Lenny (1974)

The film jumps between various sections of Lenny Bruce's life, including scenes of when he was in his prime, and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations. Up-and-coming Bruce courts his "Shiksa goddess", a stripper named Honey. With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe" act, but he cannot do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex that fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at establishment windmills, Lenny Bruce dies of a morphine overdose in 1966.