Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-upcomedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, freestyle and critical form of comedy which contained satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity.[2] His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in the history of New York state, by GovernorGeorge Pataki in 2003.[3]