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Biography of Jack BennyName: Jack BennyBirth Date: February 14, 1894 Death Date: 1974 Place of Birth: Waukegan, Illinois, United States Nationality: American Gender: Male Occupations: comedian, television host, actor Jack Benny Comedian Jack Benny (1894-1974) was one of the top stars of radio, television, and stage in a career which spanned over 50 years. A master of comic timing, Benny changed the nature of the weekly comedy show on radio and his likeable skinflint stage personna delighted audiences in the United States and around the world.Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky on February 14, 1894, in Waukegan, Illinois. His father, Meyer Kubelsky, was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant who arrived in New York in 1889. After marrying Emma Sachs four years later he opened a small haberdashery shop in Waukegan. Benjamin, the eldest child, had no desire to enter his father's business, but he had a natural talent for music which his parents encouraged by purchasing a small violin for him and paying for expensive lessons. Considered something of a prodigy around his home town, he played as a member of a musical group at various …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…he created: the frustrated violinist who relentlessly tortures his audience with a screeching rendition of "Love in Bloom" and who refuses to believe the putdowns of his many critics; the eternally vain tightwad who built an elaborate underground vault to protect his millions and who still owns a wheezing Maxwell automobile. Although a sensitive and generous man offstage, Benny's popularity sprang from his unique ability to embody in a sympathetic way the pettiness within us all. Further Reading An excellent analysis of Benny's radio work is contained in Arthur Frank Wertheim's Radio Comedy (1979). In addition, three Benny biographies are available: Mary Livingston Benny and Hilliard Marks with Marcia Borie, Jack Benny (1978); Irving A. Fein, Jack Benny: An Intimate Biography (1976); and Milt Josefsberg, The Jack Benny Show: The Life and Times of America's Best Loved Entertainer (1977). Benny, Jack, Sunday nights at seven: the Jack Benny story, New York, NY: Warner Books, 1990. |