Jackie Mason became popular in the early 1960s on The Ed Sullivan Show, which ended abruptly when he made a hand gesture in front of a live audience, offending the host. The incident not only earned him banishment from the Sullivan show but made it difficult for him to find work for years.

But Jackie came back in the 1980s when his one-man show "The World According to Me" took Los Angeles, Broadway, and eventually Europe, by storm.

He has co-hosted for years on the PBS talk show "Crossing the Line", as well as a BBC radio show, both on political subjects.