Mort Sahl

Mort Sahl
Gould Center Distinguished Visitor in the Humanities for Academic Year 2008-09

Montreal-born, Los Angeles-raised Mort Sahl has been clasting icons—from nightclub stages and typewriters, on big and small screens, and as a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy—for more than 50 years. The rapid-fire salvos he launched at the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950's earned him the sobriquet "Rebel Without a Pause," and his unbridled criticism of the Warren Report drew the wrath of a censorious press and punitive entertainment industry. One of the first post-World War II comedians to bring politics into the theater, he has profoundly influenced humorists and social satirists from Lenny Bruce, the Smothers Brothers, and George Carlin, to Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Dennis Miller, and Lewis Black.

During Academic Year 2008-09, Mr. Sahl will teach courses on politics, critical thinking, and screenwriting.