Morris Altabef

Morris Altabef, 84, IRS Agent and Toast of the Catskills By Special to the Sun | June 2, 2005

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Morris Altabef, who died April 27 at 84, was a career IRS agent given permission, unusual at the time, to moonlight as a comic entertainer.

He died in North Shore Hospital from complications of heart surgery.

Born in Harlem on August 24, 1920, Altabef was the son of Turkish immigrants. His father was a master cabinet maker. The family moved to the Bronx, where Altabef attended James Monroe High. He completed an accounting degree at City College in three years and joined the Army Air Corps as a bombardier in 1942. He spent the balance of the war stationed in San Antonio, Texas.

After a short career as a private accountant, Altabef joined the New York office of the Internal Revenue Service. Starting as an auditor, he became an international agent. He retired in 1980 and helped organize international protocols at the New York State Banking Department.

When his superiors noticed Altabef's comedic skills at IRS retirement dinners, they granted him permission to moonlight as a comedian. Using the stage name Al Morris, he entertained crowds at hotels and bungalow colonies in the Catskills with an act featuring dialect humor and double talk. He also raised money for Israel bonds at local fund-raisers, often acting as toastmaster.

Altabef is survived by his childhood sweetheart and wife, Rebecca Jacobs, and their three sons, Richard, Douglas, and Michael.