Mort Sahl obit

Legendary U.S. Political Satirist and Stand-Up Comedian Mort Sahl Dies at Age 94

 

He was not on the list.

Mort Sahl, a legendary political satirist and stand-up comedian in the United States, died at the age of 94 on Oct. 26 in Mill Valley, California.

Lucy Mercer, a friend who has helped oversee Sahl’s affairs, confirmed the comedian’s death to the New York Times.

Magazine Rolling Stone listed him in the top 10 of its 50 best stand-up comics of all time, as he was credited as the inspiration for modern stand-up comedy, and his work has influenced generations of comedians.

Sahl began his career in the 1950s, revolutionizing comedy by addressing social and political issues and calling out hypocrisy.

Sahl also served as the inaugural host of the Grammy Awards in 1959. In the same year, he co-hosted the Academy Awards.

Sahl’s live 1959 album “Mort Sahl at Sunset” was credited as the first stand-up comedy album and the Library of Congress named it to the National Recording Registry.

Sahl also appeared in several films, including “All the Young Men” in 1960, “Johnny Cool” in 1963, and “Don’t Make Waves” in 1967.

Time Magazine featured Sahl on its cover in 1960.

Sahl continued to perform into his 80s, even after suffering a stroke.

Sahl began appearing at clubs throughout the country, including the Black Orchid and Mister Kelly's in Chicago, the Crescendo in Los Angeles, and the Village Vanguard and the Blue Angel in New York City. Many of the clubs had never before had a stand-up comedian perform, which required Sahl to break in as a new kind of act. "I had to build up my own network of places to play," he said.

    He was the best thing I ever saw. There was a need for revolution, everybody was ready for revolution, but some guy had to come along who could perform the revolution and be great. Mort was the one. He was the tip of the iceberg. Underneath were all the other people who came along: Lenny Bruce, Nichols & May, all the Second City. Mort was the vanguard of the group. — Woody Allen

Numerous celebrities dropped by to see his shows after they heard about the "new phenomenon," referring to Sahl's unique style of comedy. Woody Allen, who saw his show at the Blue Angel in 1954, commented that "he was suddenly this great genius that appeared who revolutionized the medium."  British comedy actor John Cleese became immediately interested in Sahl's radical style of humor, and accorded to him the same level of respect that The Beatles once reserved for Elvis Presley.

elevision host Steve Allen, who originated the Tonight Show, said he was "struck by how amateur he seemed," but added that the observation was not meant as a criticism, but as a "compliment". He noted that all the previous successful comics dressed formally, were glib and well-rehearsed, and were always in control of their audiences.  Allen said that Sahl's "very un-show business manner was one of the things I liked when I first saw him work."

 

Sahl dressed casually, with no tie and usually wearing his trademark V-neck campus-style sweater. His stage presence was seen as being "candid and cool, the antithesis of the slick comic," stated theater critic Gerald Nachman.[4]: 50  And although Sahl acquired a reputation for being an intellectual comedian, it was an image he disliked and disagreed with: "It was absurd. I was barely a C student," he said.  His naturalness on stage was partly due to his preferring improvisation over carefully rehearsed monologues. Sahl explained:  I never found you could write the act. You can't rehearse the audience's responses. You adjust to them every night. I come in with only an outline. You've got to have a spirit of adventure. I follow my instincts and the audience is my jury.

His casual style of stand-up, where he seemed to be one-on-one with his audience, influenced new comedians, including Lenny Bruce and Dick Gregory. Sahl was the least controversial, however, because he dressed and looked "collegiate" and focused on politics, while Bruce confronted sexual and language conventions and Gregory focused on the civil rights movement. After seeing Mort Sahl on stage, Woody Allen, whose writings were often about his personal life, decided to give it a try: "I'd never had the nerve to talk about it before. Then Mort Sahl came along with a whole new style of humor, opening up vistas for people like me."[4]: 545 

Commenting on Sahl's monologues, Nachman described him as a "gifted narrator, so good at taking you along on his travels that you didn't quite realize until the show was over that you had been on a labyrinthine journey."  The speed with which Sahl gave his monologues was also notable. British film critic Penelope Gilliatt recalled how Sahl's improvisation "goes on a breakneck stammering loop and you think it will never make the circle. It always does." For her it was like watching a circus act: "He freewheels a bike on a high wire tightrope with his brain racing and his hands off the handlebars."

Sahl's popularity "mushroomed like an Atomic cloud during the 50s," says filmmaker Robert B. Weide, adding, "Simply put, Mort Sahl reinvented stand-up comedy." Time magazine in 1960 published a cover story about him and his rise to fame, in which they described him as "the best of the New Comedians [and] the first notable American political satirist since Will Rogers." Along with his nightclub performances, he appeared in some films and on television shows, including his network debut on The NBC Comedy Hour in May 1956. He was one of the interim hosts on The Tonight Show following Jack Paar's departure as the network waited for Johnny Carson to become available.

His audience had also widened to include not only students and a "hip" public, but now even noted politicians sought out his shows. Some became friends, such as presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, who asked him to prepare a bank of political jokes he could use at public functions. Kennedy liked his style of political satire and what he described as Sahl's "relentless pursuit of everybody." Adlai Stevenson and Hubert Humphrey were fans, Humphrey stating that "whenever there is a political bloat, Mort sticks a pin in it." Sahl considered Ronald Reagan one of his closest friends.

They valued the fact that he stayed current and took material from major newspapers and magazines. He kept his material fresh, wrote few notes, and entertained his audiences by presenting otherwise serious news with his brand of humor. He was not fond of television news, however, which he blamed in 1960 for "spoon-feeding" the public, and was therefore responsible for the "corruption and ignorance that may sink this country."

As a result of Sahl's popularity, besides getting on the cover of Time, he also became the first comedian to make a record album, the first to do college concerts, and was the first comedian to win a Grammy

Following Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Sahl's interest in who was responsible was so great that he became a deputized member of District Attorney of New Orleans Jim Garrison's team to investigate the assassination. As a result, Sahl's comedy would often reflect his politics and included readings and commentary about the Warren Commission Report, of which he consistently disputed the accuracy. He alienated much of his audience, was effectively blacklisted, and more of his planned shows were cancelled. His income dropped from $1 million to $13,000 by 1964. According to Nachman, the excessive focus on the Kennedy assassination details was Sahl's undoing and wrecked his career. Sahl later admitted that "there's never been anything that had a stronger impact on my life than this issue," but added that he nonetheless "thought it was a wonderful quest

By the 1970s the rising tide of counterculture eventually fueled Sahl's partial comeback as a veteran comedian, and he was included along with the new comedians breaking into the field, such as George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, and Richard Pryor.[4]: 89  In the 1980s he headlined for Banducci's new clubs in San Francisco. In the late 1980s he was trying to write screenplays, besides doing sporadic shows around the country. In 1987 he had a successful multiweek run in Australia.

In 1988 Sahl was back in New York City and performed a one-man Off-Broadway show, Mort Sahl's America, which, despite getting good reviews from critics was not a box office success. The New York Times stated, "History has returned Mort Sahl to the spotlight when he is most needed. His style has an intuitive spontaneity. His presence is tonic."  Robert Weide produced a biographical documentary, Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition, which ran on PBS in 1989.

However, the level of success he once had now eluded him. One Los Angeles Times critic wrote, "Sahl is a man with a country but not a stage."  A number of television specials gave him a venue to perform in front of live audiences. The Monitor Channel broadcast a series of eight shows called Mort Sahl Live beginning in November 1991.

From the 1990s on he performed, but less often and mostly in theaters and college auditoriums.[22] When Woody Allen saw him perform in 2001 at one of his rare New York club appearances, Allen told him, "this is crazy—you should be working all the time."  Allen then called his manager Jack Rollins: "Listen, this guy is hilarious. We gotta bring him to New York."  Sahl then did shows at Joe's Pub in Manhattan to standing-room only audiences.

Sahl was ranked #40 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, ranked between Billy Crystal and Jon Stewart. In 2003 he received the Fifth Annual Alan King Award in American Jewish Humor from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

 

Actor (20 credits)

 2013 Max Rose

Jack Murphy

 1987 Jonathan Winters: On the Ledge (TV Movie)

Interviewer

 1987 D.C. Follies (TV Series)

Mort Sahl

- Nixon Acts as Princess Di's Divorce Lawyer (1987) ... Mort Sahl

 1984 Nothing Lasts Forever

Uncle Mort

 1982 Inside the Third Reich (TV Movie)

Werner Finck

 1974 The Snoop Sisters (TV Series)

Lawrence Fortesue

- A Black Day for Bluebeard (1974) ... Lawrence Fortesue

 1973 ABC Comedy News (TV Series)

Mort Sahl

- Episode dated 14 March 1973 (1973) ... Mort Sahl

 1972 Emergency! (TV Series)

Burglar

- Hang-Up (1972) ... Burglar

 1972 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV Series)

Guest Performer

- Episode #5.16 (1972) ... Guest Performer

 1970 Love, American Style (TV Series)

Kurt (segment "Love and the Singles Apartment")

- Love and the Minister/Love and the Geisha/Love and the Singles Apartment (1970) ... Kurt (segment "Love and the Singles Apartment")

 1969 Ironside (TV Series)

Len Leavitt

- Beyond a Shadow (1969) ... Len Leavitt

 1967 Don't Make Waves

Sam Lingonberry

 1967 Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!

Dan Ruskin

 1966 ABC Stage 67 (TV Series)

- The People Trap (1966)

 1963 Johnny Cool

Ben Morrow

 1960 Thriller (TV Series)

Sam Lynch

- Man in the Middle (1960) ... Sam Lynch

 1960 All the Young Men

Cpl. Crane

 1959 Playhouse 90 (TV Series)

Dettering Rohn

- The Ding-A-Ling Girl (1959) ... Dettering Rohn

 1958 Pursuit (TV Series)

Skip

- Kiss Me Again, Stranger (1958) ... Skip

 1958 In Love and War

Danny Krieger

 

Soundtrack (1 credit)

 2017 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode)

- Doink (2017) ... (performer: "Great Moments In Comedy With Mort Sahl (Pt. 1)" - uncredited)

 

Thanks (2 credits)

 2005 Madman Muntz: American Maverick (Documentary) (special thanks)

 1972 Lenny Bruce: Without Tears (Documentary) (acknowledgment)

 

Self (70 credits)

 2021 Live at Mister Kelly's (Documentary)

Self

 2020 Robin's Wish (Documentary)

Self

 2018 Dick Cavett: 50th Anniversary of the Dick Cavett Show (An SF Sketchfest Tribute) (Video)

Self

 2013 When Comedy Went to School (Documentary)

Self

 2011 Looking for Lenny (Documentary)

Self

 2009 Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (TV Series documentary)

Self - Comedian

- When I'm Bad I'm Better: The Groundbreakers (2009) ... Self - Comedian

 2007 Tavis Smiley (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- Episode dated 21 June 2007 (2007) ... Self - Guest

 2005 World's Greatest Stand-up Comedy Collection (Video)

Self

 2001-2002 Late Show with David Letterman (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 27 December 2002 (2002) ... Self

- Episode dated 26 November 2001 (2001) ... Self

 2002 Playboy: Inside the Playboy Mansion (TV Movie documentary)

Self

 1993 Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron (TV Movie documentary)

Self

 1993 A Stand Up Life (TV Movie documentary)

Self

 1990 The World of Jewish Humor (Documentary)

Self

 1989 American Masters (TV Series documentary)

Self

- Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition (1989) ... Self

 1988 Late Night with David Letterman (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 20 January 1988 (1988) ... Self

 1987 Hour Magazine (TV Series)

Self - Co-Host

- Episode dated 19 November 1987 (1987) ... Self - Co-Host

 1987 Humor and the Presidency (TV Movie)

Self

 1986 All-Star Party for Clint Eastwood (TV Special)

Self

 1984 A Toast to Lenny (TV Movie documentary)

Self

 1981 Hungry i reunion (Documentary)

Self

 1981 An Evening at the Improv (TV Series)

Self - Host

- Episode #1.3 (1981) ... Self - Host

 1979 Tomorrow Coast to Coast (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- Episode dated 3 April 1979 (1979) ... Self - Guest

 1966-1977 The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series)

Self / Self - Guest / Self - Guest Host / ...

- Episode dated 19 September 1977 (1977) ... Self - Guest

- Buddy Hackett, Mort Sahl, James Darren, Joanie Sommers, Dave Barry and Janet & Randy Jackson (1975) ... Self

- Mort Sahl, June Lockhart, Marcia Wallace, Dorothy Manners, Jim Bacon (1972) ... Self

- Mort Sahl, Rona Barrett, Kent McCord, Joe Flynn (1972) ... Self

- George Jessel, Henny Youngman, Mort Sahl, Shelley Berman, Pete Barbutti (1972) ... Self

Show all 23 episodes

 1975-1976 Dinah! (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- Episode #2.180 (1976) ... Self - Guest

- Episode #1.59 (1975) ... Self - Guest

 1965-1976 The Mike Douglas Show (TV Series)

Self - TV Personality / Self

- Episode #15.140 (1976) ... Self - TV Personality

- Episode #4.151 (1965) ... Self

 1974 Celebrity Sweepstakes (TV Series)

Self

- Polly Bergen, Norm Crosby, Olivia Newton-John, Cathy Rigby, Mort Sahl, Jerry Van Dyke (1974) ... Self

- Polly Bergen/Jerry Van Dyke/Olivia Newton-John/Mort Sahl/Cathy Rigby/Norm Crosby (1974) ... Self

 1973-1974 The Dean Martin Show (TV Series)

Self

- Celebrity Roast: Ralph Nader (1974) ... Self

- Celebrity Roast: Hubert H. Humphrey (1973) ... Self

 1973 The Helen Reddy Show (TV Series)

Self

- Dick Gregory, Mort Sahl, Peter Allen, Billy Preston, Albert Hammond (1973) ... Self

 1968-1972 The Dick Cavett Show (TV Series)

Self - Guest / Self

- Episode dated 27 December 1972 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 8 November 1972 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 3 May 1972 (1972) ... Self

- ABC Show ID 138 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 6 January 1972 (1972) ... Self - Guest

1970-1972 The David Frost Show (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- Episode #4.133 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode #4.128 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode #4.100 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode #4.92 (1972) ... Self - Guest

- Episode #2.150 (1970) ... Self - Guest

 1969-1970 Playboy After Dark (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #2.11 (1970) ... Self

- Episode #1.24 (1969) ... Self

- Episode #1.23 (1969) ... Self

 1970 A Last Laugh at the Sixties (TV Movie)

Self

 1969 The Irv Kupcinet Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 28 November 1969 (1969) ... Self

 1969 Philbin's People (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.4 (1969) ... Self

 1969 Allen Ludden's Gallery (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.34 (1969) ... Self

 1968-1969 The Joey Bishop Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #3.192 (1969) ... Self

- Episode #3.167 (1969) ... Self

- Episode #3.74 (1968) ... Self

- Episode #3.49 (1968) ... Self

- Episode #3.16 (1968) ... Self

1969 The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (TV Series)

Self - Panelist

- Episode #3.117 (1969) ... Self - Panelist

- Episode #3.116 (1969) ... Self - Panelist

- Episode #3.115 (1969) ... Self - Panelist

- Episode #3.114 (1969) ... Self - Panelist

- Episode #3.113 (1969) ... Self - Panelist

1968 That's Life (TV Series)

Self

- Happy New Year (1968) ... Self

 1965-1968 The Hollywood Palace (TV Series)

Self - Comedian / Self - Satirist

- Episode #6.4 (1968) ... Self - Comedian

- Episode #4.30 (1967) ... Self - Satirist

- Episode #2.17 (1965) ... Self - Comedian

 1967-1968 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- Episode dated 24 January 1968 (1968) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 3 November 1967 (1967) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 31 October 1967 (1967) ... Self - Guest

- Episode dated 21 August 1967 (1967) ... Self - Guest

 1967 Las Vegas (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.11 (1967) ... Self

 1966 Hollywood Backstage (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 23 December 1966 (1966) ... Self

 1966 The John Bartholomew Tucker Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.34 (1966) ... Self

 1960-1965 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV Series)

Self - Comedian

- Johnny Mathis, Jack E. Leonard, Peter Nero, Mort Sahl, Jean Carroll, Ginny Tiu, Topo Gigio, Willie Mays, Killer Joe Piro & his Discotheque Dancers (1965) ... Self - Comedian

- Episode #14.34 (1961) ... Self - Comedian

- Episode #14.9 (1960) ... Self - Comedian

- See America with Ed Sullivan: San Francisco (1960) ... Self - Comedian

 1965 ABC's Nightlife (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.153 (1965) ... Self

- Episode #1.34 (1965) ... Self

- Episode #1.18 (1965) ... Self

 1964 That Regis Philbin Show (TV Series)

Self - Co-Host / Self

- Episode #1.39 (1964) ... Self

- Episode #1.30 (1964) ... Self - Co-Host

- Episode #1.29 (1964) ... Self - Co-Host

- Episode #1.28 (1964) ... Self - Co-Host

- Episode #1.27 (1964) ... Self - Co-Host

Show all 6 episodes

 1964 The Match Game (TV Series)

Self - Team Captain

- Episode #2.248 (1964) ... Self - Team Captain

- Episode #2.247 (1964) ... Self - Team Captain

- Episode #2.246 (1964) ... Self - Team Captain

- Episode #2.245 (1964) ... Self - Team Captain

- Shari Lewis & Mort Sahl (1964) ... Self - Team Captain

 1964 Missing Links (TV Series)

Self - guest star

- Tom Poston/Nipsey Russell/Phyllis Kirk/guest Mort Sahl (1964) ... Self - guest star

 1964 That Was the Week That Was (TV Series)

Self

 1963 The Jerry Lewis Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.3 (1963) ... Self

- Episode #1.2 (1963) ... Self

- Premiere Show with Steve Allen, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Carson, Kaye Stevens, Mort Sahl, Harry James (1963) ... Self

 1963 Howard K. Smith (TV Series)

Self - Guest

- A Conversation with Mort Sahl (1963) ... Self - Guest

 1962 The Tonight Show (TV Series)

Self - Guest Host / Self - Comedian

- Episode #1.56 (1962) ... Self - Comedian

- Episode #1.55 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #1.54 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #1.53 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #1.52 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

1957-1962 The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (TV Series)

Self - Guest Host / Self

- Episode #5.167 (1962) ... Self

- Episode #5.166 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #5.165 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #5.164 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

- Episode #5.163 (1962) ... Self - Guest Host

1962 ABC Close-Up! (TV Series documentary)

Self

- What's So Funny? (1962) ... Self

 1962 The Good Years

Self

 1961 The Mort Sahl Show (TV Movie)

Self

 1959-1961 What's My Line? (TV Series)

Self - Panelist / Self - Mystery Guest

- Mort Sahl (1961) ... Self - Mystery Guest

- Shelley Winters (2) (1960) ... Self - Panelist

- Dinah Shore and George Montgomery (1959) ... Self - Panelist

- Tony Randall (1959) ... Self - Panelist

 1961 Here's Hollywood (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #1.107 (1961) ... Self

 1960 Phillies Jackpot Bowling (TV Series)

Self

- Episode dated 19 December 1960 (1960) ... Self

 1960 Gala Adlai on Broadway (TV Special)

Self - Performer

 1960 Special Gala to Support Kennedy Campaign (TV Special)

Self - Performer

 1960 The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (TV Series)

Self - Comedian

- Diana Dors, Andre Previn, Mort Sahl, Jayne Meadows (1960) ... Self - Comedian

- The Movie Premiere of 'Can-Can' (1960) ... Self - Comedian

 1959 The Big Party (TV Series)

Self

- Premiere Show - Rock Hudson host (1959) ... Self

 1959 The 31st Annual Academy Awards (TV Special)

Self - Co-Host

 1959 Richard Diamond, Private Detective (TV Series)

Self

- The Sport (1959) ... Self

 1959 The Eddie Fisher Show (TV Series)

Self

- Shirley Jones, George Gobel, Eddie Cantor, Eddie Hodges, Mort Sahl, Anna Maria Alberghetti, the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir (1959) ... Self

 1959 The George Gobel Show (TV Series)

Self

- Episode #5.9 (1959) ... Self

 1958 Wide Wide World (TV Series documentary)

Self

- The Sound of Laughter (1958) ... Self

 1956 The NBC Comedy Hour (TV Series)

Self - Comedian

- Episode #1.15 (1956) ... Self - Comedian

 1955 The Tonight Show (TV Series)

Self - comedian

- Sylvia Syms, Mort Sahl, Lillian Kirkpatrick (1955) ... Self - comedian