Lenny Bruce

Lenny Bruce (born Leonard Alfred Schneider) was an American stand-up comedian, satirist, and social critic. He was notorious for his open, critical, and free-style comedic form, which ranged in style and subject matter to include satire, political and religious issues, and topics of sex and vulgarity. In 1964, he was convicted for obscenity, and was only pardoned posthumously in 2003. His outspoken comedy set the precedent for counter-culture era comedians, as well as marking him as an advocate of freedom of speech in the United States. In 1966 he died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood, CA.