Lenny Bruce was Jewish, born Leonard Alfred Schneider, in Mineola, New York. He grew up in nearby Bellmore, and attended Wellington C. Mepham High School. His parents divorced before he turned 10, and he lived with various relatives over the next decade. His British-born father, Myron (Mickey) Schneider, was a shoe clerk, and the two saw each other very infrequently. Bruce's mother, Sally Marr (legal name Sadie Schneider, born Sadie Kitchenberg), was a stage performer and had an enormous influence on Bruce's career.