Profile of Mort Sahl on Famous Like Me

Morton Lyon Sahl (born May 11, 1927) is a Montreal-born comedian credited with pioneering a style of stand-up comedy that paved the way for Lenny Bruce, Nichols & May, Dick Gregory, and others.

His humor was and remains based on current events, particularly politics, drawing many of his monologues from the day's newspaper headlines. His trademark gimmick was appearing on stage with a newspaper in hand, casually dressed in a pullover sweater.

Following the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963, Sahl's interest in who was behind it became so great that he became a deputized member of the team that District Attorney Jim Garrison created to investigate the assassination. As a result of this pursuit, Sahl's comedy took a back seat to his politics; his act started including readings and commentary on the Warren Commission Report. As a result, he fell out of the national spotlight for several years.

Sahl was married to China Lee, Playmate of the Month for August 1964 and the dancer with an uncredited appearance at the end of Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?.

He is now married to Kenslea Sahl, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant.

He is one of Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.

In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the 1970s, Sahl told this story: He said one time he was flying on Air Force One during the Kennedy years, when they hit a pocket of rough turbulence. JFK said to Mort, 'You know, if this plane crashed, we would probably all be killed, wouldn't we?' Sahl responded, 'Yes, Mr. President.' To which JFK then said, 'And it occurs to me that your name would be in very small print!'"

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