The majority of people younger than Boomers know him as Krusty’s rabbi father, a role he returned to play about a dozen times. Pretty good for a recurring guest character. He was also Navin’s brief employer in The Jerk, until the homicidal maniac shot up the gas station. He didn’t provide the voice of the cartoon aardvark in The Ant & The Aardvark, I think John Byner was imitating him.
Jackie was also the last of those Borscht Belt comedians who cut his teeth doing stand-up in middle-class resorts around the Northeast, Las Vegas and night clubs. When he was getting started, stand-up comedy was transitioning from Vaudeville to more venues and eventually television.
Sadly, his voice joined the right-wing blowhards bitching about the way things are. It’s a shame but he did give the world some solid jokes.
Thanks for your contributions to modern humor. We’ll try to forget you cheering for the wrong side of History.