What was Mort Sahl’s cause of death?

MORTON Shal was famously known as a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist.

It was announced on October 26, 2021, the he tragically passed away at the age of 94.

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Mort Sahl passed away at the age of 94[/caption]

Who was Mort Shal?

Born May 11, 1927, Shal, was most famously known as a comedian who would joke about political and current event topics using improvisation and only a newspaper as a prop.

Many often considered him the “first modern comedian since Will Rogers.”

In Woody Allen’s 1994 book, Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman, he credited Shal for his career.

“I would never have been a cabaret comedian at all, if it hadn’t been for him,” Allen wrote at the time, adding that before him,  “all these comedians were very, very formula.”

“Suddenly, in this small cabaret, this comedian comes along, Mort Sahl. He was just wearing slacks and a sweater [with] a New York Times folded under his arm. He was a nice-looking guy in a certain way, very intelligent. And highly, highly energetic, like hypermanic. And a spectacular phrasemaker, but of an intellectual type,” Allen continued.

“He was absolutely like nothing anybody had ever seen before. And he was so natural that other comedians became jealous. They used to say, ‘Why do people like him? He just talks. He isn’t really performing.’ But his jokes came out as stream of consciousness, in a kind of jazz rhythm.”

Throughout his career, Shal also famous joked about the late John F. Kennedy.

What was Mort Shal’s cause of death?

Shal’s death was confirmed by Lucy Mercer to The New York Times.

Despite being confirmed, a cause was not given.

Following his death, many then took to Twitter to praise the late comic.

Alongside a photo of Shal, director Robert B. Weide wrote: “#MortSahl (1927-2021) was not only the most influential standup comic in the history of the medium, he remained, pound-for-pound, the funniest, most innovative comedian of them all, throughout his entire career. He was also a good friend. RIP, Pal.”

Washington Post editor Marc Fisher added: “Mort Sahl, the stand-up satirist whose taboo-busting humor paved the way for George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Howard Stern and Dave Chappelle, is dead at 94.”

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Mort Shal was 94 years old at the time of his death[/caption]

Was Mort Shal married?

Throughout the course of his life, Shal was married three times but was reportedly single at the time of his death.

Shal’s first marriage lasted from 1955 to 1958, and was to Sue Babior.

Following their divorce, he then re-married American model and actress China Lee, 79, who is famously known as Playboy’s first Asian American Playmate.

The former couple was married from 1967 to 1991, and they welcomed one child together, Mort Sahl Jr., who passed away on March 27, 1996, at the age of 19 following a drug overdose.

Following his second divorce he then re-married his third wife, Kenslea Sahl, in 1997 but they divorced soon after in 2009.