Baron 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 1950s.
He made his Broadway debut in Tchin-Tchin in 1962. He also appeared in many other Broadway plays, hits as well as flops, including Generations and Lenny (Los Angeles production); he later replaced Cliff Gorman in the lead role of Lenny Bruce in Lenny on Broadway.
In the 1966-1967 season, Baron costarred with Will Hutchins in the NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord about an apartment complex in Manhattan.
He appeared in countless television programs, including a notable role in Seinfeld as Jack Klompus. He also starred in Law & Order and as Grandpa in a 1996 TV-movie revival of The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas. He also starred in the short-lived television sitcom, "Hey Landlord!" (1967). Along with several other of his contemporaries, Baron played himself in the opening scene of Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose; he also narrated the film.
Baron died of emphysema in Van Nuys, in the San Fernando Valley of southern California. His interment was located at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
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Last updated on Saturday July 12, 2008 at 10:54:11 PDT (GMT -0700)
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