Legendary comedian Jackie Mason died Saturday evening at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 93.
He was born Yaacov Moshe Maza, the son of a rabbi, and he himself and his three brothers all became rabbis.
After serving congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, he decided to switch professions.
As often in his career, Mason gave a brazen and seemingly contradictory reason for switching his career goal.
In 1987, he told the Associated Press “you have to be emotionally barren or empty or frustrated in order to become a comedian. I don’t think someone who feels comfortable or happy is motivated to become a comedian. You’re searching for something and you’re willing to pay a high price to get that attention.”
His close friend and lawyer, Raoul Felder, told the Associated Press that Mason had a Talmudic outlook on life, “that whatever you would say to him he would start an argument with you.”
His close friend and lawyer, Raoul Felder, told the Associated Press that Mason had a Talmudic outlook on life, “that whatever you would say to him he would start an argument with you.”
Like a stereotypical Jew, Mason had his psychological fixations. “I was so self-conscious,” he is quoted as saying, “that every time football players went into a huddle, I thought they were talking about me.”
This reporter saw Mason perform in person only once while covering a testimonial dinner for a Los Angeles community leader.
Mason opened with one of his barbed comparisons between Jews and gentiles.
“The toilet seat was invented by the Italians,” he proclaimed, “but it was the Jews who thought of putting a hole in it.”
Among the thousands of Jewish jokes bounced off me during a long lifetime, this one has always stuck in my mind.
Politically, Mason supported right-wing personalities and causes in both the United States and Israel.
He was one of the few major show biz figures to support Donald Trump’s run for the presidency and he co-founded the organisation “One Jerusalem,” which opposed the Oslo Peace Accord between Israel and its Arab foes.
Mason is survived by his wife, producer Jill Rosenfeld, and a daughter, Sheba.
