Bruce was a stand-up comedian known for satirical and profane routines about religion, sex, race, and politics.

He was arrested repeatedly on obscenity charges, and was convicted in New York in 1964 following performances at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village.

• He died of a morphine overdose in 1966, and was granted a posthumous pardon by New York Governor George Pataki in 2003.

• His life was the subject of the film Lenny (1974), starring Dustin Hoffman.