His style wasn’t of the aggressive comedy of his contemporaries, where friend and fellow comedian Bob Hope would try and do as many gags as he could in his given time, Benny did the opposite. Benny got more laughs in his legendary pauses than most comics could muster in 10 jokes.
His first encounter with entertainment was when he was given a violin for his sixth birthday. He practiced daily and by the time he was 14 was working as a violinist at the local vaudeville venue, The Barrison Theatre. When he was 17, he encountered the young Marx Brothers who played the theatre, their mother, the legendary Minnie offered Benny the chance to tour with them, which his parents declined.
By around 1912 he was known professionally as Ben K. Benny. The comedy started when he was performing classical violin whilst in the navy during the First World War (where he never progressed from ‘defending’ Lake Michigan), the audience weren’t too appreciative, so he eventually put down the violin (later the character of 'Jack Benny' would inflict his terrible violin playing on his friends) and started a bit of patter, this led to more comedy and he continued on this path back in vaudeville after the war.
By 1921 the name change was complete and he was billed as Jack Benny: Aristocrat of Humor.
For the next few years established himself as a popular vaudeville star and in 1929 was given a contract with MGM to make movies. The first film he made was largely an extension of his vaudeville career, being used as a host of a revue show, The Hollywood Revue of 1929, which featured amongst others, Laurel & Hardy doing a magic routine.
His movie career wasn’t successful (although To Be Or Not To Be and Charley’s Aunt were) and after returning to the stage, Benny decided in 1932 to try his hand at a new medium, radio.
His first radio appearance was on The Ed Sullivan Show, his radio career opened with the line
"This is Jack Benny talking. There will now be a slight pause while everyone says, 'Who cares?'".
Between May 1932 and May 1955 there were over 900 radio shows. His TV shows ran from 1950 to 1965 with 260 30 minute episodes. NBC decided to end the series in 1965 when the show was commanding 18 million viewers a week.
The format of the shows was part sitcom part entertainment. Benny was always keen to maintain the characters throughout, working with many of the same writers throughout and keeping a close eye on the scripts. His own character had many traits, from the infamous stinginess to his being forever 39.
I’ve jumped over a lot of The Jack Benny Program as I think the characters and the series itself require at least another entry.
Throughout his radio and tv career Benny continued to make live appearances and did so after the tv show finished. He made regular chat show appearances in the US, notably with Dick Cavett and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, he also made stage and TV appearances in the UK, appearing amongst others on Royal Variety Performances and on Parkinson and Des O’Connor Shows.
In 1974 he was cast to appear alongside Walter Matthau in the Neil Simon film The Sunshine Boys. Jack Benny was taken ill as rehearsals were due to begin. Rather than shelve the film Benny suggested his lifelong friend George Burns be considered for the role. Despite Burns not being known as an actor or movie star the eventual casting was an overwhelming success and Burns won an Oscar for his performance. We can only wonder what the film would have been with Benny playing the slow and fastidious Al Lewis. I’ve also wondered what the movie would have been had Phil Silvers, who took a screen test for the Matthau part, had been cast alongside Benny. The Dick Cavett interview of Benny and Silvers shows the warmth and admiration the two had for each other.
Jack Benny died on December 26 1974.
The International Jack Benny Fan Club website has more detailed biography and other information.
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| Jack Benny at the 1961 Royal Variety Performance alongside Shirley Bassey and George Burns with the Duchess of Kent. |
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