Henny Youngman
American comedian (1906–1998) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Henry "Henny" Youngman (16 March 1906 – 24 February 1998) was a British-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please".
Henny Youngman | |
---|---|
Birth name | Henry Youngman |
Born | (1906-03-16)16 March 1906[1] London, England, United Kingdom |
Died | 24 February 1998(1998-02-24) (aged 91) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
Medium | Stand-up comedy |
Nationality | American |
Years active | 1923−1997 |
Genres | One-liners |
Spouse |
Sadie Cohen
(m. 1928; died 1987) |
Children | 2 |
In a time when many comedians told elaborate anecdotes, Youngman's routine consisted of telling simple one-liner jokes, occasionally with interludes of violin playing. These depicted simple, cartoon-like situations, eliminating lengthy build-ups and going straight to the punch line. Known as "the King of the One-Liners", a title conferred to him by columnist Walter Winchell, a stage performance by Youngman lasted only 15 to 20 minutes but contained dozens of jokes in rapid succession.