133-480: 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
266-573: A Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Maltese Falcon . During the 1940s he performed on CBS Radio's "Cadena de las Américas" network broadcasts to South America in collaboration with Nelson Rockefeller 's cultural diplomacy program at the U.S. State Department's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs . During the 1930s, Robinson was an outspoken public critic of fascism and Nazism , donating more than $ 250,000 to 850 political and charitable organizations between 1939 and 1949. He
399-492: A Dull Moment (1968) with Dick Van Dyke , It's Your Move (1968), Mackenna's Gold (1969) starring Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif , and the Night Gallery episode “The Messiah on Mott Street" (1971). The last scene that Robinson filmed was a euthanasia sequence, with his friend and co-star Charlton Heston , in the science fiction film Soylent Green (1973); he died 84 days later. Heston, as president of
532-441: A Prophet . The 2016 biography of Frank Ray Perilli, The Candy Butcher , devotes a chapter to Perilli's ten-year collaboration with Bruce. Bruce released four albums of original material on Fantasy Records, later compiled and re-released as The Lenny Bruce Originals . Two later records were produced and sold by Bruce himself, including a 10-inch album of the 1961 San Francisco performances that started his legal troubles. Starting in
665-554: A U.S. postage stamp, the sixth in its Legends of Hollywood series. Robinson has been the inspiration for a number of animated television characters, usually caricatures of his most distinctive 'snarling gangster' guise. An early version of the gangster character Rocky , featured in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Racketeer Rabbit , shared his likeness. This version of the character also appears briefly in Justice League , in
798-491: A capacity of 2,100, only 200 people attended, including a strong police presence, and Bruce gave what was described as a "subdued" performance. It was long rumored that a tape recording of the historic performance was made by police, but it was in fact recorded by local jazz saxophonist Sid Powell, who brought a portable tape recorder to the show. The tape was rediscovered in 2011 in the possession of Australian singer Sammy Gaha, who had acted as Bruce's chauffeur during his visit; it
931-649: A child. In New York v. Ferber , 458 U.S. 747 (1982), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that child pornography need not be legally obscene in order to be outlawed. The Court ruled that in contrast to the types of images considered in Miller , images that depicted underlying harm to children need not appeal to "the prurient interest of the average person", portray sexual conduct in "a patently offensive manner", nor be considered holistically, in order to be proscribed. Another difference between U.S. constitutional law concerning obscenity and that governing child pornography
1064-537: A comedian. Carlin was arrested along with Bruce after refusing to provide identification when police raided a Bruce performance. By others: The later compilations are released in the European Union under various oldies labels, as the content used is public domain in the EU. Articles Audio/video Obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of
1197-789: A comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938). Again with Bogart in a supporting role, he was in The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) and then he was borrowed by Columbia for I Am the Law (1938). At the time World War II broke out in Europe, he played an FBI agent in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), the first American film that portrayed Nazism as a threat to the United States. He volunteered for military service in June 1942 but
1330-482: A conviction for mailing and delivery of a newspaper called the Chicago Dispatch , containing "obscene, lewd, lascivious, and indecent materials", which was later upheld in several cases. One of these was "A Book Named John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure " v. Attorney General of Com. of Massachusetts, " 383 U.S. 413 (1966) " wherein the book " Fanny Hill ", written by John Cleland c. 1760 ,
1463-590: A criminal painter. At MGM, he was in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), and then Orson Welles ' The Stranger (1946), with Welles and Loretta Young . Robinson followed it with another thriller, The Red House (1947), and starred in an adaptation of All My Sons (1948). Robinson appeared for director John Huston as the gangster Johnny Rocco in Key Largo (1948), the last of five films that he made with Humphrey Bogart , and
SECTION 10
#17327906650781596-491: A daughter from Robinson's wife's first marriage. The couple divorced in 1956. In 1958, Robinson married Jane Bodenheimer, a dress designer professionally known as Jane Arden. He lived in Palm Springs, California . In contrast to the gangsters he portrayed in film, Robinson was a soft-spoken and cultured man. He was a passionate art collector, eventually building up a significant private collection . In 1956, however, he
1729-476: A defense witness in a court hearing. Although Cohen removed the jacket before entering the courtroom, he had been observed wearing it in the courthouse corridor by a court officer. When Cohen left the courtroom, the officer arrested him for disturbing the peace. Cohen defended his attire as being an expression of disapproval of the war in Vietnam. Nonetheless, he was convicted of "maliciously and willfully disturbing
1862-599: A famous performance at the Berkeley Community Theatre in December 1965, which was recorded and became his last live album, The Berkeley Concert . The performance has been described as lucid, clear and calm, and one of his best. His last performance took place on June 25, 1966, at The Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, on a bill with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention . The performance
1995-604: A farm, Bruce joined the United States Navy at the age of 16 in 1942, with active service during World War II aboard the USS ; Brooklyn (CL-40) in Northern Africa , Palermo in 1943, and Anzio, Italy , in 1944. In May 1945, after a comedic performance for his shipmates in which he was dressed in drag, his commanding officers became upset. He defiantly convinced his ship's medical officer that he
2128-571: A fine. Criticism to the legislation have included: It is often used against people who expose their nude bodies in public environments that were not warranted a license to cater to the demographic interested in such practice (the first such place was the Praia do Abricó in Rio de Janeiro, in 1994), even if no sexual action took place, and it may include, for example, a double standard for the chest area of women and men in which only women are penalized. Such
2261-542: A friend of Bruce's, bought the negatives of the photographs "to keep them from the press". The official cause of death was "acute morphine poisoning caused by an overdose". Bruce's remains were interred in Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California , but an unconventional memorial on August 21 was controversial enough to keep his name in the spotlight. Over 500 people came to
2394-466: A journalist, and played a Tong gangster in The Hatchet Man (1932). Robinson made a third film with LeRoy, Two Seconds (1932) then did a melodrama directed by Howard Hawks , Tiger Shark (1932). Warner Bros. tried him in a biopic, Silver Dollar (1932), where Robinson played Horace Tabor ; a comedy, The Little Giant (1933); and a romance, I Loved a Woman (1933). Robinson
2527-427: A low-budget burlesque romp; and a children's film, The Rocket Man , in 1954. In 1956, Frank Ray Perilli , a fellow nightclub comedian who later wrote two dozen successful films and plays, became Bruce's mentor and part-time manager. Through Perilli, Bruce met and collaborated with photojournalist William Karl Thomas on three screenplays ( Leather Jacket , Killer's Grave and The Degenerate ), none of which made it to
2660-402: A nightclub tour. During the trip, Honey was arrested for marijuana possession and prevented from leaving the island due to her parole conditions. Lenny took this opportunity to leave her again, this time kidnapping the then one-year-old Kitty. In her autobiography, Honey claimed Lenny turned her in to the police. She was later sentenced to two years in federal prison. Bruce's divorce from Honey
2793-489: A player, a patron of the arts and a dedicated citizen ... in sum, a Renaissance man". He had been notified of the honor, but he died two months before the award ceremony took place, so the award was accepted by his widow, Jane Robinson. From 1937 to 1942, Robinson starred as Steve Wilson, editor of the Illustrated Press , in the newspaper drama Big Town . He also portrayed hardboiled detective Sam Spade for
SECTION 20
#17327906650782926-456: A push to prosecute obscenity cases. Red Rose Stories, a site dedicated to text-only fantasy stories, became one of many sites targeted by the FBI for shutdown. The government alleged that Red Rose Stories contained depictions of child rape. The publisher pleaded guilty. Extreme pornographer Max Hardcore served 30 months of a 46-month prison sentence for obscenity. Many U.S. states have had bans on
3059-581: A radio speaker in the U.S. had previously been recognized by the American Legion , which had given him an award for his "outstanding contribution to Americanism through his stirring patriotic appeals". Robinson was also an active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, serving on its executive board in 1944, during which time he became an "enthusiastic" campaigner for Roosevelt's reelection that same year. During
3192-543: A result of being investigated, he found himself on Hollywood's graylist, people who were on the Hollywood blacklist maintained by the major studios, but could find work at minor film studios on what was called Poverty Row . Robinson's roles included an insurance investigator in the film noir Double Indemnity , Dathan (the adversary of Moses ) in The Ten Commandments , and his final performance in
3325-529: A retouched photograph appearing to show Bruce giving a fascist salute . The venue owners cancelled the rest of Bruce's performances, and he retreated to his Kings Cross hotel room. Local university students (including future OZ magazine editor Richard Neville ), who were fans of Bruce's humor tried to arrange a performance at the Roundhouse at the University of New South Wales , but at the last minute
3458-656: A stripper led him to pursue schemes designed to make as much money as possible. The most notable was the Brother Mathias Foundation scam, which resulted in Bruce's arrest in Miami , Florida , in 1951 for impersonating a priest. He was soliciting donations for a leper colony in British Guiana (now Guyana ) under the auspices of the "Brother Mathias Foundation", which he had legally chartered—the name
3591-491: A thing took place in the 2012 FEMEN protests in São Paulo. Various countries have different standings on the types of materials that they as legal bodies permit their citizens to have access to and disseminate among their local populations. The set of these countries' permissible content vary widely accordingly with some having extreme punishment up to and including execution for members who violate their restrictions, as in
3724-633: A variety of content involving pornography and violence. Section 163 of the Canadian Criminal Code provides the country's legal definition of "obscenity". Officially termed as "Offences Tending to Corrupt Morals", the Canadian prohibited class of articles that are to be legally included as "obscene things" is very broad, including text-only written material, pictures, models (including statues) records or "any other obscene thing". According to Section 163(8), if "a dominant characteristic of
3857-639: Is a preposition, come is a verb"; that the sexual context of 'come' was so common that it bore no weight; and that if someone hearing it became upset, he "probably can't come". Although the jury acquitted him, other law enforcement agencies began monitoring his appearances, resulting in frequent arrests under obscenity charges. Bruce was arrested again in 1961 in Philadelphia for drug possession, and again in Los Angeles two years later. The latter arrest took place in then-unincorporated West Hollywood , and
3990-410: Is a record of child sexual abuse . Abuse of the child occurs during the sexual acts that are recorded in the production of child pornography, and several professors of psychology state that memories of the abuse are maintained as long as visual records exist, are accessed, and are "exploited perversely". Some countries also bans writings —that depict sexually explicit activities involving
4123-457: Is composed of two articles, Art. 233 "Obscene Act", "to practice an obscene act in a public place, or open or exposed to the public", punished with arrest of 3 months to 1 year or a fine; and Art. 234 "Obscene Written Piece or Object", to do, import, export, purchase or have in one's property, to ends of trade, distribution or public display, any written, drew, painted, stamped or object piece of obscenity, punished with arrest of 6 months to 1 year or
Lenny Bruce - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-585: Is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt", stated in 1868 by Lord Justice Cockburn , in Regina v. Hicklin , now known as the Hicklin test . Stanley Kauffmann 's novel The Philanderer was published by Penguin Books in 1957 and was unsuccessfully prosecuted for obscenity. The Obscene Publications Act is famously vague, defining obscenity with reference to material that is likely to "deprave and corrupt". The 1959 act
4389-539: Is obscene", famously wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced ... [b]ut I know it when I see it ...." In the U.S., the 1973 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California established a three-tiered test to determine what was obscene—and thus not protected, versus what was merely erotic and thus protected by the First Amendment . Delivering
4522-578: Is that the Supreme Court ruled in Stanley v. Georgia , 394 U.S. 557 (1969), that possession of obscene material could not be criminalized, while in Osborne v. Ohio , 495 U.S. 103 (1990), the high court ruled that possession of child pornography could be criminalized. The reason was that the motive for criminalizing child pornography possession was "to destroy a market for
4655-489: The Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts radio program. Lenny did a piece inspired by Sid Caesar , "The Bavarian Mimic", featuring impressions of American movie stars (e.g., Humphrey Bogart , James Cagney , and Edward G. Robinson ). Bruce's early comedy career included writing the screenplays for Dance Hall Racket in 1953, which featured Bruce, his wife Honey Harlow , and mother Sally Marr; Dream Follies in 1954,
4788-600: The Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in House of Strangers . During the 1930s and 1940s, Robinson was an outspoken public critic of fascism and Nazism , which were growing in strength in Europe in the years which led up to World War II . His activism included contributing over $ 250,000 to more than 850 organizations that were involved in war relief, along with contributions to cultural, educational, and religious groups. During
4921-693: The City College of New York , planning to become a criminal attorney. An interest in acting and performing in front of people led to him winning an American Academy of Dramatic Arts scholarship , after which he changed his name to Edward G. Robinson (the G. standing for his original surname ). He served in the United States Navy during World War I , but was not sent overseas. In 1915, Robinson made his Broadway debut in Roi Cooper Megrue's "Under Fire". He made his film debut in Arms and
5054-680: The Marquis de Sade . Obscenity law has been criticized in the following areas: Obscenity laws remain enforceable under Miller despite these criticisms. Some states have passed laws mandating censorship in schools, universities, and libraries even if they are not receiving government aid that would require censorship in these institutions . These include Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Twenty more states were considering such legislation in 2001–2002. Child pornography refers to images or films (also known as child abuse images ); as such, visual child pornography
5187-489: The Screen Actors Guild , presented Robinson with its annual award in 1969, "in recognition of his pioneering work in organizing the union, his service during World War II, and his 'outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession.'" Robinson was never nominated for an Academy Award , but in 1973 he was awarded an honorary Oscar in recognition that he had "achieved greatness as
5320-559: The United States , issues of obscenity raise issues of limitations on the freedom of speech and of the press , which are otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . Federal obscenity law in the U.S. is unusual in that there is no uniform national standard. Former Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court of the United States , in attempting to classify what material constituted exactly "what
5453-526: The science-fiction story Soylent Green . Robinson received an Academy Honorary Award for his work in the film industry, which was awarded two months after he died in 1973. He is ranked number 24 in the American Film Institute 's list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classic American cinema . Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited him as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. Robinson
Lenny Bruce - Misplaced Pages Continue
5586-411: The 100 greatest stand-ups of all time, above Woody Allen (4th) and below Richard Pryor (1st) and George Carlin (2nd). Both comedians who ranked higher than Bruce considered him a major influence. Pryor said that hearing Bruce for the first time "changed my life"; while Carlin said that Bruce was a "brilliant comedian" who influenced him as much as a man in his moral thinking and attitudes as he did as
5719-490: The 19-year-old writer of a fictional sex story "The Forestwood Kids"; however, the case was dismissed in 1995. In February 2009, citing its Policy On The Classification Of Obscene Material , the CBSA banned two Lucas Entertainment films because they show the "ingestion of someone else's urine... with a sexual purpose". In 2016 Mark Marek, owner of bestgore.com , pleaded guilty to breaching obscenity legislation for posting
5852-508: The 1940s, Robinson also contributed to the cultural diplomacy initiatives of Roosevelt's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs in support of Pan-Americanism through his broadcasts to South America on the CBS "Cadena da las Américas" radio network. In early July 1944, less than a month after the Invasion of Normandy by Allied forces, Robinson traveled to Normandy to entertain
5985-558: The 1950s, he was called to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare , but he was cleared of any deliberate Communist involvement when he claimed that he was "duped" by several people whom he named (including screenwriter Dalton Trumbo ), according to the official Congressional record, "Communist infiltration of the Hollywood motion-picture industry". As
6118-471: The 1960s. Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg ; December 12, 1893 – January 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during Hollywood's Golden Age . He appeared in 30 Broadway plays, and more than 100 films, during a 50-year career, and is best remembered for his tough-guy roles as gangsters in such films as Little Caesar and Key Largo . During his career, Robinson received
6251-682: The 7 Hoods (1964), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), and The Outrage (1964). He was second-billed, under Steve McQueen , with his name above the title, in The Cincinnati Kid (1965). McQueen had idolized Robinson while growing up, and opted for him when Spencer Tracy insisted on top billing for the same role. Robinson was top-billed in The Blonde from Peking . He also appeared in Grand Slam (1967), starring Janet Leigh and Klaus Kinski . Robinson
6384-722: The BBFC. If the BBFC refuses a certificate, a video is effectively banned for home viewing, but not necessarily in the cinema . Four films that were originally refused a certificate— The Exorcist , Straw Dogs , The Evil Dead , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre —were granted a certificate in the late 1990s and have subsequently been screened on mainstream television . According to the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993, "publication may be age-restricted if it contains highly offensive language likely to cause serious harm". In New Zealand, screening of Deep Throat (1972)
6517-519: The Buchmans, that I know, Sidney Buchman and all that sort of thing. It never entered my mind that any of these people were Communists." Despite accusing these persons of being duplicitous towards him about their political aims, Robinson never directly accused anyone of being a Communist. His own name was cleared, but in the aftermath, his career noticeably suffered; he was offered smaller roles infrequently. In October 1952, he wrote an article titled "How
6650-636: The Reds made a Sucker Out of Me", and it was published in the American Legion Magazine. The chair of the committee, Francis E. Walter , told Robinson at the end of his testimonies that the Committee "never had any evidence presented to indicate that you were anything more than a very choice sucker." Robinson married stage actress Gladys Lloyd Cassell in 1927. The couple had a son, Edward G. Robinson, Jr. , known as Manny, (1933–1974), and
6783-685: The Truth (1998), directed by Robert B. Weide and narrated by Robert De Niro , was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature . Episode 12 of Season 1 of Liberty on Trial in America: Cases That Defined Freedom , aired on January 3, 2020, explored the ways in which Bruce and the First Amendment affected each other. In 2004, Comedy Central placed Bruce at number three on its list of
SECTION 50
#17327906650786916-627: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the word "fuck", although almost universally considered obscene when used to describe sexual intercourse, is speech-protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution when used to express a political belief. On 26 April 1968, Paul Robert Cohen, then 19 years old, donned a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" while visiting the Los Angeles Courthouse to testify as
7049-496: The UK prosecuted a man for writing a fictional sex story ( R v Walker ). In 2009, the crown prosecution service (CPS) dropped the case. During the 1960s and 1970s most Western countries legalised hardcore pornography . By the 1980s the UK was almost the only liberal democracy where the sale of hardcore pornography was still completely illegal, although ownership was not a criminal offence (except child pornography ). Home videotape
7182-624: The US to Europe and back. In 1959, while videotaping the first episode of Hugh Hefner 's Playboy's Penthouse , Bruce talked about his Navy experience and showed a tattoo he received in Malta in 1942. After a short period living with his father in California, Bruce settled in New York City, hoping to establish himself as a comedian. However, he found it difficult to differentiate himself from
7315-524: The Woman (1916). In 1923, he made his named debut as E. G. Robinson in the silent film, The Bright Shawl . He played a snarling gangster in the 1927 Broadway police/crime drama The Racket , which led to his being cast in similar film roles, beginning with The Hole in the Wall (1929) with Claudette Colbert for Paramount . One of many actors who saw their careers flourish rather than falter in
7448-678: The arresting officer was a young deputy named Sherman Block , who later became county sheriff. The charge this time was that the comedian had used the word "schmuck", an insulting Yiddish word that was also considered a term for "penis". The Hollywood charges were later dismissed. On December 5, 1962, Bruce was arrested on stage at the Gate of Horn folk club in Chicago. That year, he played at Peter Cook 's The Establishment club in London, and in April
7581-400: The authorities tried to prevent the illegal sale of pornography they found that juries , while not particularly liking the material, were reluctant to convict defendants where the material was intended for private use among consenting adults. During the 1990s the advent of the internet made it easier than ever before for British citizens to access hardcore material. Finally, in 2000, following
7714-609: The case of Iran where the current laws against pornography now include death sentences for those convicted of producing pornography. In India the Obscenity law is the same as had been framed by the British Government. Charges of obscenity have been levelled against various writers and poets till date; the law has not yet been revised. The famous trials relate to the Hungryalists who were arrested and prosecuted in
7847-455: The club Strip City. Harlow found employment at the Colony Club, widely known as the best burlesque club in Los Angeles at the time. Bruce left Strip City in late 1954 and found work at various strip clubs in the San Fernando Valley . As master of ceremonies, he introduced strippers while performing his material. The Valley clubs provided the perfect environment for him to create new routines. According to his primary biographer, Albert Goldman, it
7980-480: The courthouse was not speech but conduct amounting to an "absurd and immature antic". Standards superseded by the Miller Test include: FCC rules and federal law govern obscenity in broadcast media. Many historically important works have been described as obscene or prosecuted under obscenity laws, including the works of Charles Baudelaire , Lenny Bruce , William S. Burroughs , Allen Ginsberg , James Joyce , D. H. Lawrence , Henry Miller , Samuel Beckett , and
8113-406: The dismissal of a test case brought by the BBFC , hardcore pornography was effectively legalised, subject to certain conditions and licensing restrictions. It is still an offence to sell obscene material by mail order . After 1984, videotape sellers were more likely to be prosecuted under the Video Recordings Act rather than the OPA. The VRA requires that all videos must have a certificate from
SECTION 60
#17327906650788246-456: The episode "Comfort and Joy", as an alien with Robinson's face and non-human body, who hovers past the screen as a background character. Similar caricatures also appeared in The Coo-Coo Nut Grove , Thugs with Dirty Mugs and Hush My Mouse . Another character based on Robinson's tough-guy image was The Frog (Chauncey "Flat Face" Frog) from the cartoon series Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse . The voice of B.B. Eyes in The Dick Tracy Show
8379-442: The establishment. Bruce took the stage as "Lenny Marsalle" one evening at the Victory Club as a stand-in master of ceremonies for one of his mother's shows. His ad-libs earned him some laughs. Soon afterward, in 1947, just after changing his last name to Bruce, he earned $ 12 and a free spaghetti dinner for his first stand-up performance in Brooklyn . He was later a guest—and was introduced by his mother, calling herself Sally Bruce—on
8512-414: The eulogy. More than 1,500 friends of Robinson attended, with another 500 people outside. His body was flown to New York where it was entombed in a crypt in his family's mausoleum at Beth-El Cemetery in Queens. His pallbearers were Jack L. Warner , Hal B. Wallis , Mervyn Leroy , George Burns , Sam Jaffe , Frank Sinatra , Jack Karp and Alan Simpson. In October 2000, Robinson's image was imprinted on
8645-546: The exploitative use of children" rather than to prevent the material from poisoning the minds of its viewers. The three dissenting justices in that case argued, "While the sexual exploitation of children is undoubtedly a serious problem, Ohio may employ other weapons to combat it." This is most notably shown with the "X" rating under which some films are categorized. The most notable films given an "X" rating were Deep Throat (1972) and The Devil in Miss Jones (1973). These films show explicit, non-simulated, penetrative sex that
8778-413: The family decided to emigrate to the United States. Robinson arrived in New York City on February 21, 1904. "At Ellis Island I was born again," he wrote. "Life for me began when I was 10 years old." In America, he assumed the name of Emanuel. He grew up on the Lower East Side , and had his Bar Mitzvah at First Roumanian-American Congregation . He attended Townsend Harris High School and then
8911-468: The late 1960s, other unissued Bruce material was released by Alan Douglas , Frank Zappa and Phil Spector , as well as Fantasy. Bruce developed the complexity and tone of his material in Enrico Banducci 's North Beach nightclub, the hungry i , where Mort Sahl had earlier made a name for himself. Branded a "sick comic", Bruce was essentially blacklisted from television, and when he did appear, thanks to sympathetic fans like Hefner and Steve Allen , it
9044-413: The local clergy's inability to expose him as an impostor. Later, in his semifictional autobiography How to Talk Dirty and Influence People , Bruce said that he had made about $ 8,000 in three weeks, sending $ 2,500 to the leper colony and keeping the rest. On October 4, 1961, Bruce was arrested for obscenity at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, where he had used the word "cocksucker", and said that "to
9177-454: The midst of a severe blizzard, Bruce gave a famous performance at Carnegie Hall at midnight on February 4, 1961. It was recorded and later released as the three-disc set The Carnegie Hall Concert . In his posthumous biography of Bruce, Albert Goldman described that night: It's all a trip—and the best of it is you haven't the faintest idea where you're going! Lenny worshiped the gods of Spontaneity, Candor and Free Association. His greatest fear
9310-399: The military when the United States formally entered World War II, he was unable to do so because of his age; instead, the Office of War Information appointed him as a Special Representative based in London. From there, taking advantage of his multilingual skills, he delivered radio addresses in over six languages to European countries that had fallen under Nazi domination . His talent as
9443-419: The modernist school." Honey and Lenny's daughter Kathleen ("Kitty") Bruce was born in 1955. Honey and Lenny had a tumultuous relationship with many serious domestic disputes, usually the result of serious drug use. They broke up and reunited over and over again between 1956 and Lenny's death in 1966. They first separated in March 1956, and were back together by July of that year when they traveled to Honolulu for
9576-432: The more than 850 charities and groups that he had helped over the previous decade were listed as Communist front organizations by the FBI. As a result, he was called to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1950 and 1952, and he was also threatened with blacklisting . As shown in the full House Un-American Activities Committee transcript for April 30, 1952, Robinson repudiated some of
9709-539: The most profound and cataclysmic change in our popular culture the last few years—matching the "new sound" in music—has been the kind of humor exemplified by the Smothers Brothers , Laugh-In , Woody Allen , and that whole breed, whose secret source of strength was the late dark angel, Lenny Bruce. Bruce was the Gertrude Stein of comedians. Never popular himself—because he
9842-491: The new sound film era, he made only three films prior to 1930, but left his stage career that year and made 14 films between 1930 and 1932. Robinson went to Universal for Night Ride (1930) and MGM for A Lady to Love (1930) directed by Victor Sjöström . At Universal he was in Outside the Law and East Is West (both 1930), then he did The Widow from Chicago (1931) at First National . At this point, Robinson
9975-664: The next year he was barred from entering the United Kingdom by the Home Office as an "undesirable alien". In April 1964, he appeared twice at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village , with undercover police detectives in the audience. He was arrested along with club owners Howard and Elly Solomon, who were arrested for allowing an obscene performance. On both occasions, Bruce was arrested after leaving
10108-733: The northern English city of Leeds . Parts of the Act were repealed shortly after the Paraskos trial and it has rarely been used since in relation to visual art. Sex crime has generated particular concern. In 1976 the BBFC said that, in that year, it had viewed 58 films depicting "explicit rape", declaring scenes that glorified it as "obscene". As opposed to questions of "indecency", which have been applied to sexual explicitness, films charged with being obscene have been viewed as having "a tendency to deprave and corrupt" and been liable to prosecution. In 2008,
10241-702: The only one in which Robinson played a supporting role to Bogart's character in the film. It is also the only film with Bogart where Bogart's character killed Robinson's character in a gunfight, instead of the opposite. Around the same time, he was cast in starring roles for Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) and House of Strangers (1949). He starred in modest-budget films: Actors and Sin (1952), Vice Squad (1953), with brief appearances by second-billed Paulette Goddard , Big Leaguer (1953) with Vera-Ellen , The Glass Web (1953) with John Forsythe , Black Tuesday (1954) with Peter Graves , The Violent Men (1955) with Glenn Ford and Barbara Stanwyck , in
10374-422: The opinion of the court, Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote: The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether
10507-495: The organizations that he had belonged to in the 1930s and 1940s. and stated that he felt he had been duped or made use of unawares "by the sinister forces who were members, and probably in important positions in these [front] organizations." When asked whom he personally knew who might have "duped" him, he replied, "Well, you had Albert Maltz , and you have Dalton Trumbo , and you have ... John Howard Lawson . I knew Frank Tuttle . I didn't know [Edward] Dmytryk at all. There are
10640-456: The peace" and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The conviction was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court of California but reversed by the Supreme Court. In a 5–4 decision, Justice Harlan wrote for the Court that Cohen's conviction was based solely on speech and was protected by the First Amendment. 403 U.S. at 26. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Blackmun countered that Cohen's wearing of the jacket in
10773-548: The phrase which seems to become a cliche—he saw life as it is. Bruce's epitaph reads: "Beloved father—devoted son / Peace at last". Dick Schaap concluded his eulogy to Bruce in Playboy with the words: "One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty. That's obscene". A memorial event was held at the Judson Memorial Church in New York City on August 12, which was "packed to overflowing" an hour before it
10906-414: The police directly in his comedy routine. These performances often included rants about his court battles over obscenity charges, tirades against fascism, and complaints that he was being denied his right to freedom of speech. He was banned outright from several U.S. cities. In September 1962, his only visit to Australia caused a media storm, although he was neither banned nor forced to leave the country. He
11039-720: The public in the United States; the ratings are issued through the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). The intent of the rating system is to provide information about the content of motion pictures so parents can determine whether an individual motion picture is suitable for viewing by their children. Obscenity law in England and Wales is currently governed by the Obscene Publications Act , but obscenity law dates back much further into English common law . The conviction in 1727 of Edmund Curll for
11172-607: The publication is the undue exploitation of sex, or the combination of sex and at least one of crime, horror, cruelty or violence", that publication is deemed to be "obscene" under the current law. The current law states: 163. (1) Every person commits an offence who makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates or has in their possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or any other obscene thing. The Canada Border Services Agency seizes items it labels obscene. In 1993, Canadian police arrested
11305-533: The publication of Venus in the Cloister or the Nun in her Smock under the common-law offence of disturbing the peace appears to be the first conviction for obscenity in the United Kingdom, and set a legal precedent for other convictions. These common-law ideas of obscenity formed the original basis of obscenity law in other common law countries, such as the United States. The classic definition of criminal obscenity
11438-537: The sale of sex toys , regulating them as obscene devices. Some states have seen their sex toy bans ruled unconstitutional in the courts. That ruling leaves only Mississippi, Alabama, and Virginia with current bans on the sale of obscene devices. Literature (non-fiction) communicating contraceptive information was prohibited by several states. The last such prohibition, in Connecticut, was overturned judicially in 1965. In Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971),
11571-540: The screen, and the comedy material on his first three comedy albums. Bruce was a roommate of comedian Buddy Hackett in the 1950s. The two appeared on the Patrice Munsel Show (1957–1958), calling their comedy duo the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players", 20 years before the cast of Saturday Night Live used the same name. In 1957, Thomas booked Bruce into the Slate Brothers nightclub, where he
11704-577: The service to pay their respects, led by Spector. Cemetery officials tried to block the ceremony after ads for it encouraged attendees to bring box lunches and noisemakers. Delivering the eulogy, featured at the end of the documentary Lenny Bruce Without the Tears , the Rev. William Glenesk said: He was in a sense an evangelist, on a street corner. He was a man—up tight against an artificial world... who shattered its façades, and its hypocrisy, and—if you will pardon
11837-710: The stage. A three-judge panel presided over his widely publicized six-month trial, prosecuted by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Richard Kuh , with Ephraim London and Martin Garbus as the defense attorneys. Bruce and Howard Solomon were found guilty of obscenity on November 4, 1964. The conviction was announced despite positive testimony and petitions of support from—among other artists, writers and educators— Woody Allen , Bob Dylan , Jules Feiffer , Allen Ginsberg , Norman Mailer , William Styron , and James Baldwin , and Manhattan journalist and television personality Dorothy Kilgallen and sociologist Herbert Gans . Bruce
11970-569: The thousands of other show business hopefuls who populated the city. One place where they congregated was Hanson's, a diner where Bruce met Joe Ancis, who had a profound influence on Bruce's approach to comedy. Many of Bruce's later routines reflected his meticulous schooling at the hands of Ancis. According to Bruce's biographer Albert Goldman , Ancis's humor involved stream-of-consciousness sexual fantasies and references to jazz. He also gained notoriety for his focus on controversial subjects, black humour, obscenity, and criticism of organized religion and
12103-461: The time. It is derived from the Latin obscēnus , obscaenus , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral repugnance and outrage in expressions such as "obscene profits " and "the obscenity of war". As a legal term, it usually refers to descriptions and depictions of people engaged in sexual and excretory activity. In
12236-627: The troops, becoming the first movie star to go there for the USO . He personally donated $ 100,000 (equal to $ 1,730,813 today) to the USO. After returning to the U.S., he continued his active involvement in the war effort by going to shipyards and defense plants in order to inspire workers, in addition to appearing at rallies in order to help sell war bonds . After the war ended, Robinson publicly spoke out in support of democratic rights for all Americans, especially in demanding equality for Black workers in
12369-622: The university's vice-chancellor rescinded permission to use the venue, with no reason given, and an interview Bruce was scheduled to give on Australian television was cancelled by the Australian Broadcasting Commission . Bruce remained largely confined to his hotel, but eight days later gave his third and last Australian concert at the Wintergarden Theatre in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Although it had
12502-592: The video of the murder of Jun Lin . He received a six-month non-custodial sentence in a plea agreement, and left court after sentencing with his mouth covered in duct tape to protest his prosecution. Ever since 1940, in the Title VI of the Penal Code, naming crimes against sexual dignity (until 2009 crimes against social conventions), the fourth chapter is dedicated to a crime named "public outrage related to modesty" ( Portuguese : ultraje público ao pudor ). It
12635-458: The well-received Tight Spot (1955) with Ginger Rogers and Brian Keith , A Bullet for Joey (1955) with George Raft , Illegal (1955) with Nina Foch , and in Hell on Frisco Bay (1956) with Alan Ladd . His career's rehabilitation received a boost in 1954, when the anti-communist film director Cecil B. DeMille cast him as the traitorous Dathan in The Ten Commandments . The film
12768-437: The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. While most recent (2016) obscenity cases in the U.S. have revolved around images and films, the first obscenity cases dealt with textual works. The classification of "obscene" and thus illegal for production and distribution has been judged on printed text-only stories starting with Dunlop v. U.S. , 165 U.S. 486 (1897), which upheld
12901-566: The workplace. He endorsed the Fair Employment Practices Commission 's call to end workplace discrimination. Black leaders praised him as "one of the great friends of the Negro and a great advocator of Democracy". Robinson also campaigned for the civil rights of African Americans, helping many to overcome segregation and discrimination . During the years when Robinson spoke out against fascism and Nazism, he
13034-419: Was "precisely at the moment when he sank to the bottom of the barrel and started working the places that were the lowest of the low" that he suddenly broke free of "all the restraints and inhibitions and disabilities that formerly had kept him just mediocre and began to blow with a spontaneous freedom and resourcefulness that resembled the style and inspiration of his new friends and admirers, the jazz musicians of
13167-432: Was a booming market and it was relatively simple for individuals to smuggle hardcore material in from Europe or the United States, where it could be purchased legally, either for personal use or to copy it for distribution. This resulted in a considerable black market of poor quality videotapes. Meanwhile, people attempting to buy pornography legally would often be sold heavily censored R18 certificate material. While
13300-524: 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. Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola , New York . His British-born father, Myron (Mickey) Schneider, was a shoe clerk; they saw each other very infrequently. His mother, Sally Marr (legal name Sadie Schneider, born Sadie Kitchenberg),
13433-529: Was a stage performer and dancer who had an enormous influence on his career. Bruce grew up in Bellmore, New York and attended Wellington C. Mepham High School . For some of his high school years, he lived at Dengler's Farm on Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh, New York. Bruce's parents divorced before he was 10, and he lived with various relatives over the next decade. Bruce was Jewish. After spending time working on
13566-665: Was abandoned amidst derision from academics and the media . For visual works of art the main obscenity law in England and Wales was, until the 1960s, the Vagrancy Act 1838 which was successfully used in prosecutions against D.H. Lawrence for an exhibition of his paintings at the Warren Gallery, London, in 1929, and in 1966 against the British artist Stass Paraskos for an exhibition of his paintings held that year in
13699-576: Was becoming an established film actor. What began his rise to stardom was an acclaimed performance as the gangster Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello in Little Caesar (1931) at Warner Bros . Robinson signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros., casting him in another gangster film, Smart Money (1931), his only movie with James Cagney . He was reunited with Mervyn LeRoy , director of Little Caesar , in Five Star Final (1931), playing
13832-400: Was booked for a two-week engagement at Aaron's Exchange Hotel, a small pub in central Sydney, by American-born, Australia-based promoter Lee Gordon , who was by then deeply in debt, nearing the end of his formerly successful career, and desperate to save his business. Bruce's first show at 9 p.m. on September 6 was uneventful, but his second show at 11 p.m. led to major public controversy. Bruce
13965-538: Was born Emmanuel Goldenberg ( Yiddish : עמנואל גאָלדענבערג ) on December 12, 1893, in a Yiddish -speaking Romanian Jewish family in Bucharest , the fifth son of Sarah (née Guttman) and Yeshaya Moyshe Goldenberg (later called Morris in the U.S.), a builder. According to the New York Times , one of his brothers was attacked by an anti-semitic gang during a "schoolboy pogrom". In the wake of that violence,
14098-645: Was disqualified due to his age which was 48, although he became an active and vocal critic of fascism and Nazism during that period. MGM borrowed him for Blackmail , (1939). Then, to avoid being typecast, he played the biomedical scientist and Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich in Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940), and played Paul Julius Reuter in A Dispatch from Reuters (1940). Both films were biographies of prominent Jewish public figures. In between, he and Bogart starred in Brother Orchid (1940). Robinson
14231-430: Was due to get underway. It was attended by prominent members of the arts community, many of whom also performed, and included Allen Ginsberg , Joe Lee Wilson , Jean Shepherd , Charlie Haden , and The Fugs ; Paul Krassner officiated. On December 23, 2003, 37 years after Bruce's death, New York Governor George Pataki granted him a posthumous pardon for his obscenity conviction. Perhaps
14364-609: Was experiencing homosexual urges, leading to his dishonorable discharge in July 1945. However, he had not admitted to or been found guilty of any breach of naval regulations, and successfully applied to change his discharge to "Under Honorable Conditions ... by reason of unsuitability for the naval service" . During the Korean War era, Bruce served in the United States Merchant Marine , ferrying troops from
14497-462: Was finalized in 1959. He had an affair with jazz singer Annie Ross in the late 1950s. Comedienne Lotus Weinstock was Bruce's girlfriend and fiancee at the time of his death. Bruce had a severe drug addiction in the final decade of his life, using heroin , methamphetamine and Dilaudid daily, and suffering numerous health problems and personal strife as a result. His death was caused by an overdose. Bruce's desire to help his wife stop working as
14630-455: Was fired the first night for what Variety headlined as " blue material ". This led to the theme of Bruce's first solo album on Berkeley -based Fantasy Records , The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce , for which Thomas photographed the album cover. Thomas also photographed Bruce's other covers, acted as cinematographer on abortive attempts to film their screenplays, and in 1989 wrote a memoir of their ten-year collaboration, Lenny Bruce: The Making of
14763-494: Was forced to sell his collection to pay for his divorce settlement with Gladys Robinson; his finances had also suffered due to underemployment in the early 1950s. Robinson died of bladder cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on January 26, 1973, just weeks after finishing Soylent Green , and months before he was to be given an honorary Academy Award later that year. He was 79. Services were conducted at Temple Israel in Los Angeles where Charlton Heston delivered
14896-623: Was getting his act down pat. On this night, he rose to every chance stimulus, every interruption and noise and distraction, with a mad volleying of mental images that suggested the fantastic riches of Charlie Parker's horn. The first flash was simply the spectacle of people piled up in America's most famous concert hall. In August 1965, a year before his death, Bruce gave his penultimate performance at San Francisco's Basin Street West , mainly talking about his legal troubles. The filmed performance
15029-439: Was heckled by audience members, and when local actress Barbara Wyndon stood up and complained that Bruce was only talking about America and asked him to talk about something different, a clearly annoyed Bruce responded, "Fuck you, madam. That's different, isn't it?" Bruce's remark shocked some audience members and several walked out. By the next day, several Sydney papers denounced Bruce as "sick"; one illustrated their story with
15162-578: Was his own invention, but possibly referred to the actual Brother Matthias who had befriended Babe Ruth at the Baltimore orphanage where Ruth had been confined as a child. While posing as a laundry man, Bruce stole several priests' clergy shirts and a clerical collar. He was acquitted because of the legality of the New York state-chartered foundation, the actual existence of the Guiana leper colony, and
15295-646: Was host to the Committee of 56, which gathered at his home on December 9, 1938, signing a "Declaration of Democratic Independence," which called for a boycott of all German-made products. After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union , while he was not a supporter of Communism , he appeared at Soviet war relief rallies in order to give moral aid to America's new ally, which he said could join "together in their hatred of Hitlerism". Although he attempted to enlist in
15428-661: Was in Billy Wilder 's Double Indemnity (1944), with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck , where his riveting soliloquy on insurance actuarial tables (written by Raymond Chandler ) is considered a career showstopper; and at Columbia, he was in Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944). He then performed with Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea in Fritz Lang 's The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945), where he played
15561-509: Was judged to be obscene in a proceeding that put the book itself on trial rather than its publisher. Another was Kaplan v. California , 413 U.S. 115 (1973) whereby the court most famously determined that "Obscene material in book form is not entitled to any First Amendment protection merely because it has no pictorial content." In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice formed the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force in
15694-462: Was later published as How to Talk Dirty and Influence People . During this time, Bruce also contributed a number of articles to Krassner's satirical magazine The Realist . On August 3, 1966, Bruce was found dead in the bathroom of his Hollywood Hills home. The official photo taken at the scene showed him lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other narcotics paraphernalia. Record producer Phil Spector ,
15827-519: Was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for the role. It was based on the Broadway stage play of the same name by Julian Barry , which starred Cliff Gorman in his 1972 Tony Award -winning role. The main character's editing of a fictionalized film version of Lenny was also a major part of Fosse's own autobiopic, the 1979 Academy Award-nominated All That Jazz , where Gorman again played Bruce. The documentary film Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell
15960-473: Was not a supporter of Communism, but he did not criticize the Soviet Union , which he saw as an ally against Hitler . However, the film historian Steven J. Ross observes "activists who attacked Hitler without simultaneously attacking Stalin were vilified by conservative critics as either Communists, Communist dupes, or, at best, as naive liberal dupes." In addition, Robinson learned that 11 out of
16093-453: Was not remembered fondly by Bill Graham , whose memoir describes Bruce as "whacked out on amphetamine "; Graham thought that Bruce finished his set emotionally disturbed. Zappa asked Bruce to sign his draft card , but the suspicious Bruce refused. At the request of Hefner and with the aid of Paul Krassner , Bruce wrote an autobiography that was serialized in Playboy in 1964 and 1965. It
16226-696: Was only cleared in 1986. However, the film has not been screened because the only cinema that has tried to organize a screening was thwarted by the city council that owned the building's lease. Section 9 of the Criminal Law provide provisions against pornography , including creation, distribution and organizing public viewing. In 2016, the Ministry of Culture in China censored 23 companies for hosting obscene content online. The take-down included over 20,000 live feeds from 26 different websites that were hosting
16359-607: Was originally cast in the role of Dr. Zaius in Planet of the Apes (1968) and he even went so far as to film a screen test with Charlton Heston . However, Robinson dropped out of the project before its production began due to heart problems and concerns over the long hours that he would have needed to spend under the heavy ape makeup. He was replaced by Maurice Evans . His later appearances included The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) starring Robert Wagner and Raquel Welch , Never
16492-431: Was passed at the point when most Western countries were about to enter a new phase of sexual freedom . The trial of Penguin Books over their publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1960 failed to secure a conviction and the conviction in the 1971 trial of Oz magazine was overturned on appeal. An attempt to prosecute the University of Central England in 1997 over a copy of a library book by Robert Mapplethorpe
16625-640: Was presented as part of a reasonable plot with respectable production values. Some state authorities issued injunctions against such films to protect "local community standards"; in New York, the print of Deep Throat was seized mid-run, and the film's exhibitors were found guilty of promoting obscenity. According to the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated , films that include gay sex (even if implied) or female pleasure have been more harshly censored than their heterosexual, male counterparts. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) issues ratings for motion pictures exhibited and distributed commercially to
16758-569: Was released by Rhino Home Video in 1992 as The Lenny Bruce Performance Film . In 1951, Bruce met Honey Harlow , a stripper from Manila, Arkansas . They were married that year, and Bruce was determined to see her stop working as a stripper. The couple left New York in 1953 for the West Coast , where they found work as a double act at the Cup and Saucer in Los Angeles . Bruce joined a bill at
16891-689: Was released in 1956, as was his psychological thriller Nightmare . After a subsequent short absence from the screen, Robinson's film career — augmented by an increasing number of television roles — re-started in 1958/1959, when he was second-billed, after Frank Sinatra, in the 1959 release A Hole in the Head . Robinson went to Europe for Seven Thieves (1960). He had support roles in My Geisha (1962), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962), Sammy Going South (1963), The Prize (1963), Robin and
17024-405: Was sentenced on December 21, 1964, to four months in a workhouse ; he was set free on bail during the appeals process and died before the appeal was decided. Solomon, the owner of the club where Lenny was arrested, later saw Bruce's conviction overturned. Bruce appeared on network television only six times. In his later club performances, he was known for relating the details of his encounters with
17157-471: Was subsequently donated to the Lenny Bruce audio collection at Brandeis University . Bruce left the country a few days later and spoke little about the experience. Increasing drug use also affected Bruce's health and repeated arrests further caused deterioration to his mental health. By 1966, he had been blacklisted by nearly every nightclub in the U.S. as owners feared prosecution for obscenity. He gave
17290-567: Was teamed up with John Garfield in The Sea Wolf (1941), and George Raft in Manpower (1941). He went to MGM for Unholy Partners (1942), and made a comedy Larceny, Inc. (1942). Robinson was one of several stars in Tales of Manhattan (1942) and Flesh and Fantasy (1943). He did war films: Destroyer (1943) at Columbia , and Tampico (1944) at Fox . At Paramount, he
17423-616: Was then in Dark Hazard (1934) and The Man with Two Faces (1934). He went to Columbia for The Whole Town's Talking (1935), a comedy directed by John Ford. Sam Goldwyn borrowed him for Barbary Coast (1935), again directed by Hawks. Back at Warner Bros., he did Bullets or Ballots (1936) then he went to Britain for Thunder in the City (1937). He made Kid Galahad (1937) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart . MGM borrowed him for The Last Gangster (1937), then he did
17556-534: Was too cryptic and too scatological for popular taste—he nevertheless influenced a whole generation of comics, just as Stein influenced Hemingway and that generation of writers. Her own work was a dead end (so was Bruce's), but out of that compost grew the buds of a flourishing school. – Syndicated columnist Sydney J. Harris , November 5, 1969. Bruce was the subject of the 1974 biographical drama Lenny , directed by Bob Fosse and starring Dustin Hoffman , who
17689-449: Was with great concessions to Broadcast Standards and Practices . Jokes that might offend, like a routine on airplane- glue-sniffing teenagers that was done live for The Steve Allen Show in 1959, had to be typed out and pre-approved by network officials. On his debut on Allen's show, Bruce made an unscripted comment on the recent marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Eddie Fisher , wondering, "Will Elizabeth Taylor become bar mitzvahed?" In
#77922