Jay Jason

Jay Jason (1915-2001) was an entertainer who was active in the show-business industry from 1933 to 2000. Jason’s Jewish ancestors had come from Eastern Europe and Russia. His parents, Lina and Ben, ran boarding houses in Rochester, New York to support their family of six children. Jay's beginning interest in show business began when he would imitate the dialects of some of the residents from different countries who lived in their boarding houses.

Born in Rochester, he attended the University of Rochester where he majored in languages. Summer and part-time jobs, as well as success in amateur comedy contests led him to pursue a career as an entertainer. He changed his name from Jonas Levy to Jay Jason when he entered show business. In a 1950 Columbus, Ohio newspaper article by Herb Christopher, the reporter mentions that Jay Jason is "a rising star," and as “the current Palm Garden Headliner… (he) finds many calls for guest appearances, benefit performances. Local television guest shows also come all too easy…”

Jason continuously performed as a comedian for over 65 years, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Danny Thomas Show, as well as Candid Camera. He also performed at other top clubs across the country such as the Latin Quarter (nightclub) in New York City. In Moore's book on comedians, he mentions that Jay Jason was one of the great comics he would watch at the Downingtown Inn. Jason spent much of his career in the Catskill Mountains (also known as the Borsch Belt) frequently playing at hotels such as the Granit, Concord, Kutsher's Hotel, the Nevele, The Laurels Hotel and Country Club, The Pines Resort, Raleigh, the Overlook, the Tamarack Lodge, Stevensville, the Windsor, and Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel. As mentioned by Grosswirth, "Jay's name will be familiar to those of you who used to frequent what was commonly referred to as 'The Borscht Belt'". In a Newsday magazine article in 1992, reporter Stuart Vincent mentioned that Jay “is the consummate Catskills comic... You’ve probably seen him if you’ve been to one of the Borscht Belt hotels in the Catskills with your temple, your church, your parents, your cousins. A funny man. A comic’s comic. An entertainer for 60 years—impressionist, singer, even has a few dance steps in him…he’s played the Las Vegas hotels and Manhattan night clubs, appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” three times.”

His humor had self-deprecating aspects, and all subjects were grist for his comedy routines. Jason could impersonate hundreds of famous directors, entertainers, comedians and politicians including: Alfred Hitchcock, Jackie Mason, Jack Benny, Maurice Chevalier, Rudolph Valentino, Jimmy Stewart, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Arthur Godfrey, Franklin Roosevelt, and Jack Paar. A number of comedians worked for Jason over time as a driver to the Borscht Belt hotels, including comedian Kramer who was used as the basis for the character from the American sitcom Seinfeld. His nephew, Sid Roth, host of a messianic vision radio show, also drove Jason up to the hotels in the Catskills , at one point in his career. He was well liked among entertainers, and this is illustrated by the many show business personalities who attended his son's Bar Mitzvah service including Jackie Mason, Phil Foster, Norman Dean, Lew Black, Davey Starr, Jack Kahane, Corbett Monica, Gene Baylos, Marilyn Maxwell, Tony Drake, Laura Lane, Tina Robin and Bea Kalmus. He knew many of the leading comics and entertainers of the last part of the 20th century.