Lenny Bruce
June 24, 1966, Fillmore Auditorium
Photography by Gene Anthony

Lenny Bruce, on a shared billing with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, treated this Fillmore audience to what would end up being his last performance. Less than two months later, on August 3, he was found dead in his Hollywood home of an accidental morphine overdose. He was only 40 years old. Caught here in a shaft of light by premier photographer of the Summer of Love Gene Anthony, this image recalls the legacy of one of standup comedy’s most enduring and influential figures.

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