Editing Lenny Bruce (section)

==Death and posthumous pardon==
[[File:LennyBruce Grave.JPG|thumb|Bruce's grave at [[Eden Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Mission Hills, Los Angeles|Mission Hills, California]]]]
On August 3, 1966, Bruce was found dead in the bathroom of his [[Hollywood Hills]] home.<ref name=Obituary>{{cite news|agency=AP|title=Obituary|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1013.html|access-date=November 28, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 4, 1966|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011015200417/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1013.html|archive-date=October 15, 2001}}</ref> The official photo taken at the scene showed him lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other narcotics paraphernalia. Record producer [[Phil Spector]], a friend of Bruce's, bought the negatives of the photographs "to keep them from the press". The official cause of death was "acute [[morphine]] poisoning caused by an overdose".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall and Rise of an American Icon|last1=Collins|first1=Ronald|author-link1=Ronald K. L. Collins|last2=Skover|first2=David|author-link2=David Skover|year=2002|publisher=Sourcebooks Mediafusion|isbn=978-1570719868|page=[https://archive.org/details/trialsoflennybru00coll/page/340 340]|url=https://archive.org/details/trialsoflennybru00coll/page/340}}</ref>

Bruce's remains were interred in [[Eden Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Mission Hills, Los Angeles|Mission Hills, California]], but an unconventional memorial on August 21 was controversial enough to keep his name in the spotlight. Over 500 people came to the service to pay their respects, led by Spector. Cemetery officials tried to block the ceremony after ads for it encouraged attendees to bring box lunches and noisemakers. Delivering the eulogy, featured at the end of the documentary ''Lenny Bruce: Without Tears'', the Rev. William Glenesk said:

{{Blockquote|text=He was in a sense an [[evangelism|evangelist]], on a street corner. He was a man—up tight against an artificial world ... who shattered its façades, and its hypocrisy, and—if you will pardon the phrase which seems to become a cliché—he saw life as it is.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151327/|access-date=Dec 1, 2020 |title=Lenny Bruce: Without Tears (1972) |website=[[IMDb]] |date=July 5, 1972 }}</ref>}}

Bruce's epitaph reads: "Beloved father—devoted son / Peace at last". [[Dick Schaap]] concluded his eulogy to Bruce in ''Playboy'' with the words: "One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty. ''That's'' obscene". A memorial event was held at the [[Judson Memorial Church]] in New York City on August 12, which was "packed to overflowing" an hour before it was due to get underway. It was attended by prominent members of the arts community, many of whom also performed, and included [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[Joe Lee Wilson]], [[Jean Shepherd]], [[Charlie Haden]], and [[The Fugs]]; [[Paul Krassner]] officiated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzGy9VAKpc8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PzGy9VAKpc8| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=Lenny Bruce Memorial Service Judson Memorial Church New York City August 12, 1966|website=[[YouTube]]| date=July 2013|access-date=Dec 1, 2020 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On December 23, 2003, 37 years after Bruce's death, [[Governor of New York|New York Governor]] [[George Pataki]] granted him a posthumous [[pardon]] for his obscenity conviction.<ref>{{cite news|last=Minnis|first=Glenn|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lenny-bruce-pardoned/|title=Lenny Bruce Pardoned|work=[[CBS News]]/[[Associated Press]]|date=December 23, 2003}}</ref><ref name="totn-hentoff">{{cite web
| url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1567644
| title = Lenny Bruce Pardoned: Interview with Nat Hentoff (with audio link)
| website = [[Talk of the Nation]]
| publisher = [[National Public Radio]]
| last = Conan | first = Neal
| author-link =	Neal Conan
| date = December 23, 2003
| access-date = January 18, 2010
}}</ref>