Lou Goldstein was the consummate tummler, one of a zany species of entertainer who kept them laughing, or tried to, long ago in the borscht belt hotels of the Catskills.

A tummler — the job title comes from a Yiddish word for someone who stirs up tumult or excitement — was a jack-of-all-trades social director who was supposed to amuse the hotel guests with jokes, songs and shtick that might be better described as slapshtick, as they sat by the pool, emerged from lunch or headed for bingo.

But Goldstein was more than a tummler. He was also probably the most famous impresario of Simon Says, a commanding figure in a game beloved by children as well as adults when they’re in a playful mood; his act appeared on national television and in sports arenas.

He died April 2 at age 90 and had lived in Liberty, N.Y., at the southern edge of his beloved Catskill Mountains. His wife, Jackie Horner, said the cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Goldstein, a slender 6-footer, performed his antics at Grossinger’s, perhaps the premier Catskills resort, from 1948 until the hotel closed in 1986. He’d hold absurd exercise classes. He’d have a circle of grown men don silly hats and maneuver them onto one another’s heads, with one hand and without letting the hats tumble to the ground. He’d tell jokes during pauses in a diving exhibition, or tell stories on tours of the Grossinger’s grounds and kitchens.

In addition to Mel Brooks, world-class comedians like Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar and Red Buttons put in summers as tummlers, according to “The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America,” by Lawrence Epstein. Goldstein did stand-up routines as well, Horner recalled, more than a few with borrowed jokes.

His forte became the Simon Says routines. Contestants stayed in the game as long as they did only what Simon told them to do, of course, and Goldstein, with a rapid-fire delivery, was masterly at tricking them into doing what Simon had actually kept mum about.

For his talents, Goldstein earned $600 a week and room and board at a hotel whose Jewish dishes were legendary for both their taste and their size.