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Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza on June 9, 1931, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin) is an American stand-up comedian. His politically incorrect routines and his opinionated observations on Jewish and American life have often provoked controversy. He graduated with a BA from City College of New York and (at the age of 25) was ordained as a rabbi in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.Mentioned in Mason's profile on NNDB.com Three years later he resigned the post to become a comedian.

In 1992 Mason won an Emmy for his voiceover of Rabbi Krustofsky in The Simpsons episode, Like Father, Like Clown List of awards won by The Simpsons on about.com and in a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Mason was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was also ranked #63 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians.

Mason has also been awarded an honorary degree by the Oxford University Debating Society, an honour they have bestowed on only 4 people in recent history (the other 3 being Mahatma Gandhi and former United States Presidents John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter).

John Byner impersonated Mason for the Aardvark cartoon character in the Cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark.

Career

Mason had several one-man comedy stage shows over the years. His first Broadway show was called The World According to Me, which was well-received. Later he had a show at the John Golden Theatre called Politically Incorrect, which ran into copyright problems as it was around the time that Bill Maher's TV show of the same name was on the air. Mason eventually added his name to his show's title to settle the situation. Between these shows, in 1989, Mason played the lead in a short-lived television show, "Chicken Soup."

In November of 2005 Mason started a daily talk show, "The Jackie Mason Show". The show airs nightly on the CN8 network on Comcast cable television. He is curently also the host of a nationally syndicated radio program (as of July 2006).

TV and film

• "The Simpsons" (1989) playing "Rabbi Hyman Krustofski" (voice) in episode: "Today I am A Klown" (episode # 15.6) 7 December 2003
• "The Fairly OddParents" (2001) playing "Sandman" (voice) in episode: "Beddy Bye" 23 May 2003
• Very Best of Have I Got News for You, The (2002) (V) (archive footage) .... Himself
• Royal Variety Performance 2001, The (2001) (TV) .... Performer
• "Have I Got News for You" (1990) playing "Himself" (episode # 16.3) 6 November 1998
• Kids Are Punny (1998) (TV) (voice) .... Himself/Voice

... aka Rosie O'Donnell's Kids Are Punny (1998) (TV) (USA: complete title)

• Ed Sullivan All-Star Comedy Special (1995) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
• What Makes You Laugh? (1995) (TV) .... Himself
• But... Seriously (1994) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
• "Full Wax, The" (1991) playing "Himself" (episode # 2.6) 1992
• "Simpsons, The" (1989) playing "Rabbi Hyman Krustofski" (voice) in episode: "Like Father, Like Clown" (episode # 3.6) 24 October 1991
• Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show, The (1991) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
• "Chicken Soup" (1989) TV Series .... Jackie Fisher
• Caddyshack II (1988) .... Jack Hartounian
• Perils of P.K., The (1986)
• History of the World: Part I (1981) .... Jew #1

... aka Mel Brooks' History of the World: Part 1 (1981) (USA: complete title)

• Jerk, The (1979) .... Harry Hartounian, Gas Station owner
• Sleeper (1973) (uncredited) (voice) .... Robot tailor
• Stoolie, The (1972) .... Roger Pitman
• The Hollywood Palace (1966) .... Himself

Controversy

Mason has been involved in several controversial situations over the course of his career.

Mason/Sullivan

Mason allegedly gave Ed Sullivan the finger on a live telecast of Sullivan's weekly variety show in 1962. He denied that he made an obscene gesture, insisting that he flashed numerous fingers and that the gesture was misinterpreted. He later retaliated against Sullivan by filing (and winning) a libel suit. A year and a half later Mason again started appearing on Sullivan's show.

A recording of the incident shows Mason talking through his set, and then looking to his right (viewers' left) toward Sullivan, commenting on the fact that Sullivan was giving him finger-signals. Sullivan may have been trying to tell Mason to wrap up his segment; regardless Mason continued commenting, talking toward Sullivan instead of the audience and at the same time swinging his right hand around (apparently mocking Sullivan's gestures) with the middle finger slightly separated from the others. The action left Sullivan with the impression that Mason had given him the finger on live TV. The camera then cut to Sullivan, who was looking agitated over what had just transpired; his arms were folded tightly and he was staring downward.

Allegations of racism

In 1991, he was criticized by African-American organizations such as the NAACP when he called New York mayor David Dinkins "a fancy schvartze with a moustache".Metrolife: Jackie Mason - Metro. June 13, 2006 He later apologized. He was later accused of racism when the American comic Ray Hanania, of Palestinian descent, was axed from opening for him at a Chicago club.Metrolife: Jackie Mason - Metro. June 13, 2006

Jews for Jesus lawsuit

On August 28 2006, Mason filed a lawsuit against the group Jews for Jesus for using his likeness in a pamphlet.Reported in an MSNBC news article about the lawsuit and a Fox32 News article His image was used next to the tag line - Jackie Mason...a Jew for Jesus!?. Mason said in court papers filed in New York:

Mason has claimed that the group are using his image and fame to gain attention and converts. The group recently responded to the suit by saying, Shame on him for getting so upset about this.

One Jerusalem

Mason also cofounded the organization One Jerusalem in response to the Oslo peace agreement. Its stated cause is "saving a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel."The One Jerusalem website notes this as their cause

Quotes

• I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I want to buy something
• It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a sickness you like.
• My position is that anybody who is in favor of gun control is a fucking moron (Said on Penn and Teller's Showtime series Bullshit!)
• Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money.
• Islam: religion of oppression, discrimination, violence, terror, war, superstition, intolerance and prejudice... To Islam the war, which they lost centuries ago, continues... Muslims, married to a failed past, offer little hope for integration into modern society. Islam is a religion of WHAT? - Jewish world review. 7 July, 2004. Jackie Mason with Raoul Felder
• Entertainers and stars are all the same thing; they're all on one side of the issue, they only know that Clinton is right, the Democrats are right, and no matter how they persecute people or how fraudulent they are, they're always right. There's a sick need in actors to prove to themselves that they're great compassionate people, that they're great humanitarians because they feel guilty. They're getting paid for nothing, they get paid billions of dollars for nothing, they know they don't deserve it, so, because most of them got no talent, they got no brains, they got nothing. They're basically morons!

References

• Nancy Basile, About.com (2006), The Simpsons Awards, Acessed: 29/08/2006
• Fox32 News (2006), Jackie Mason Not Laughing About Jews For Jesus Pamphlets, Accessed: 29/08/2006
• MSNBC (from Associated press) (2006), Oy! Jackie Mason sues Jews for Jesus, Accessed: 29/08/2006
• NNBD Biography (2006), Jackie Mason, Accessed: 29/08/2006
• Jews for Jesus Press Release Response to Mason Lawsuit , Accessed: 29/08/2006

Footnotes

External links

• Official website
• The Jews for Jesus Jackie Mason pamphlet (pdf)

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