ByNatalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ByNatalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Comedian Mort Sahl has died at the age of 94.
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Photos: Mort Sahl through the years Comedian Mort Sahl died Oct. 26, 2021, at the age of 94. Here are some memorable moments from his life and career. (AP Photo/Ann Johansson, File)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1957: Comedian Mort Sahl, based in Chicago, Ill., poses on Sept. 17, 1957. (AP Photo)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1959: Mort Sahl as a Marine in "All the Young Men," Nov. 14, 1959. (AP Photo)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1967: Comedian Mort Sahl, perched on a stool, reads prepared statement from the stage of San Francisco's "hungry i" on December 4, 1967, in which he denies walking out on his New York show. Sahl said the New York show scheduled to open with him was not ready and he warned the producer a week before. (AP Photo/Robert W. Klein)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1977: Mort Sahl sits for an interview in San Francisco shown on January 3, 1977. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1978: Mort Sahl, comedian, during a taping at WRC studios in Washington on December 6, 1978. (AP Photo)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1983: Political comedian Mort Sahl, interviewed in Los Angeles on July 1, 1983, says he dislikes comics who ignore major social and political issues to joke about drugs and sex. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1987: Comedian Mort Sahl is shown in New York on October 5, 1987. (AP Photo/Marty Reichenthal)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1987: Mort Sahl, dubbed the "thinking man's comedian," appears with his wife, China Lee Sahl, and his son, Mort Jr., on October 12, 1987, at a party following the opening of "Mort Sahl on Broadway" at New York's Neil Simon Theatre. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 1996: Political satirist Mort Sahl poses for a photo during rehearsal of his nightlyshow at the Tiffany Theatre in West Hollywood, Calif., on Wednesday, July 17, 1996. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Photos: Mort Sahl through the years 2007: Comedian Mort Sahl poses for a photo in Los Angeles on June 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
His death was confirmed to The New York Times by Lucy Mercer, the person who is in charge of his affairs.
Sahl was known as “a very likable guy who makes ex-friends easily.”
He was popular in the ‘50s and ‘60s but faded from view after he fired back against the Warren Commission’s findings concerning the Kennedy Assassination.
He would become popular on and off through the years, “a cult hero fo the intelligentsia,” regularly performing in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, the Times reported.
His album, “At Sunset,” released in 1958, has been cited by the Library of Congress as “the earliest example of modern stand-up comedy on record.”
Sahl hosted the Academy Awards, starred on Broadway and wrote jokes for presidential campaigns, the Times reported.
Eventually, Sahl became a friend of Robin Williams, after becoming his neighbor in Mill Valley, Deadline reported.
Sahl was married and divorced multiple times and has no surviving family members. His son died before him n 1996.
For more on his career, including subsequent comedians and other entertainers he paved the way for, click here.
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