Sally Marr; Comedian, Lenny Bruce’s Mother
Sally Marr, the mother of comedian Lenny Bruce and a comedian and talent agent herself credited with discovering Cheech and Chong, Sam Kinison and Pat Morita, has died.
Marr, who lived in West Hollywood, died last week at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 91.
A native of Jamaica, N.Y., Marr worked as a waitress and maid and later became a stand-up comedian, doing impersonations of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Her son started his career by imitating his mother’s act.
In a 1989 interview, Marr said: “People are always saying that everything in comedy stems from Lenny--that everything touches him. What can I tell you? He took after me.”
After her son’s death, Marr continued to perform in nightclubs, on television and in films. She starred in the Broadway play “Sally Marr . . . and Her Escorts.”
She is survived by a granddaughter, Kitty Bruce of Pittston, Pa.