Jackie Mason, widely recognized as one of the best stand-up comedians of all time, is famed for his razor-sharp comic timing and political satire that awes and entertains audiences. His astute observation of the quirks of modern life, as well as his ability to turn them into humor, has won him a legion of supporters. He is most famous for his one-person show, The World According to Me, which earned him a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy nomination.
Jackie Mason was born Yacov Moshe Hakohen Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1928, the fourth and last son (and first son born in the United States) of a family of six devout Orthodox Jews. Mason came from a long line of rabbis, with his father, grandpa, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather all being rabbis.
Mason's father, Eli Maza, and mother, Belle (Gitlin), were born in Minsk and moved to the United States with the rest of his family in the 1920s. A Jewish refugee group assisted his father in finding a job in Sheboygan, which was in desperate need of a rabbi. Mason's family moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City when he was five years old, primarily so that he and his siblings could receive a yeshiva education. He grew up on Henry Street, Rutgers Street, and Norfolk Street. His parents and friends all spoke Yiddish there.
Mason earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from City College of New York in 1953, with a double major in English and Sociology. He began his career as a cantor at the age of 18, and at the age of 25, he got semikhah and was ordained as a rabbi (as his three brothers, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had been). He led congregations in Weldon, North Carolina, and Latrobe, Pennsylvania's Beth Israel Congregation. "I started speaking more and more jokes in a synagogue," he claimed, "and after a while, a lot of gentiles would come to the congregation only to hear the sermons." After his father died three years later, he quit his work as a rabbi in a synagogue to pursue a career as a comedian because "someone in the family had to make a livelihood," he says.
Jackie Mason had a daughter named Sheba Mason in 1985. She followed the path of her father and also became a comedian. In 1991, at sixty, Jackie Mason married his thirty-seven-year-old manager, Jyll Rosenfeld. Jackie Mason's daughter, Sheba Mason, was born in 1985. She's also a stand-up comedian.
From humble comic beginnings in New York, the Borscht Belt, and comedy clubs around the nation, Jackie Mason rose to be one the most sultry comics in America in the mid-1960s. He arrived at the pinnacle of American entertainment culture when he turned into a regular performer on the country's unique TV assortment program, 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' He had a falling out with Sullivan after a questionable hand signal during a live performance in 1962.
Jackie Mason made his Broadway debut in 1969, playing the role of a Jewish widower in the comedy called A Teaspoon Every Four Hours. He returned to Broadway in 1986 with the two-year run of The World According to Me, which ran for three hundred and sixty-seven performances. His one-person show won a Special Tony Award, Emmy Award, and a Grammy nomination.
Mason came back to Broadway in 1990 with 'Jackie Mason: Brand New'; in 1994 with 'Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect'; in 1996 with 'Affection Thy Neighbor'; in 1999 with 'Much Ado about Everything'; in 2002 with 'Prune Danish'; and in 2005 with 'Newly Squeezed.' He earned business achievement and gathered a great display of nominations and grants, including an Emmy and an Ace honor for the HBO special, 'Jackie Mason on Broadway.
In 1997, Avon Books released The Jackie Mason, Raoul Felder Survival Guide to New York. This followed Dove Books Jackie Mason and Raoul Felder's Guide to New York and Los Angeles Restaurants in 1996.
Jackie would end up doing more one-person shows, including The Ultimate Jew (2008) and Fearless (2012). He has written four books, including an autobiography called Jackie, Oy!: The Frank, Outrageously Funny Autobiography of Jackie Mason (1988). Jackie Mason additionally writes for the Jewish Press and bi-monthly section with Raoul Felder in the online version of, The American Spectator. They additionally write a political section for The Washington Times, Jewish World Review, and World Net Daily.
Famous and adored the world over, Jackie Mason has been respected by many big names, including South African President Nelson Mandela, the United Kingdom's Oxford University, and scores of different associations. With eight Royal Command Performances for Queen Elizabeth II, Jackie was also the first American to host the show.
On July 24, 2021, Mason died after being admitted to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan for more than two weeks.
Celebrities and other significant persons widely mourned mason's death, "One of the best," according to Gilbert Gottfried. Sean Hannity, a Fox News host, described himself as "irreverent, iconoclastic, hilarious, clever, and a wonderful American patriot." Mason put on "absolutely one of the funniest shows I have ever seen... ever... thank you, Jackie, and now you get to make heaven laugh," according to actor Henry Winkler.
| Birth Date: | 9 Jun, 1931 |
| Age: | 88 yrs |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Sheboygan |
| Education: | City College of New York |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American rabbi and comedian |
| Net Worth 2021: | 9 million |
