Profile Text
Birth Name: Yacov Moshe Hakohen Maza
Date of Birth: June 9, 1928
Place of Birth: Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.
Date of Death: July 24, 2021
Place of Death: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Jackie Mason was an American stand-up comedian and film and television actor. His roles included the films The Stoolie , The Jerk (1979), and Caddyshack II , and the series The Ed Sullivan Show , Chicken Soup , and The Simpsons .
Jackie was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to an Orthodox Jewish family, the son of Baila/Belle Rivka (Gitlin) and Eliyahu/Elza/Eli Mordechai Mazo/Maza, a rabbi. His parents were from Smalyavichy, Minsk, Belarus, and his family spoke Yiddish. His grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather were also rabbis. His father was working as a rabbi in Sheboygan at the time of his birth. His family moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan during his youth. Jackie was a busboy at Borscht Belt resorts, in the Catskill Mountains.
Jackie became a rabbi himself at age 25, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and led congregations in Weldon, North Carolina, and in Latrobe, before becoming a comedian in the mid 1950s.
He was married to his manager, Jyll Rosenfeld, until his death. He had a daughter, comedian Sheba Mason, with his former partner, English teacher Ginger Reiter.
Jackie’s paternal grandfather was named Chaim Mazo.
Sources: Genealogy of Jackie Mason – https://www.geni.com
Jackie Mason on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org Jackie Mason on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org