Henry "Henny" Youngman (March 16, 1906 – February 24, 1998) was an English-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please".

In a time when many comedians told elaborate anecdotes, Youngman's routine consisted of telling simple one-liner jokes, occasionally with interludes of violin playing.

Known as "the King of the One-Liners", a title conferred to him by columnist Walter Winchell, a stage performance by Youngman lasted only 15 to 20 minutes but contained dozens of jokes in rapid succession.

Henry Youngman was born to Russian Jews Yonkel Yungman and Olga Chetkin in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, England.

[4] He grew up in New York City, took violin lessons and began as a comedian after he had worked for years at a print shop, where he wrote "comedy cards" containing one-line gags.

The comedy cards were discovered by up-and-coming comedian Milton Berle, who encouraged Youngman and formed a close friendship with him.

When the New York Telephone Company started its Dial-a-Joke in 1974, over three million people called in one month to hear 30 seconds of Youngman's material—the most ever for a comedian.

As his fame passed into legendary status, he never considered himself aloof or above others, and he never refused to perform a show in a small venue or unknown club.

In a tribute to Youngman, TV and animation producer Mark Evanier described him in a way that emphasized both his money consciousness and his love of performing: He would take his fiddle and go to some hotel that had banquet rooms.

He'd consult the daily directory in the lobby and find a party—usually a bar mitzvah reception—and he would go up to the room and ask to speak to whoever was paying for the affair.

[5]Roger Ebert described a similar episode in a 2011 film review: I once observed Henny Youngman taping a TV show in the old NBC studios at the Merchandise Mart.

Henny Youngman's stage performances included a series of short, one-line jokes told in rapid succession.

With the exception of a week following his wife's death, and the month he was in his final hospital stay, Youngman worked almost every day for over seventy years without vacations or other breaks.

Youngman developed pneumonia and died at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan on February 24, 1998, three weeks before his 92nd birthday.