Born Name:  Joseph Klewan

Born Date:  January 12, 1902

Born Place:  New York City

Died Date:  June 4, 1971

Died Place:  New York City

Occupations:  Comedian, actor, singer

Brief Biography:  Joe E. Lewis was celebrated for his hard-drinking persona and sharp wit. After a 1927 mob attack slashed his throat and ended his singing career, he famously reinvented himself as a stand-up comic. His life inspired the 1957 biopic The Joker Is Wild.

Early Life & Music Career:
Early Success: He began his career in the 1920s as a popular crooner and vaudeville performer in Chicago speakeasies.
Mob Connections: He regularly headlined at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, which was partially owned by Al Capone’s associate, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn.

The 1927 Attack and Comeback:
The Incident: When Lewis accepted a lucrative offer to perform at a rival gang's club and refused to renew his contract at the Green Mill, he was violently ambushed.
Recovery: Mobsters slashed his throat and vocal cords, leaving him for dead. He survived but had to undergo years of therapy just to learn how to speak again.
Comic Pivot: Because his singing voice was permanently ruined, Lewis reinvented his act as a stand-up comedian.

Nightclub Icon & Style:
Persona: He was known as the "king of the nightclub circuit", widely recognizable for holding a drink on stage, a cigar, and his signature catchphrase: "It is now post time!"
Material: His routines were famously witty, self-deprecating, and heavy on drinking and horse-racing jokes (e.g., "A friend in need is a pest" and "I drink to forget... but I can't remember what").
Pop Culture: He was the subject of the biography The Joker Is Wild (1955), adapted into a 1957 film starring his close friend Frank Sinatra.