Henny Youngman

Henny Youngman
Youngman, photographed in 1957
Birth name	Henry Youngman
Born	(1906-03-16)March 16, 1906[1] London, England
Died	February 24, 1998(1998-02-24) (aged 91) New York City, New York, U.S.
Medium	comedy
Nationality	American
Years active	1923−1997
Genres	One-liners
Spouse	Sadie Cohen ​ ​ (m. 1928; died 1987)​
Children	2

Henry "Henny" Youngman (March 16, 1906 – February 24, 1998) was an English-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please".

In a time when many comedians told elaborate anecdotes, Youngman's routine consisted of telling simple one-liner jokes, occasionally with interludes of violin playing. These depicted simple, cartoon-like situations, eliminating lengthy build-ups and going straight to the punch line. Known as "the King of the One-Liners", a title conferred to him by columnist Walter Winchell, a stage performance by Youngman lasted only 15 to 20 minutes but contained dozens of jokes in rapid succession.