Skip to content
Lenny Bruce

File:Lenny_Bruce_1961.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ460876· pop 40· linked from 465 articles

Lenny Bruce

Sign in to save

Also known as Leonard Schneider, Leonard Alfred Schneider

American comedian and social critic (1925–1966)

Person · Open Library

Works
15

Top works

  • How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
  • The sick humor of Lenny Bruce
  • Lenny Bruce--American
  • Interviews of our times
  • Cómo ser grosero e influir en los demás Memorias de un bocazas

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Mineola, New York, USA

Leonard Alfred Schneider, better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. Branded a "sick comic", Bruce was essentially blacklisted from television, and when he did appear these performances was…

Known for

  • Dead Neon: The Many Faces of Lenny Bruce on Film — Himself (archival footage)2023
  • The Fabulous Allan Carr — Self (archive)2017
  • The Last Laugh — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)2016
  • From Straight to Bizarre — Self2012
  • Looking for Lenny — Self (archive footage)2011
  • The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts — Self (archive footage)2009
  • Starz Inside: In the Gutter — Self (archive)2008
  • Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth — Self (archive footage)1998
  • But... Seriously — Self (archive footage)1994
  • Death Scenes 2 — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)1992

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
Active from
1949-09-23
americanamericanaaorbig musiccontemporary folkenglish

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
26,754
Total plays
233,274

Tags

stand-upcomedyhumorhumor-comzappa nebula

Lenny Bruce (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola, New York, was an extremely influential and controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s, whose comedy revolved heavily around the social stigmas and taboos of the era in which he lived. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in New York state history. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Lenny+Bruce">Rea

via Last.fm · Lenny Bruce

Quotes

  • You can't put tits and ass on the marquee!...Why not?...Because it's dirty and vulgar, that's why not!... Titties are dirty and vulgar?...Okay, we'll compromise. How about Latin? Gluteus maximus, pectoralis majors nightly...That's alright, that's clean, class with ass, I'll buy it...Clean to you, schmuck, but dirty to the Latins!
  • The liberals can understand everything but people who don't understand them.
  • I'll die young, but it's like kissing God.
  • I want to perform an unnatural act.
  • A Jew, in the dictionary, is one who is descended from the ancient tribes of Judea, or one who is regarded as a descendant from that tribe. That's what it says in the dictionary, but you and I know what a Jew is: One Who Killed Our Lord... there should be a statute of limitations for that crime.
  • I was arrested for using a ten-letter word that began with ‘c,’ and I would marry no woman who was not one.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Leonard Alfred Schneider , ( 1925-10-13 ) October 13, 1925, Mineola, New York , U.S.
Died
August 3, 1966 (1966-08-03) (aged 40), Los Angeles , California, U.S.
Resting place
Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupations
Comedian satirist social critic
Years active
1947–1966
Spouse
Honey Bruce ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1951 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1957 ) ​
Relatives
Sally Marr (mother)
Notable work
The Lenny Bruce Originals The Carnegie Hall Concert Let the Buyer Beware How to Talk Dirty and Influence People
Medium
Stand-up television books
Genres
Satire political satire black comedy blue comedy
Subjects
American culture American politics race relations religion sexuality obscenity

via Wikipedia infobox

~32 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy that combined satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon in 2003.

Bruce forged new paths in comedy and counterculture. His trial for obscenity was a landmark of freedom of speech in the United States. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Bruce third, behind Richard Pryor and George Carlin, on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lenny Bruce” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (5)