Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; Yiddish: יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.

[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 and sometimes politically incorrect.

[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.

"[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.

[citation needed] 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.

[23] Mason stated during his appearance on the BBC show Desert Island Discs, in March 2012, that at the time he did not think much of the group, referring to them as "four kids in search of a voice who needed haircuts".

[24] It is possible that he confused the Beatles with The Animals, who appeared on the same show as Mason on October 18, 1964, to a similar audience of screaming young girls.

[5] To clear his name, Mason filed a libel suit on the grounds that Sullivan had defamed him at the New York Supreme Court.

[4] In 1969, Mason made his Broadway theater debut as Jewish widower Nat Weiss in the comedy play A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, which he wrote with Mike Mortman.

[5][31] It was well received both by critics and the public; Frank Rich, the sometimes harsh reviewer of The New York Times, wrote: "So sue me ... Mason was very, very funny".

[30] In 1990 and 1991, Mason again was on Broadway, this time with his successful two-act show Brand New, which ran for 216 performances at the Neil Simon Theatre, and won him his second Outer Critics Circle Award.

[7][31][34] Critic Clive Barnes of the New York Post praised the "brilliant" comic and his "totally new from top to tuchis" humor.

[31] Critic Mel Gussow of The New York Times remarked on the "exact meeting" between performance and material in which Mason engaged in a comic attack on everyone, including himself, cutting them all down to size.

[2][31] Critic John Simon of Time wrote: "His method is hyperbole and reductio ad absurdum, but always informed by bitter reason.

Between these shows, Mason played the lead in a short-lived television interfaith sitcom called Chicken Soup alongside Lynn Redgrave.

[4] Mason also put on the Broadway one-man shows Love thy Neighbor (1996–97) which ran for 225 performances at the Booth Theatre (critic Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times described Mason's routines as "roaringly funny"), Much Ado About Everything (1999–2000) which was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for its run in London) and ran for 183 performances at the John Golden Theatre (in this effort Van Gelder described Mason as "convulsing audiences"), Prune Danish (2002; nominated for a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event), Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed (2005; for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance), and The Ultimate Jew (2008).

Mason's most recent film Jackie Goldberg: Private Dick (2011) was a direct-to-DVD production, released by FilmWorks Entertainment.

[44] 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".

[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.

[48] 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.

[49] 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.

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."

[51] 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.

"[61][63] Fox News personality Sean Hannity remarked that he was "irreverent, iconoclastic, funny, smart and a great American patriot.

"[61] 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.

"[61][64] Source:[65] Mason appeared in over 200 self-written video blog entries on YouTube, in which he gave his opinions on current events and politics.

[98] Mason won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program for his 1988 HBO special The World According to Me!

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.