Henny Youngman, the comedian known for his snappy one-liners, finally had his bar mitzvah Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 60 years later than scheduled. The 73-year-old Youngman was originally scheduled for a bar mitzvah at the age of 13 in Brooklyn. But when a cousin died the ceremony was cancelled. The tenor, Jan Peerce, an old friend, recently offered the comedian help in preparing for the bar mitzvah and Peerce was the cantor at Saturday’s service.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
