Hugh Sykes concludes his examination of the lives of some 20th-century people who rebelled against society's conventions with a portrait of the American comedian Lenny Bruce.
My concept of a comedian is an individual who's got a funny bone. There are a lot of good comedy actors around, but very few comedians.
Lenny Bruce helped to reshape the concept of comedy, forcing his audience to look critically at themselves and their society. Increasingly he became an angry moralist, persecuted by the 'respectable' society he satirised. He died at the age of 40 in his bathroom with a syringe embedded in his arm.
Research MIKE WOOLF
Producer GAYNOR SHUTTE