Jackie Mason
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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 opinionated observations on Jewish and American life have often provoked controversy.
Mason graduated with a BA from City College of New York and (at the age of 25) was ordained as a rabbi in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.[1] Three years later he resigned the post to become a comedian.
In 1992, Mason won an Emmy for his voice-over of Rabbi Krustofsky in The Simpsons episode, "Like Father, Like Clown". [2] (making him the first and only guest star to win an Emmy for his role) 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.
John Byner impersonated Mason for the Aardvark cartoon character in the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark.
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[edit] 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 performed at the same time that Bill Maher's TV show of the same name was on the air. Mason eventually changed the name of the show to "Jackie Mason's 'Politically Correct'" to settle the situation. Between these shows, 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 television network on Comcast cable television. He is currently also the host of a nationally syndicated radio program (as of July 2006).
[edit] TV and film
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- 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 "Harvey Sandman a.k.a The 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
- 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
- The Simpsons (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
- The Jerk (1979) .... Harry Hartounian, Gas Station owner
- Sleeper (1973) (uncredited) (voice) .... Robot tailor
- The Stoolie (1972) .... Roger Pitman
- The Hollywood Palace (1966) .... Himself
[edit] Controversy
Mason has been involved in several controversial situations over the course of his career.
[edit] Mason/Sullivan
In 1962, Mason allegedly gave Ed Sullivan the finger on a live telecast of Sullivan's weekly variety show. Sullivan terminated Mason's $45,000.00 contract on the spot. Mason denied that he made the obscene gesture, insisting that he flashed numerous fingers and that the gesture was misinterpreted. He later retaliated against Sullivan by filing ( but later dropping ) a libel suit. A year and a half later, Mason again appeared on Sullivan's show, where Sullivan publicly apologized to Mason. Mason dropped the lawsuit shortly after. That was Mason's last appearance to Sullivan's show.
A video recording of the incident shows Mason talking through his comedy 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 TV camera then cut to Sullivan, who was looking agitated over what had just transpired; his arms were folded tightly and he was staring downward.
[edit] 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".[3] 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.[3]
[edit] 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.[4] His image was used next to the tag line - "Jackie Mason...a Jew for Jesus!?". 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 matzo ball or kosher salami. | ” |
Mason has claimed that the group was using his image and fame to gain attention and converts. The group responded to the suit by saying, "Shame on him for getting so upset about this".[4] The lawsuit was recently settled and Jews for Jesus apologized.[5]
[edit] Air America Phone Interview
On April 4, 2007, Mason held a phone interview with The Young Turks radio program on the liberal radio station Air America to promote his new book "Schmucks". During the interview, Mason alleged that Ariel Sharon wanted to give the Palestinians 98% of their land back but the Palestinians refused the deal and chose to kill Jews. He also said that there was still strong debate in the scientific community that global warming was actually happening. [6]
[edit] 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 un-divided capital of Israel."[7]
[edit] 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 television Showtime series).
- 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. [8]
- 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!
[edit] References
- Nancy Basile, About.com (2006), The Simpsons Awards, Accessed: 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
- New York Times (2006), To Settle Suit, Jews for Jesus Apologizes to Jackie Mason
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Mentioned in Mason's profile on NNDB.com
- ^ List of awards won by The Simpsons on about.com
- ^ a b Metrolife: Jackie Mason - Metro. June 13, 2006
- ^ a b Reported in a MSNBC news article about the lawsuit and on Fox32 News article
- ^ Reported in an New York Times news article about the lawsuit and settlement.
- ^ Air America Radio Interview with Transcript[1]
- ^ The One Jerusalem website notes this as their cause
- ^ Islam is a religion of WHAT? - Jewish World Review. 7 July 2004. Jackie Mason with Raoul Felder
http://www.theyoungturks.com/story/2007/3/30/84515/9832
