Lenny Bruce (October 13, 1925 - August 3, 1966), born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was a controversial American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was also controversial, eventually leading to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.

Buddy Hackett (August 31, 1924 - June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. Born Leonard Hacker in Brooklyn, New York of Jewish heritage, he attended Public School 103 and then went on to New Utrecht High School. While still in high school, he began appearing in nightclubs, beginning with the "Borscht Belt" resorts in the Catskills. He served three years with an anti-aircraft unit during World War II. Hackett's first job after the war was at the Pink Elephant, …

Freddie Roman (born Fred Kirschenbaum 1937 in Jamaica, Queens, New York) Stand-up comedian, and king of one-liners, best known for his frequent appearances at "Borscht Belt" clubs. He is currently the Dean of the Friar's Club in New York City.

Jan Murray (October 4, 1916 - July 2, 2006) was an American stand-up comedian and actor who made his name on the Borscht Belt.

Joey Adams (birth name: Joseph Abramowitz was a Borscht Belt comedian who was inducted into the Friars Club in 1977 and wrote the book "Borscht Belt" in 1973. For many years, he wrote the "Strictly for Laughs" column in the "New York Post". His wife, Cindy Adams, is still the Post's leading gossip columnist. Adams made numerous television appearances over the years, including on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Howard Stern's 1990s TV shows, …

Norm Crosby (born September 15, 1927) is a comedian sometimes associated with the Borscht Belt, but often seen on television in the 1970s. He is best known for his use of malapropisms, and is often called "The Master of Malaprop." He was originally half of the nightclub comedy team of Ethan Eichrodt and Norm Crosby. The act was a big draw at Bally's Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. The duo enjoyed the height of its popularity in the early 1950s.

Sandy Baron (May 5, 1937-January 21, 2001) was an American comedian who acted on stage, in films, and on television. He was born Sanford Beresofsky in Brooklyn, New York. He cut his teeth working in the Catskill Mountains resorts. The Catskills were, and still are, synonymous with the "Borscht Belt" brand of Jewish humor on which Baron made his mark. He then moved on to the Compass Players Improv Comedy group in the late 1950's.

Gary Morton was the second husband of Lucille Ball. He was born Morton Goldapper in New York City, and was thirteen years Ball's junior. He had been previously married to actress Susan Morrow. He was a stand-up comedian, whose primary venues were the hotels and resorts of upper New York State's famous Borscht Belt. At the time of the Ball-Morton marriage, he claimed he was always busy working nights, so had not seen "I Love Lucy".

Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born (later American) Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre; born in Tarashcha ("Yiddish":Tarasche), a shtetl near Kiev, Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1881. A year later, barely a teenager, he was largely responsible for the first performance of Yiddish theatre in New York City and has been credited as the pioneer of Borscht Belt entertainment.

Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone. While there has been dispute of his birth year (some claim he was born in 1919), the social security index, his family, and even his gravestone states that he was born in 1917. Merrill was born Morris (Moishe) Miller in Brooklyn, New York, to shoe salesman Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.

Hugo Peretti (December 6 1916 - May 1 1986) was an American songwriter and record producer. Born in New York City, as a teenager, Hugo Peretti began his music career playing the trumpet in the Borscht Belt in upstate New York. He graduated to playing with orchestras then in the 1950s partnered with his cousin Luigi Creatore to form the Hugo & Luigi songwriting team that evolved to producing records.

Irving Benson was a standup comic in the Borscht Belt or Vaudeville tradition. He resembled Myron Cohen to some extent. He worked with fellow vaudevillian Milton Berle over the years, and gained a good deal of recognition as a (planted) heckler in Berle's weekly variety series in the 1960s, playing a character named "Sidney Spritzer" ("Spritzer" is German/Yiddish for "Needler" or "Sprayer").

Peretz Hirshbein (born 7 November 1880 in Melnik, Grodno - died 16 August 1948 in Los Angeles) was a Yiddish-language playwright, instrumental in the revival of Yiddish theater in Russia shortly after the 1904 lifting of the 1883 ban on theatrical performances in that language. Prior to his involvement in Yiddish theater, he wrote several plays in Hebrew; these were published in the periodical "Hazman", …

Joey Forman (November 18, 1929 - December 9, 1982) was an American comedian and comic actor. He appeared in a number of films, and performed standup comedy on TV shows such as "The Hollywood Palace". He was considered a standard Borscht Belt comic. He also appeared in several "Get Smart" episodes as Harry Hoo. He distinguished himself from the field by inventing a character called "The Mashuganishi Yogi", a parody of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

"Marty Goetz" is a singer-songwriter and pianist of Jewish background. He is a Messianic Jew. Born in 1952, Marty soon developed a musical career and as half of 'Bert & Marty', he sang at clubs and other venues around Pittsburgh while reading English at Carnegie Mellon University, including a non-singing guest appearance on Mister Rogers as Smokey Bear. Moving to New York and playing resorts in the Catskill Mountains, …

Magda Rura of Romania was an outstanding tennis player in the 1940s and 1950s. Rurac was ranked in the top 10 in unofficial world rankings in 1948 and 1949. For that reason, she is considered by many to be one of the best female players ever to come out of Romania. She played for Romania's Federation Cup team. Despite being Romanian, she was ranked in the U.S. Top Ten during her stay in the country. She was ranked No. 9 in 1951.