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Comedian Jackie Mason – who went from rabbi to Broadway star – has died aged 93.
He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, New York, his friend and lawyer Raoul Felder confirmed to Sky’s US partner NBC News.
He was having trouble breathing and had been in the hospital for two weeks before he died in his sleep.
Mason’s stand-up comedy was often considered controversial. Photo: AP
“He died peacefully in his sleep with his wife and a few friends by his side,” Felder said.
COVID-19 was not a factor in his death.
Mason, born in Wisconsin in 1928 as Yacov Moshe Maza, was known for his quick wit and social commentary, which took him from comedy clubs to LA chatrooms and Broadway stages.
An often controversial figure, he was famous for his “Borscht Belt” style of comedy, where he embraced Jewish themes and the politically incorrect as part of his act.
He got his big chance in 1961 when he starred on the Steve Allen variety show – which took him to the famous Ed Sullivan show, from which he ended up being banned in 1964 when he apparently gives the host a middle finger after being told to wrap up his act.
He was then allowed to return to the show in 1966, after Sullivan admitted he had made a mistake, but Mason said the situation “fundamentally destroyed my career for at least 10 or 15 years.”
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Walking the stage, Mason won a Tony Award in 1987 for his show The World According to Me by Jackie Mason !, which lasted for 573 performances in New York.
His other shows included Politically Incorrect in 1994-95, Love Thy Neighbor in 1996-97 and Freshly Squeezed in 2005.
Mason also performed in front of the Queen when his show Fearless performed in the West End in 2012.
Her latest show, The Ultimate Jew, skipped the Broadway stage, but was described by Variety as “a long shot against the hypocrisy of the world, sprinkled with liners from the ‘take my wife, please'” .
Mason, pictured here in 2015, has won awards for his live performances. Photo: Joseph Marzullo / MediaPunch / IPx / AP
As well as being a stage comedian, he also had a small recurring role in The Simpsons where he voiced Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, the father of Krusty The Clown, himself earning an Emmy victory for the role in 1992. He most recently appeared in the feature film animated show in 2014.
He also starred himself in an episode of the NBC workplace comedy 30 Rock in 2007.
Elsewhere, he was a commentator for BBC Scotland during the OJ Simpson murder trial, and later appeared in the film Caddyshack II – known to be a box office flop.
Most recently, he has uploaded more than 200 videos to YouTube where he has given his opinions on politics and current affairs.
He is survived by his wife Jyll Rosenfeld and his daughter Sheba.
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