The facts surrounding Aaron Payne's life are unresolved. In Holliday's own words: Payne said, "Jason Holliday was created in
San Francisco, and San Francisco is a place to be created." He was born in either
Montgomery, Alabama, or
Trenton, New Jersey. His parents, Fannie and Eugene, owned Payne's Restaurant in Trenton, but were from the South. Payne attended Rider Business College for one year before moving on to the Actors Workshop in
Hollywood, where he studied with
Charles Laughton. He then studied at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, along with
Carl Lee, the man who introduced Payne to Shirley Clarke. The details get even less clear after
Portrait of Jason. In 1967, Holliday recorded an LP of a comedy act which was eventually released in 2007 as an edited version. Aaron Payne's obituary appeared in
The Trentonian on July 31, 1998. He died in
Flushing and was survived by two sisters, six nieces and two nephews, and was cremated at Oxford Hills Crematory in
Chester, New York. ==
Portrait of Jason==