Jay Jason
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Jay Jason (1915 – 2001) was an American
stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
who continuously performed in the show-business industry from 1933 to 2000.


Early life

Jay Jason's grandparents were from Eastern Europe and Russia. His parents, Lina and Ben, had six children. Jay Jason's interest in show business began when he would imitate the dialects of some of the residents from different countries who lived in boarding houses his parents owned. Born in
Rochester, NY Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Wes ...
, Jay Jason attended the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...
where he majored in languages. He traveled to Buffalo for amateur shows, and success in these comedy contests led him to pursue a career as an entertainer.


Early comedy career

Barely 19 years of age, he left the University of Rochester after two years for his first major club date, and changed his name from Jonas Levy to Jay Jason (sometimes in the media his last name was spelled Jayson). It was a common practice in those days for Jewish entertainers to change their names, to be more accepted. He performed throughout the Midwest during the 1930s. During World War Two, he entertained for the USO, and during one show, he performed in front of hundreds of Hollywood and night club personalities including Red Skelton and Mickey Rooney. After the war, he continued to entertain in the Midwest. In a 1950 Columbus, Ohio, newspaper article, reporter Herb Christopher calls Jay Jason "a rising star," and as “the current Palm Garden Headliner… (he) finds many calls for guest appearances, benefit performances. Local television guest shows also come all too easy…” There are many other media reports of Jason performing such as a 1951 article in the Toledo Blade: “JAY JASON. This well known comedian, who has played many engagements in Toledo and has one of the largest night club followings…"


Later comedy career

From the 1950s to the late 1990s, Jason was one of the most enduring and recognized performers at
Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
' resorts. He played frequently at the Granit, Concord,
Kutsher's Hotel Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club in Thompson, Sullivan County, near Monticello, New York, was the longest running of the Borscht Belt grand resorts in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State. While the region was open to any and all vis ...
, the
Nevele Nevele () is a village and former Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hansbeke, Landegem, Merendree, Nevele proper, Poesele and Vosselare. In 2 ...
, The Laurels Hotel and Country Club, The Pines Resort, Raleigh, the Overlook, the Tamarack Lodge, Stevensville, the Windsor, and
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the Catskill Mountains in the Town of Liberty, near the village of Liberty, New York. One of the largest Borscht Belt resorts, it was a kosher establishment that catered primarily to Jewish client ...
. As mentioned by Grosswirth, "Jay's name will be familiar to those of you who used to frequent what was commonly referred to as 'The
Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the north ...
'". In a ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' magazine article in 1992, reporter Stuart Vincent mentioned that Jay “is the consummate Catskills comic... You’ve probably seen him if you’ve been to one of the Borscht Belt hotels in the Catskills with your temple, your church, your parents, your cousins. A funny man. A comic’s comic. An entertainer for 60 years—impressionist, singer, even has a few dance steps in him…he’s played the Las Vegas hotels and Manhattan night clubs, appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” three times.” Jason's humor had self-deprecating aspects, and all subjects were grist for his comedy routines. He also impersonated celebrities such as
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,
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, and
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, and he also did voice-overs for cartoon characters. In addition to being mentioned as one of the comics who regularly performed at the Borscht Belt, Jason was mentioned on internet sites listing famous comedians, and his YouTube videos are featured on a number of internet comedy sites. Jason’s jokes were often quoted in different newspapers such as the News and Courier in South Carolina, the Toledo Blade in Ohio, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Ohio, and the Miami News in Florida. As an example, Martin Burden of the New York Post wrote: “Feud-in-the-making: Jack E. Leonard at the Blue Angel and Jay Jason at the Latin Quarter are telling the same quip: I always thought Chubby Checker was a fat taxicab.” In addition, Earl Wilson of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune wrote: “Today’s Best Laugh. New York has more psychiatrists than plumbers says Jay Jason, proving the city has more stuffed-up heads than toilets.” In the syndicated Parade Magazine, Jason was quoted as saying: “You’ve all heard of kleptomaniacs. Well I know a guy who suffers from mania-klepto. He walks into department stores backward, sneaks up to the counter when no one is watching and leaves things. People talk about doctors and unethical practices—splitting fees, over-charging, all that stuff. But not my doctor. He’s a great physician, honest, sincere, above-board. He never operatives on you unless he really needs the money.” During his career, he appeared on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'', Mike Wallace's Nite Beat, the Dorsey Brothers television Stage Show, as well as radio programs such as the American-Jewish Caravan. He also performed at top night clubs across the country such as the Slate Brothers in Hollywood, the
Fontainebleau Hotel The Fontainebleau Miami Beach (also known as Fontainebleau Hotel) is a hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Designed by Morris Lapidus, the luxury hotel opened in 1954. In 2007, the Fontainebleau Hotel was ranked ninety-third in the American Institute ...
in Miami Beach, the
Flamingo Hotel Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a casino along with 3, ...
in Las Vegas and the
Latin Quarter (nightclub) Latin Quarter (also known as The LQ) was a nightclub in New York City. The club originally opened in 1942 and featured big-name acts. In recent years, it has been a focus of hip hop, reggaeton and salsa music. Its history is similar to that of it ...
in New York City. He also entertained in other countries such as when he performed on television in Australia. He also opened shows for entertainers such as
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
and
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
. Jason was also mentioned in the popular entertainer’s magazine the Billboard. In the late 1980s, he appeared as the comedy star of ''Sugar Daddy,'' a vaudeville-type show with music, comedy, illusion and costumes. In Moore's book on comedians, he mentions that Jay Jason was one of the great comics he would watch at the Downingtown Inn, and Jay’s name was mentioned in a number of other books. For example, Rudd is quoted in ''Jazz and its discontents'', saying that "Comedians are like the jazz musicians of the Borscht Belt, ... then there's Ralph Pope, Jay Jason, Lenny Rush, and Mickey Marvin...they’re incredible. And they do improvise, within a set form. They work with a set number of variables—like a musician would with, say, twelve notes—and they shift the order of things according to how the audience is reacting. They usually start out the same and have a big thing they do at the end that brings it to a peak and lets then bow out gracefully. Like a final coda or cadenza. But in the middle, you never know where they’re going next. That’s the exciting part".


Personal life

Jay married Lynn Peltz in 1947, and had two children named Diana and Leonard. After moving throughout the Midwest for much of his early career, in the mid-1950s, Jay and Lynn settled in
Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) fr ...
, NJ, which allowed Jason easy access to the Catskills Mountains. A number of comedians worked for Jason over time as drivers to the Borscht Belt hotels, including the comedian
Kenny Kramer Kenny Kramer (born May 1943) is an American former stand-up comedian, who was the inspiration for the character of Cosmo Kramer from the television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Early life Kramer grew up in New York City, in the Tremont section of the ...
, who was used as the basis for the character from the American sitcom ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
''. Kramer is quoted as saying: “Through a friend of mine, I ended up getting a job as a chauffeur for a comedian named Jay Jayson,who was very popular in the Catskills. I used to drive Jay to his gigs, and carry his wardrobe, and I started writing jokes for Jay. Jay is doing my jokes and they’re getting great laughs, and I realize, hey, I could do these jokes myself. So on November 7, 1971, I stepped on a stage for the first time as a comedian…” Jason's nephew, Sid Roth, host of a noted messianic radio and television show, also drove Jason to the hotels in the Catskills. Jason was well liked among entertainers. This is illustrated by a newspaper story about his son's bar mitzvah: "The boy’s father is the current comedy star at the Latin Quarter in New York city. Many show business personalities attended the service, including
Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...
,
Phil Foster Phil Foster (born Fivel Feldman; March 29, 1913 – July 8, 1985) was an American actor and performer, best known for his portrayal of Frank DeFazio in ''Laverne & Shirley''. Early life Foster was born Fivel Feldman in Brooklyn, New York Cit ...
, Norman Dean, Lew Black, Davey Starr,
Jack Kahane Jack Kahane (20 July 1887, in Manchester – 2 September 1939, in Paris) was a writer and publisher who founded the Obelisk Press in Paris in 1929. He was the son of Selig and Susy Kahane, both immigrants from Romania. Kahane, a novelist, began th ...
, Corbett Monica,
Gene Baylos Gene Baylos (November 16, 1906 – January 10, 2005) was a nightclub comedian. Not widely known by the general public, Baylos was a favourite of many "celebrity" comedians in New York City. A modest success on television, he performed his stand ...
,
Marilyn Maxwell Marvel Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. In a career that spanned the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War ...
, Tony Drake, Laura Lane, Tina Robin and Bea Kalmus." At his daughter Diana's wedding, comedians who attended included: Reginald Stanbach, Lou Menchell, Allan Tresser, Dusty Brooks, Al Bernie and Murray Waxman. Jason associated with other leading comics (e.g., Don Rickes,
Morty Gunty Morty Gunty (February 1, 1929 – July 15, 1984) was an American actor and comedian well known among New York City nightclub comics in the 1960s and 1970s. Gunty attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn, New York. He was born and died in the Pa ...
, etc.) and entertainers of the second half of the 20th century.Levendusky, Linda. (Jan. 2012). Off the clock" ''Re/Search''. Publication of the Social Science Research Center at DePaul University.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jason, Jay 1915 births 2001 deaths American impressionists (entertainers) American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American memoirists American satirists American social commentators American stand-up comedians Borscht Belt Jewish American comedians Jewish comedy and humor Jewish American male actors 20th-century American Jews