Benny, Jack (1894-1974)

Jack Benny is one of America's most venerated entertainers of the twentieth century. For over 50 years the nation identified with the persona that Benny created on the vaudeville circuit, sustained on radio, and successfully transferred to television. Few performers have lasted so long without any significant drop in popularity.

The character that Benny created exemplified the foibles of the American Everyman. Benny realized early on that "if you want the laughs you have to put something in a ridiculous light, even yourself." Benny was not a gifted clown or a sparkling wit, so he and his writers crafted a well-rounded persona with the weaknesses and imperfections of his audience. The Benny alter ego was penny-pinching, vain, anxious, and never willing to admit his true age (he was always 39 years old). Endless jokes were woven around these shortcomings, with Benny always the object of ridicule. Although the character had no identifiable ethnic or religious heritage, Americans had a deep affection for this insecure, sometimes petulant, creation.

The comedian was born Benjamin Kubelsky in Waukegan, Illinois on February 14, 1894, and began performing in vaudeville as a violinist. Still a teenager, he discovered the public responded to his jokes and wrong notes. Achieving moderate success on the New York stage, Benny first appeared on radio in 1929 and began a NBC radio series in 1932. Two years later, he was one of the medium's most popular entertainers. In 1935 he moved operations to Hollywood, and Jell-O became a trusted sponsor.

Benny found his character worked better as part of a group and helped to pioneer "gang" comedy. His wife, Sadie Marks, appeared as a sometimes girl friend, Mary Livingstone, and assumed the character's name as her own. Eddie Anderson portrayed Benny's personal valet, Rochester, and was hailed as radio's first black star.Although there were stereotypical elements to Rochester's characterization, a genuine bond grew between Benny and his employee that transcended race. Don Wilson as the rotund announcer, Phil Harris as the boozy bandleader, and Dennis Day as the boy singer rounded out the stable of regulars "playing themselves."

Radio listeners delighted in Benny's recurring gags and show business feuds as well as such catchphrases as "Well!" and "Now cut that out!" Mel Blanc was popular as the voice of Carmichael, the bear that lived in the basement; the exasperated violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc; and the bellowing railroad announcer ("Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga!"). Frank Nelson returned again and again as the unctuous clerk who harassed customers by squawking "Yeeeesss!" Benny is best remembered for his "Your money or your life?" routine, in which a burglar demands a difficult answer from the stingy comedian. After a long pause with the laughter building, Benny delivered his classic line, "I'm thinking it over." To Benny, timing was everything.

The cast frequently spoofed western serials with the skit "Buck Benny Rides Again." The parody was made into a movie in 1940. Benny made his first film appearance in the Hollywood Revue of 1929, but his radio stardom paved the way for substantial roles. Among his notable movie vehicles, Benny appeared as a vain actor in Ernst Lubitsch's classic, To Be or Not to Be (1942); a confirmed city-dweller in George Washington Slept Here (1942); and an avenging angel in Raoul Walsh's comedy, The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945).

In 1948 Benny took greater control of his career. He formed a production company to produce his radio series and generate more money for himself. William Paley also lured him to the CBS network. Although his vaudeville compatriots, Ed Wynn and Milton Berle, had become television stars in the late 1940s, Benny warmed slowly to the possibilities of the visual medium. Beginning with his first special, performed live in October 1950, Benny tried to approximate the radio series as closely as possible, retaining his cast and adapting appropriate scripts. Benny was also careful not to overexpose himself. Until 1953, The Jack Benny Show was a series of irregular specials on CBS; then, for seven years, it ran every other week on Sunday nights, his regular evening on radio. Beginning in 1960, the program aired every week, switching to Tuesday and Friday during its five year run.

Benny brought to television a defined, identifiable character forged during his stage and radio years. His persona was perfectly suited for the requirements of the small screen. Benny underlined his characterization with subtle gestures and facial expressions. The stare, which signaled Benny's pained exasperation, became his visual signature. Like the pause in radio, Benny's stare allowed the audience to participate in the joke.

The Benny program combined elements of the variety show and the situation comedy. As host, Benny, always in character, opened the proceedings with a monologue before the curtain. The bulk of each program was Benny performing with his regulars in a sketch that further played off his all-too-human frailties. Guest stars were also invited to play themselves in Benny's fictional world. Since the format was a known quantity, many movie stars made their television comedy debut on the Benny program, including Barbara Stanwyck, Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, and James Stewart.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Benny's writers kept his persona fresh and vital to a new generation of viewers. They crafted sketches around such television personalities as Dick Clark, Ernie Kovacs, and Jack Webb. Benny also stayed eternally young by donning a wig and playing guitar on occasion. When his weekly series ended in 1965, he returned to comedy specials. Whether playing violin with Isaac Stern or impersonating a surfer in a routine with the Beach Boys, Jack Benny was able to bridge audiences of different ages and tastes.

Jack Benny was a comedian's comedian. His sense of understated style and exquisite delivery shaped a generation of entertainers from Johnny Carson to Kelsey Grammer. He was also a national institution. Although the public knew in reality that he was a kind and generous person, they wanted to believe the worst. Jack Benny held up a mirror to America's failings and pretensions. As his friend Bob Hope said in farewell after his death in 1974, "For Jack was more than an escape from life. He was life—a life that enriched his profession, his friends, his millions of fans, his family, his country."

—Ron Simon