Emil Cohen (1911- February 12, 2000) was an American comedian, humorist and entertainer. He was billed as "America's Foremost American Jewish Humorist". He frequently performed at the
Grossinger Hotel in
Liberty, New York, in the so-called "
Borscht Belt". Cohen's
Yiddish humor was well received by the predominantly Jewish audiences in this area.
Cohen was born in
in 1911, the son of Julius and Ida (Magidoff). He was raised in
Wilmington, Delaware with his sister Rose and his brothers Hym and Phil.
After serving in the
U.S. Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
during
World War II, Cohen became a comedian at the Grossinger Pancoast Hotel in
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...
. It was there he met and married Lillian Rothman in 1950. The couple had two sons, Jay and David.
Cohen developed a unique style of humor in which he delivered jokes and stories with a
punch line in
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
followed immediately by an English translation. His smooth delivery ensured that audience members who only understood English could still appreciate the joke in its authentic style. Cohen was known for his
double-entendre Yiddish-English humor, particularly his translation of
Abraham Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address into Yiddish. His humor was inspired by the lives of the Jews of
Eastern Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Cohen worked to preserve the heritage of Yiddish humor.
Cohen was also a gifted
raconteur and singer of traditional
Yiddish songs,
Chassidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
melodies, Palestinian songs, and Jewish
cantorial selections.
Cohen frequently spoke to groups in support of Jewish philanthropic causes. During his career, Cohen raised tens of millions of dollars for the
United Jewish Appeal and
Israel Bonds.
Cohen continued to perform until about a year before his death in 2000 at age 88.
Recordings
*"Emil Cohen - America's Foremost American-Jewish Humorist" Emco Records #1201.
*"Emil Cohen Recorded Live in T'synagogues and T'centers" 1978 Emco Records EM-1202
References
External links
''Paid Notice: Deaths COHEN, EMIL'' New York Times, February 10, 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Emil
1911 births
2000 deaths
Comedians from New Jersey
Jewish American male comedians
People from Elizabeth, New Jersey
People from Wilmington, Delaware
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
20th-century American Jews
Jews from New Jersey