'Bernie the Cheap Jew' Bernard Sahlins, co-founder of Second City, dies at 90

Bernie Sahlins outside The Second City on Feb. 15, 1977. (Tribune file photo)

Bernard "Bernie" Sahlins, the co-founder and former owner of Second City and a crucial and essential innovator in the field of American comedy, died peacefully today at his home, his wife Jane Nicholl Sahlins said. He was 90.