩs humour sometimes went too far, as when he touched off a controversy in New York while campaigning for GOP mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani against Democrat David Dinkins, who was Black. Mason had to apologize after saying, among other things, that Jews would vote for Dinkins out of guilt.
Felder, his longtime friend, told the AP that Mason had a Talmudic outlook on life: тАЬThat whatever you would say to him, he would start an argument with you.тАЭ
He is survived by his wife, producer Jyll Rosenfeld, and a daughter, Sheba.