The question of how did Lenny Bruce die wasn't answered by the end of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as his death didn't occur in the show — but the tease of his downfall started. The Amazon Original introduced the real-life comedian as a friend and occasional mentor to Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) as she follows her comedy dreams. Lenny Bruce is played by Luke Kirby on the show, which subtly chronicles the life and career of the troubled comedy legend in the background as the titular Mrs. Maisel navigates the highs and lows of an entertainment career.
Lenny Bruce, on the series, had an interest in Midge's career as a comedian for years, offering advice or encouragement whenever he made an appearance. The romantic tension between Midge and Lenny had been brewing since the first season. However, after having sex in his hotel room, Midge discovers a bag containing drug paraphernalia that Bruce brushed off. Unfortunately, the drugs that Midge found in his bathroom are based on reality. The real Lenny Bruce struggled with addiction during his life, and while the series presented a fictionalized version of him, his troubles were well documented and ultimately led to Lenny Bruce's death.
Lenny Bruce's Drug Addiction On Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Explained
In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 4, episode 6, Lenny Bruce wakes up in Midge's apartment, presumably hungover and confused. Midge finds him passed out in the street the night before, and she brings him home to keep him safe. However, he seems out of it when he wakes up, more than would be typical for someone with just a hangover. When he finally recognizes Midge, he seems to be angry at her for rescuing him, but the anger is likely masking embarrassment that she saw him in such a state.
That moment is the first clue that Lenny is using drugs. Episode 8 is when Midge discovers the drugs in Lenny's bathroom. Until that moment, Midge assumed that Lenny sometimes had a problem with alcohol. While Lenny's career is taking off, with a depiction of his real-life Lenny Bruce Carnegie Hall show, his drug use is the first sign of his downfall.
How Did Lenny Bruce Die In Real Life?
Lenny Bruce was known for his obscene but insightful comedy about race, politics, sex, and other controversial topics. Just like in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the real Lenny Bruce was often arrested for his "blue comedy," which broke obscenity laws in the various cities where he performed. Bruce's frequent arrests for obscenity made it difficult for him to find clubs willing to book him, which meant that he struggled financially for years. After he was arrested for obscenity in New York City in 1964, Lenny Bruce felt his career was over, and his drug use increased. Lenny Bruce died in real life after a morphine overdose, found naked in his Hollywood Hills home, with syringes and a burned bottle cap near his body.
When The Real Lenny Bruce Died & Why Mrs. Maisel Season 5 Didn't Show It
In real life, Lenny Bruce died in 1966 at the age of 40. He performed a final show on June 26, 1966, at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and was found dead a month later on August 3. While his drug use is already a plot point in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, his death did not appear in the series. Instead, season 5 opened with Lenny Bruce saying goodbye to Midge in the airport, and it seemed like he might have been finished with the show for good. According to Luke Kirby, he felt Lenny carried a flame for Midge even as he moved on. "His belief in the light that she carries, he will always carry that," Kirby said (via EW).
When looking at how Lenny Bruce died in real life, there was no way that was ever going to happen in the series. Kirby said that there was no possible way to show his death because it would have been "ghoulish" to do so. "It's not the show to do it like that. There's so many descriptions about Lenny's last days and last moments out there. I had no real yearning to play it out," he said. However, Lenny Bruce's farewell at the airport was not the last that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's viewers saw of the comedian. Instead, he returned one more time for the finale.
The last scene for Lenny Bruce in Mrs. Maisel season 5 wasn't his death, and it also didn't include a reunion with Midge. Instead, Midge sent Susie to talk to Lenny while he was doing standup in 1965. This was still a year before his death, but Midge knew the warning signs, and she wanted Susie to offer him a way out, believing he wouldn't listen to her if she showed up. Sadly, Lenny rejected the assistance but asked about Midge. Susie lied about Midge being there and that was the end of the road for Lenny in this story. "He would love to see her," Kirby said. It never happened, and Lenny Bruce after the The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ended.
Why Lenny Bruce Is So Important To The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
One thing that makes The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel so intriguing is blurring the line between the show's fictional world and real-life people from that era sprinkled into the storylines. Lenny Bruce is one of the most important of these real-life individuals in Midge's world. While the show does not act as a historical biopic of the comedian, it does a good job of presenting his high-energy and charismatic personality, making him someone viewers can't help but gravitate to. He is also important because he was a tragic example of what success could do to comedians in that era.
Having someone like Lenny Bruce in the show helps authenticate The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in a way that a fictional character never could. People know who Lenny Bruce was and having him influence, interact with, and disappoint Midge really hammers home how hard this life is and the struggles she is constantly going through. The Lenny Bruce Carnegie Hall show in the season 4 finale perfectly encapsulates what reaching that pinnacle of success looks like, while his eventual demise shows the flip side, making him a hugely important person in the world of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.