Jack Benny was one of network radio's top comedy stars for several decades, and one of the few who successfully made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later from radio to television.

Vaudeville Origins

Jack Benny was born Benjamin (Benny) Kubelsky in Chicago on 14 February 1894, but he claimed Waukegan, Illinois, as his birthplace because his parents lived there. Benny's father bought him a violin and paid for lessons, and after graduating from grammar school Benny played with a children's orchestra in stores, at parties, and at bar mitzvahs. He entered Central High School in Waukegan in 1909 and worked in vaudeville as a violinist in the orchestra pit at the Barrison Theater, also in Waukegan. Matinee performances required time away from school and led to his flunking out. His disappointed father found him a haberdashery job and enrolled him in Waukegan Business College. Benny was so uninterested that his father let him return to the Barrison, which closed when Benny was 16. Benny then formed the act "Salisbury and Benny-From Grand Opera to Ragtime" with Cora Salisbury, a mature pianist. They played the Midwest until 191 3, when Benny joined pianist Lyman Woods to form "Bennie and Woods." Their crowning moment came when they played New York's Palace, the leading vaudeville theater. In November 1917 Benny's mother died, and for the rest of his life Benny feared the cancer that had claimed her life. He also regretted that he had not become a serious violinist as she had hoped he would.

     In 1918 Benny joined the navy at Great Lakes Training Station and never saw Woods again. He joined the Great Lakes Review, a navy theatrical show that performed across the Midwest for Navy Relief. Benny had never talked onstage in vaudeville. In the navy show, he had two lines that he delivered in a flat voice the audience loved. Upon his discharge, Benny performed solo to modest reviews as "Ben Benny-Fiddleology and Fun" and "Ben Benny-Aristocrat of Humor." He also had some success composing piano solos. He soon decided, however, to put all his emphasis on being a comedian in his act "A Few Minutes with Ben Benny." Ben Bernie, bandleader and comedian, was unhappy with the name similarity, and so Jack Benny was created. In "A Few Minutes with Jack Benny," music disappeared from his act. By 1926 Benny was well established as a vaudeville comedian when he met Sadie Marks, a hosiery sales girl who in 1927 would become his wife. They adopted a daughter, Joan, in 1934.

     In 1926 Benny landed a role in The Great Temptations, a musical revue. After that, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed him to a film contract. He was used primarily to emcee industry dinners and premieres, but he did play himself in The Hollywood Revue of r929. He asked to be released from his contract and returned to the stage in The Earl Carroll Vanities in 1930.

Network Radio

  Benny's first radio appearance was on an interview show hosted by New York Daily News columnist Ed Sullivan in 1932. Benny said: "This is Jack Benny. There will be a slight pause while everyone says, 'Who cares?'" Benny was given the Canada Dry Program, which aired on National Broadcasting Company (NBC) Blue (2 May 1932 to 26 October 1932) and on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS; 30 October 1932 to 26 January 1933). Benny tried new ideas, such as humorously working the advertisement into the show. Canada Dry was at first unimpressed, but thousands of letters changed their minds. During the second year of Benny's work for NBC, he was given the Chevrolet Program on NBC Red (3 March 1933 to 23 June 1933; 1 October 1933 to 1 April 1934), but net­ work President William F. Knudsen dropped the show until ​​protests from dealers changed his mind. However, NBC Red had already begun to broadcast Benny's General Tire Revue (6 April 1934 to 28 September 1934). Sadie joined the cast as Mary Livingstone, a fictitious character from Plainfield, New Jersey. There was no real Mary Livingstone, but fans who remembered her sent letters to her for the rest of Sadie's life.

     In 19 34 Benny signed to do the Jell-0 Program Starring jack Benny on NBC Blue in New York (14 October 1934 to 14 July 1935). The show moved to Hollywood on NBC Blue (29 September 1935 to 21 June 1936) and then on NBC Red (4 October 1936 to 11 May 1942). By 1936 the ]ell-O Program Starring jack Benny was rated number one. Benny introduced many running bits (including his famous "feud" with fellow radio comedian Fred Allen), which continued on television. In his basement was the famous vault and Carmichael the polar bear. He satirized motion pictures, always maintained that he was 39, drove a very old Maxwell car, and cultivated his stingy image. He demonstrated frustration, with chin in hand, by stating, "Well!" Sometimes he showed aggression by saying, "Now cut that out!" His most famous line reflecting stinginess came during a scene in which he was held up by a robber who exclaimed, "Your money or your life!" After a lengthy delay, the robber repeated the demand. The audience laughed profusely and at great length until Benny responded, "I'm thinking!" Benny also employed sound effects, perhaps more successfully than anyone to that point in radio. Although he was a proficient violinist in real life, Benny continued to use it as a funny prop and sometimes played a sloppy version of his theme song, Laue in Bloom. Benny and his writers did not employ any particular gag on a weekly basis but rotated and mixed old jokes with new ideas to keep material fresh. No bit was overplayed, but the audience always knew that the vault, Carmichael, and the Maxwell were there, even though they may have been part of the script only a few times per season.

     Benny's radio program featured regular cast members, such as Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, and others. Perhaps the most beloved character was Eddie Anderson's "Rochester." The show returned to New York on occasion, and Rochester was introduced as a Pullman porter in a skit about one of the train trips back to Los Angeles. Gravel-voiced Rochester was so well received he was written into the program permanently under the premise that Benny had hired him away from the railroad. Rochester used affectionate insults to put Benny in his place, and the relationship worked perfectly into Benny's trademark of self-deprecating humor.

     After moving to California, Benny signed a long-term contract with Paramount to appear in a number of movies, including College Holiday (1936) with George Burns and Gracie Allen and Love Thy Neighbor ( 1940) with Fred Allen. Buck Benny Rides Again, playing on one of the running radio gags, satirized Western films with film actor Andy Devine portraying ​​his sidekick. Benny had success in his films, but one would not know it based on his treatment of film in his radio act. One recurring joke focused on the 1946 film The Horn Blows at Midnight. Although it made some money, it was his least successful movie effort. His agent, Irving Fein, said that although Benny later had other parts in movies, "the record books will state that The Horn Blows at Midnight really did blow taps to his motion-picture career."

     While Bob Hope rightfully received tremendous credit for entertaining American troops abroad, Jack Benny deserves credit in this respect as well. Many jokes focused on his experiences as a World War I sailor. Unlike other entertainers, Benny and his accompanying performers wore civilian clothes, because he realized that military personnel were tired of seeing nothing but uniforms. On one tour, Benny discovered GI Jack Paar; three years later, Benny gave Paar his show business start by signing Paar as his summer radio replacement. Benny also performed in Korea (1950-53) but returned so exhausted that he was ordered to a week's bed rest. Although he wanted to entertain in Vietnam, he was in his 70s by then, and the memory of Korea prevented his participation.

     The Jack Benny Program for Grape-Nuts and Grape-Nuts Flakes on NBC Red (4 October 1942 to 4 June 1944) dropped from first in the ratings to trail Bob Hope and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Benny hired new writers and launched the Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny on NBC ( 1 October 1944 to 26 December 1948), but by 1945 the program had dropped from the top five. It was decided to have a contest in which listeners would write in 25 words or less on the subject, "I can't stand Jack Benny because "Great

     publicity was generated, and the show returned to number one in 1947. In 1948 the Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny left NBC for CBS (2 January 1949 to 22 May 1955). William Paley, CBS chairman, had seen television's future and raided NBC for almost all of its top performers and programs in order to move them all to television.

Television

     The Jack Benny Program on CBS-TV (1950-64) began with a series of live specials from New York on 28 October 1950. Benny's first television line was, "I'd give a million dollars to know what I look like on television." For five years Benny continued to do radio even as his TV show became more popular. Indeed, much of the time the two were simulcast, often leaving radio listeners in the dark as audiences (or laugh tracks) indicated some sight gag. H1s only concession was to reduce the number of radio shows from 39 to 35 programs per year. The number of TV programs steadily increased to 9 in the third year, then to 13 and 16. In 1960-61 the number rose to 26. Benny's TV show rotated with other programs on the schedule, including Private Secretary, Bachelor Father, and The George Gobel Show. Many of his television shows were adapted from radio. Initially television made Benny nervous, but he eventually began to like it more than radio. In 1955 Benny left radio behind to concentrate solely on TV. Lucky Strike sponsored the TV show from 1950 to 1959, and other sponsors took over until 1965. The entire TV series was done in black and white. The show's last year was broadcast on NBC (1964-65). The Jack Benny Program won eight Emmy awards for Best Comedian and Best Comedy Program.

     In 1957 Benny won the first trustees award of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The award read: "Jack Benny-For his significant contribution to the television industry as a showman. For the high standard for all to emulate, set by his personal skill and excellence as a performer. For the consistency, quality and good taste of his program through many years and many media." Until his death, Benny appeared sporadically as a guest star and in his own specials, featuring themes and all-star casts. The specials included Carnival Nights, Jack Benny's Bag, Jack Benny's Birthday Party, Jack Benny's Twentieth Anniversary Special, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Jack Benny but Were Afraid to Ask, Jack Benny's First Farewell Special, and Jack Benny's Second Farewell Special, his last show.