Jackie Mason passes away at 93 after an unparalleled career as a borscht belt comic whose standup career took him from the Catskills to Broadway By Dan Heching For Dailymail.com Published: 02:10 BST, 25 July 2021 | Updated: 02:39 BST, 25 July 2021 Viewcomments Jackie Mason, whose style of comedy was unmistakably and uniquely his own, has died at the age of 93. The borscht belt comedian passed away at a Manhattan, New York City hospital, as confirmed by his longtime friend, lawyer Raoul Felder, to the New York Times. In the tradition of Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield, Mason's biting and acerbic brand of comedy was also undeniably Jewish, helping him to establish himself as a cultural touchstone for those that would follow, including Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. RIP: Jackie Mason, whose style of comedy was unmistakably and uniquely his own, has died at the age of 93; seen here in 2005 Mason was born in 1928 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, as Yacov Moshe Maza to immigrant parents from Belarus. In the early 1930s, Jackie's family moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which at the time was a thriving neighborhood for Jewish transplants from Europe. The comedian's father, along with practically every other male relative to come before him, had been ordained as a rabbi, and Jackie was destined to follow their footsteps. Seen here recording his album I Want To Leave You With The Words Of A Great Comedian in 1963: Mason's acerbic brand of comedy was undeniably Jewish, helping to establish him as a cultural touchstone for those that would follow, including Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld And sure enough, despite his personal preferences, Mason ended up completing his rabbinical studies at Yeshiva University further uptown in New York, and was then ordained as a rabbi himself. After leading congregations in Weldon, N.C., and Latrobe, Pa., to the best of his abilities, he started working summers at resorts in the Catskills, which were favored by Jews from the city (and were later immortalized in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing). where he wrote comic monologues and appeared onstage at every opportunity. This, he decided, was his true calling, and after his father’s death in 1959 he felt free to pursue it in earnest, with a new name. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility