Jack Benny

Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was a comedian, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the most prominent early stars of American radio and television. Often cited for his impeccable comic timing, Benny was an influential comedy innovator, a major architect of the modern forms of standup comedy and situation comedy.

Radio

Benny had been only a minor vaudeville star, but he became an enormously successful national figure with The Jack Benny Program, a weekly radio show which ran from 1932 to 1955, and was consistently among the most highly-rated programs during most of that run. Benny's program centered around a fictional version of himself: a successful comedian who was cheap, petty, and vain. The program introduced a stable of colorful characters who made Benny their foil. Staples on the show were Eddie Anderson, who played Benny's African-American valet, "Rochester Van Jones" (and who became nearly as popular as Benny himself); rotund announcer Don Wilson, the butt of endless "fat" jokes; Mary Livingstone, Benny's real-life wife, who played his wisecracking lady friend on the show; bandleader Phil Harris, whose tales of drinking and womanizing were risqúe for the time (although in reality, the band was led by Mahlon Merrick); and tenor singer Dennis Day, who portrayed a naïve, sheltered young man. (Day was preceeded by another dim-witted tenor, Kenny Baker. Baker appeared from 1935 to 1939, leaving to join - ironically - the Fred Allen Show.) Other Benny cast members included Frank Nelson and the remarkably versatile Mel Blanc, who provided several characters' voices, as well as the famous sound of Benny's aging auto, an early century Maxwell that always seemed on the verge of collapse.

Related Topics:
1932 - 1955 - Foil - Eddie Anderson - Don Wilson - Phil Harris - Dennis Day - Frank Nelson - Mel Blanc - Maxwell

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The show featured sketch-like "situations" from the fictional Benny's life (Jack hosts a party, Jack and Mary go Christmas shopping, and so on), with Harris and Day providing musical interludes. The program, which had been broadcast from New York, moved to Los Angeles in 1936, and its new show-biz locale allowed for frequent guest appearances by Benny's celebrity colleagues, including Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby and many others. Orson Welles, Burns and Allen and other stars guest hosted several episodes in March and April of 1943 when Benny was seriously ill. Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume appeared frequently in the 1940s as Benny's neighbors.

Related Topics:
New York - Los Angeles - Frank Sinatra - James Stewart - Barbara Stanwyck - Bing Crosby - Orson Welles - Burns and Allen - Ronald Colman - Benita Hume

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In the early days of radio, the airtime was owned by the sponsor, and Benny made a point of incorporating the commercials into the body of the show; the sponsors were often the butt of jokes. Benny's radio programs were sponsored by Canada Dry Ginger Ale from 1932 to 1933, Chevrolet from 1933 to 1934, General Tire in 1934, and Jell-O from 1934 to 1942. The Jack Benny Program was so successful in selling Jell-O, in fact, that General Foods could not manufacture it fast enough, and had to stop advertising it. General Foods switched the Benny program from Jell-O to Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes from 1942 to 1944. Benny's longest-running sponsor, however, was the American Tobacco Company, specifically Lucky Strike cigarettes, from 1944 to 1955.

Related Topics:
Canada Dry Ginger Ale - Chevrolet - General Tire - Jell-O - Grape Nuts - Grape Nuts Flakes - Lucky Strike

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Benny was notable for employing a small group of writers, most of whom stayed with him for many years. This was very much in contrast to other successful radio or television comedians, such as Bob Hope, who would change writers frequently. Historical accounts (like those by longtime Benny writer Milt Josefsberg) indicate that Benny's role was essentially that of both head writer and director of his radio programs, though he was not credited in either capacity.

Related Topics:
Bob Hope - Milt Josefsberg

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In 1937 Benny began his famous radio "feud" with rival comedian Fred Allen, who complained about the way Benny played violin. In fact, the two were close friends. A typical Benny and Allen episode, in this case on Fred's radio show, was a satire of "Queen for a Day" re-titled "King for a Day". In it, Allen plays host and eventually showers Benny with a ton of worthless prizes in honor of him being named King for a Day. The grand prize is a pants pressing from a local dry cleaning company. The hilarity builds as Jack's shirt is being taken off. Then, his pants are pulled off to the shock of the audience. The laughter was so loud and chaotic at the chain of events that Fred's announcer, Kenny Delmar, was cut off the air amidst the wild laughter while trying to read the credits—Fred's show had ran over-time yet again!

Related Topics:
Comedian - Fred Allen - Queen for a Day - Kenny Delmar

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Benny was famous for his carefully timed pauses; one of the most famous laughs in radio came when he was accosted by a robber who demanded, "Your money or your life!" After an extended pause, the gunman reiterated the threat. Benny, ever the cheapskate, snapped, "I'm thinking it over!"

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During his early radio show, Benny adopted a medley of "Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Love in Bloom" as his theme song, opening every show. The song later became the theme of his television show as well.

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