Jackie Mason — comedian with roots in the Russian Empire
Jackie Mason (born Yaakov Moshe Maza) was an American stand-up comedian who had been ordained a rabbi before turning to comedy. His one-man Broadway show The World According to Me! won a Special Tony Award in 1987, and he won Emmy Awards for writing Jackie Mason on Broadway (1988) and for voice-over work on The Simpsons (1992).
Tracing the roots — Minsk (Belarus)
Born Yaakov Moshe Maza on 9 June 1931 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to Eli Maza and Belle (Gitlin) Maza, both born in Minsk (Russian Empire), who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. His father and grandfather were rabbis. The family moved to the Lower East Side of New York when he was five.
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Minsk (Belarus). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"My father wanted me to be a rabbi. I became a comedian. There is no difference."