Jacob Moshe Maza grew up surrounded by Rabbis, including three of his brothers. He himself was a cantor until the age of 25, when he too was ordained as a Rabbi. He left the Synagogue after three years however, later quipping, "Someone in the family had to make a living." From humble comic beginnings in New York, the Borscht Belt, and comedy clubs around the country, Jackie Mason rose to be one of the hottest comics in America in the early 1960's. He reached the apex of American entertainment culture when he became a regular performer on the nation's pre-eminent television variety program, 'The Ed Sullivan Show'. However he fell into Sullivan's disfavor over the interpretation of a now legendary hand gesture during a live performance in 1962, an incident which cast a shadow over Mason's career for more than a decade. Jackie Mason first emerged from that shadow in Los Angeles, where his one-man show, 'The World According to Me' originated in 1984 to wide acclaim. Yet his great triumph was his return to New York and his extraordinary success as a one-man show on the Great White Way. 'The World According to Me' began its unprecedented two and a half year run on Broadway in December 1986, winning triumphant reviews and re-establishing Mason as one of the nation's premier comics. The show earned Jackie Mason a Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy Nomination and it toured successfully in America and Europe for two years. Jackie Mason returned to Broadway in 1990 with 'Jackie Mason: Brand New', in 1994 with 'Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect', in 1996 with 'Love Thy Neighbor'; in 1999 with 'Much Ado about Everything' and in 2002 with 'Prune Danish'. With each production a critical and commercial success, Jackie Mason made history in the theatre industry and collected an impressive array of nominations and awards from the Outer Critics Circle, the Grammy's, the Ace Awards and others. An HBO special, 'Jackie Mason on Broadway', earned him both an Emmy and an Ace Award. Over the years, Jackie Mason has appeared in a variety of films and television shows, most notably 'Caddyshack II' which won him a new, younger, hipper urban following and the TV sitcom, 'Chicken Soup', which taught him that he's only happy when he's performing his own material. Well known and beloved around the world, Jackie Mason has been honored by many, including South African President Nelson Mandela, the United Kingdom's Oxford University, and scores of other organizations. In 1991, during the first Persian Gulf crisis, Jackie closed his show on Broadway and traveled to Israel in a show of solidarity that was later honored by now former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.