Lenny Bruce(1925-1966)
- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider on October 13, 1925, in
Mineola, Long Island, New York. His British-born father, Myron, was a
shoe clerk, his mother, Sadie, was a dancer. Lenny's parents were
divorced when he was a child. To support herself and her son, Sadie
Schneider pursued a career in show business and sent Lenny to live with
various aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Dropping out of high school,
Lenny enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, which he almost disliked. He
got himself discharged after convincing a team of Navy psychologists
that he was experimenting with homosexual urges. With some help from
his mother, Lenny began doing impressions, one-liners and movie
parodies in small nightclubs. In 1948, he obtained some booking as a
result of his appearance on the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.
Lenny married a red-headed stripper named Honey Harlow in 1951, but
they were divorced five years later. After Honey was arrested and sent
to jail for a narcotics violation, Lenny raised their daughter, Kitty,
by himself.
Slowly, Lenny began working his way up from performing
stand-up comedy in seedy New York City strip clubs and jazz clubs.
Gradually his act evolved into something wholly different from that of
other comics. Onstage, he was a dark, slender, and intense figure who
prowled around like a caged animal and spoke into a hand-held
microphone. His monologues were peppered with four-letter curse words
and Yiddish expressions. In his act, Lenny liked to expose racist
attitudes by forcing his audiences to examine their own racial
prejudices. In another act bashing religions, Lenny acted out a
conversation between Oral Roberts and the Pope, with both talking in
the vernacular of glib show-business personalities. When jazz critic
Ralph J. Gleason and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote
about Lenny, be began to get the recognition he so badly wanted.
Unfortunately, the seedy subculture of strip joints, clubs, and dives
had introduced him to hard drugs and fast times.
Through his nightclub
acts and record albums, Lenny became the hipster saint of the comedy
world, crossing into the line of propriety where others feared to
tread. But his foul-speaking acts began to catch up with him when he
was arrested in 1961 on obscenity charges following an appearance at
the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, but a jury found him not guilty.
Problems with the authorities and religious groups trying to silence
him began to plague him as he appeared in clubs all over the country.
In 1964, he was arrested again in New York City on more obscenity
charges. During his trial a police officer read notes about Lenny's
profane act, which caused the desperate comic to ask the judge to let
him do the act in court so the judge could understand his callous humor
in context, but the judge refused. Despite support from noted writers,
critics, educators and politicians, Lenny was found guilty and
sentenced to several months in prison, and was paroled just a few
months later. Continually harassed by the police, Lenny became
depressed and paranoid. Further prosecutions for obscenity and his drug
use drove him toward instability. By 1965, he was broke and in debt. He
claimed that every time he got a gig, the local police, wherever he
was, would threaten to arrest the club owner if Lenny went onstage.
In February 1966, Lenny traveled to Los Angeles and appeared onstage for
the first time in years. He performed for a very small crowd who
included a few hecklers and vice cops waiting to arrest him if he
should use profanity again. Lenny by this time was bearded, overweight,
and haggard, and his performance centered on his current obsessions:
his constitutional right of free speech, free assembly, and freedom
from unreasonable search and seizure. When a friend asked him
afterwards why he had turned his back on comedy he replied, "I'm not a
comedian anymore. I'm Lenny Bruce." On August 3, 1966, Lenny was found
dead on the bathroom floor of his Hollywood home. Whatever the details
or reasons why, Lenny Bruce was found dead from a drug overdose at the
age of 40.
Mineola, Long Island, New York. His British-born father, Myron, was a
shoe clerk, his mother, Sadie, was a dancer. Lenny's parents were
divorced when he was a child. To support herself and her son, Sadie
Schneider pursued a career in show business and sent Lenny to live with
various aunts, uncles and grandparents.
Dropping out of high school,
Lenny enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942, which he almost disliked. He
got himself discharged after convincing a team of Navy psychologists
that he was experimenting with homosexual urges. With some help from
his mother, Lenny began doing impressions, one-liners and movie
parodies in small nightclubs. In 1948, he obtained some booking as a
result of his appearance on the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.
Lenny married a red-headed stripper named Honey Harlow in 1951, but
they were divorced five years later. After Honey was arrested and sent
to jail for a narcotics violation, Lenny raised their daughter, Kitty,
by himself.
Slowly, Lenny began working his way up from performing
stand-up comedy in seedy New York City strip clubs and jazz clubs.
Gradually his act evolved into something wholly different from that of
other comics. Onstage, he was a dark, slender, and intense figure who
prowled around like a caged animal and spoke into a hand-held
microphone. His monologues were peppered with four-letter curse words
and Yiddish expressions. In his act, Lenny liked to expose racist
attitudes by forcing his audiences to examine their own racial
prejudices. In another act bashing religions, Lenny acted out a
conversation between Oral Roberts and the Pope, with both talking in
the vernacular of glib show-business personalities. When jazz critic
Ralph J. Gleason and San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote
about Lenny, be began to get the recognition he so badly wanted.
Unfortunately, the seedy subculture of strip joints, clubs, and dives
had introduced him to hard drugs and fast times.
Through his nightclub
acts and record albums, Lenny became the hipster saint of the comedy
world, crossing into the line of propriety where others feared to
tread. But his foul-speaking acts began to catch up with him when he
was arrested in 1961 on obscenity charges following an appearance at
the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, but a jury found him not guilty.
Problems with the authorities and religious groups trying to silence
him began to plague him as he appeared in clubs all over the country.
In 1964, he was arrested again in New York City on more obscenity
charges. During his trial a police officer read notes about Lenny's
profane act, which caused the desperate comic to ask the judge to let
him do the act in court so the judge could understand his callous humor
in context, but the judge refused. Despite support from noted writers,
critics, educators and politicians, Lenny was found guilty and
sentenced to several months in prison, and was paroled just a few
months later. Continually harassed by the police, Lenny became
depressed and paranoid. Further prosecutions for obscenity and his drug
use drove him toward instability. By 1965, he was broke and in debt. He
claimed that every time he got a gig, the local police, wherever he
was, would threaten to arrest the club owner if Lenny went onstage.
In February 1966, Lenny traveled to Los Angeles and appeared onstage for
the first time in years. He performed for a very small crowd who
included a few hecklers and vice cops waiting to arrest him if he
should use profanity again. Lenny by this time was bearded, overweight,
and haggard, and his performance centered on his current obsessions:
his constitutional right of free speech, free assembly, and freedom
from unreasonable search and seizure. When a friend asked him
afterwards why he had turned his back on comedy he replied, "I'm not a
comedian anymore. I'm Lenny Bruce." On August 3, 1966, Lenny was found
dead on the bathroom floor of his Hollywood home. Whatever the details
or reasons why, Lenny Bruce was found dead from a drug overdose at the
age of 40.