What ‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’ Gets Right About Lenny Bruce, Whose Life Was as Dramatic as the Show Says
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Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s titular character, Midge, is fictional, but the New York City of the 1960s that she lives in was very, very real. The sights, the sounds, the Gaslight—they’re all representative of the city during that time. Another very real part of this show? Lenny Bruce (played on the show by Luke Kirby), Midge’s comedy BFF and the guy voted most likely to bail her out of jail. Lenny and Midge have a very unexpected friendship that leads to at least one (very expected by fans) night of passion. Outside of that special relationship, all the arrests and drama and controversy that Lenny Bruce found himself in the show–as well as a lot of the jokes he told–also happened IRL. Here's what we know. Be careful! The final season of Maisel is upon us, so there may be spoilers ahead.
Alright, so who is Lenny Bruce?
According to his website, Leonard Alfred Schneider was born on Long Island, in Mineola, New York, on October 13, 1925. (A Libra! Naturally!) His mother was an actress and stage performer and his dad was a shoe clerk—luckily, for the entirety of American culture, Lenny took after his mother and dedicated himself to a life on the stage.
He caused controversy from the beginning.
His first controversial performance came when he dressed in drag for his naval shipmates when he was stationed in Italy during World War II. After an honorable discharge in 1945, Bruce moved to New York City to make it as a comedian, eventually settling on Lenny Bruce as his stage name. He spent years honing his act and was, as his website says, dubbed a “sick” comedian because he didn’t shy away from ranting about religion, patriotism, race, drugs, abortions, you name it—he had strong opinions and he wasn’t about to be quiet about them.
He was married for six years.
Lenny Bruce and Honey Harlow, played on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in season 1 by Caitlin Mehner, were married from 1951 to 1957 and had an on-again/off-again relationship after that. (For context, the fictional Lenny meets Midge in 1958.)
He made his way to TV, despite all the dirty jokes.
Bruce cleaned up his act for television appearances—that “All Alone” bit on The Steve Allen Show from season 2 actually happened, and you can watch it on YouTube.
He also performed at Carnegie Hall
The iconic Lenny Bruce set that closes out season 4 actually happened, and Kirby recreated a good chunk of it verbatim at the real Carnegie Hall. There actually was a blizzard that night, too. You can buy the audio recording on Amazon (or your local record store).
He had plenty of problems with the law.
Bruce was arrested on obscenity charges in real life just as he was on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He was charged with violating obscenity laws all over the world, and that speech he gave Midge at the end of season 1 talking about all the money he’s giving lawyers? That was true, too, because he had run out of places that would allow him to play. In 1964, he was arrested, charged, and brought to trial on an obscenity charge in New York City following a particularly dirty set at Cafe Au Go Go.
Ephraim London, then one of the country’s best First Amendment lawyers, represented Bruce, who was ultimately convicted (although he was posthumously pardoned by Governor George Pataki in 2003). By 1966, Bruce couldn’t find anywhere to play because no club wanted to deal with being slapped with an obscenity charge for hosting his act.
He struggled with drug and alcohol problems, which caused his death.
Bruce struggled with addiction, and he died on August 3, 1966, following an accidental morphine overdose in his Los Angeles home. He’s buried in Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. In season 4, Midge finds drugs in Lenny's things and asks him about them. He tells her not to worry. This seemed like an indication that the show isn't going to "deal" with his untimely death.
The final season of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel starts in 1961, a handful of years to go before Bruce’s death. But at the beginning of season 5, he tells Maisel that he's leaving to spend some time working and taking care of his daughter in California. (According to Vanity Fair, Bruce’s daughter, Kitty, visited the set of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to help Kirby in playing her father.) That's the beginning of the end for him, and the use of flash forwards in the final season is worrisome. As Midge’s star finally rises, Bruce’s is about to fall.
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