JACK BENNY
Name: Jack Benny
Birth name Benjamin Kubelsky
Born: 14 February 1894 Chicago, Illinois
Died: 26 December 1974 Beverly Hills, California
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky February 14, 1894 - December 26, 1974) was an
American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor.
Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a
pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!"
Benny was born on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in
neighboring Waukegan, Illinois. He was the son of Meyer Kubelsky, a Jewish
haberdasher and Emma Sachs Kubelsky, both of whom had emigrated to America from
Lithuania. Benny began studying the violin, an instrument that would become his
trademark, when he was just six, with his parents' hopes that he would be a
great classical violinist. He loved the violin but hated practice. By age 14, he
was playing in local dance bands as well as in his high school orchestra. Benny
was a dreamer and a poor student and he was expelled from high school. He did
equally badly in business school and at his father's trade. At age 17, he began
playing the instrument in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week.
In 1911, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers (then
known as the "Marks Brothers") and whose mother Minnie Palmer was so enchanted
with Benny's musicianship that she invited him to be their permanent accompanist.
The plan was foiled by Benny's parents, who refused to let their son, then 17,
go on the road, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with Zeppo Marx.
Benny's wife Mary Livingstone was a distant cousin of the Marx Brothers.
The following year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora
Salisbury, a buxom forty-five year old widow who needed a partner for her act.
This provoked famous violinist Jan Kubelik, who thought that the young
vaudeville entertainer with a similar name (Kubelsky) would damage his
reputation. Under pressure from Kubelik's lawyer, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to
change his name to Ben K. Benny (sometimes spelled Bennie). When Cora left the
act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and re-named the act "From Grand
Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly added comedy.
They even reached the Palace Theater, the "Mecca of Vaudeville", but bombed.
Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the Navy during World War I,
and he often entertained the troops with his violin playing. One evening, his
violin performance was booed by the troops, so with prompting from fellow sailor
and actor Pat O'Brien, he ad-libbed his way out of the jam and left them
laughing. He got more comedy spots in the revues and was a big hit, and earned
himself a reputation as a comedian as well as a musician.
Shortly after the war, Benny started a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle
Funology". But then he heard from another lawyer, this time that of Ben
Bernie, another patter-and-fiddle performer who also threatened to sue. So Benny
adopted the common sailor's nickname Jack. By 1921, the fiddle became more of a
prop and the low-key comedy took over.
Benny had several romantic encounters, including one with a dancer, Mary Kelly,
whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down Benny's proposal because
he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Mary Kelly by Gracie Allen. Later on,
years after the split between Mary Kelly and Jack, Mary resurfaced as a dowdy
fat girl and Jack gave her a part in an act of three girls: one homely, one fat
and one who couldn't sing. This lasted till, at Mary Livingstone's request, Mary
Kelly was let go.
In 1922, Jack accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover seder where he met Sadye (Sadie)
Marks, whom he married in 1927 after meeting again on a double-date. She was
working in the hosiery section of May's department store and Benny would court
her there. Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in one of Benny's
routines, Sadie proved a natural comedienne and a big hit. Adopting Mary
Livingstone as her stage name, Sadie became Benny's collaborator throughout most
of his career (according to Fred Allen's book on vaudeville, Much Ado About Me,
it was a custom for vaudeville comics to put their wives into the act once
married, in order to save on expenses and so that the marital partners could
keep an eye on each other). They later adopted a daughter, Joan.
In 1929, Benny's agent Sam Lyons convinced MGM's Irving Thalberg to catch Benny's
act at the Orpheum in Los Angeles. Benny was signed to a five-year contract and
his first film role was in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. His next movie, Chasing
Rainbows, was a flop and after several months, Benny was released from his
contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities. At first dubious
about the viability of radio, by this time Benny was eager to break into the new
medium. In 1932, after a four-week nightclub run, he was invited onto Ed
Sullivan's radio program, uttering his first radio spiel "This is Jack Benny
talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, 'Who cares?'..."
Name: Jack Benny
Birth name Benjamin Kubelsky
Born: 14 February 1894 Chicago, Illinois
Died: 26 December 1974 Beverly Hills, California
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky February 14, 1894 - December 26, 1974) was an
American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor.
Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a
pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!"
Benny was born on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in
neighboring Waukegan, Illinois. He was the son of Meyer Kubelsky, a Jewish
haberdasher and Emma Sachs Kubelsky, both of whom had emigrated to America from
Lithuania. Benny began studying the violin, an instrument that would become his
trademark, when he was just six, with his parents' hopes that he would be a
great classical violinist. He loved the violin but hated practice. By age 14, he
was playing in local dance bands as well as in his high school orchestra. Benny
was a dreamer and a poor student and he was expelled from high school. He did
equally badly in business school and at his father's trade. At age 17, he began
playing the instrument in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week.
In 1911, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers (then
known as the "Marks Brothers") and whose mother Minnie Palmer was so enchanted
with Benny's musicianship that she invited him to be their permanent accompanist.
The plan was foiled by Benny's parents, who refused to let their son, then 17,
go on the road, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with Zeppo Marx.
Benny's wife Mary Livingstone was a distant cousin of the Marx Brothers.
The following year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora
Salisbury, a buxom forty-five year old widow who needed a partner for her act.
This provoked famous violinist Jan Kubelik, who thought that the young
vaudeville entertainer with a similar name (Kubelsky) would damage his
reputation. Under pressure from Kubelik's lawyer, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to
change his name to Ben K. Benny (sometimes spelled Bennie). When Cora left the
act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and re-named the act "From Grand
Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly added comedy.
They even reached the Palace Theater, the "Mecca of Vaudeville", but bombed.
Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the Navy during World War I,
and he often entertained the troops with his violin playing. One evening, his
violin performance was booed by the troops, so with prompting from fellow sailor
and actor Pat O'Brien, he ad-libbed his way out of the jam and left them
laughing. He got more comedy spots in the revues and was a big hit, and earned
himself a reputation as a comedian as well as a musician.
Shortly after the war, Benny started a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle
Funology". But then he heard from another lawyer, this time that of Ben
Bernie, another patter-and-fiddle performer who also threatened to sue. So Benny
adopted the common sailor's nickname Jack. By 1921, the fiddle became more of a
prop and the low-key comedy took over.
Benny had several romantic encounters, including one with a dancer, Mary Kelly,
whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down Benny's proposal because
he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Mary Kelly by Gracie Allen. Later on,
years after the split between Mary Kelly and Jack, Mary resurfaced as a dowdy
fat girl and Jack gave her a part in an act of three girls: one homely, one fat
and one who couldn't sing. This lasted till, at Mary Livingstone's request, Mary
Kelly was let go.
In 1922, Jack accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover seder where he met Sadye (Sadie)
Marks, whom he married in 1927 after meeting again on a double-date. She was
working in the hosiery section of May's department store and Benny would court
her there. Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in one of Benny's
routines, Sadie proved a natural comedienne and a big hit. Adopting Mary
Livingstone as her stage name, Sadie became Benny's collaborator throughout most
of his career (according to Fred Allen's book on vaudeville, Much Ado About Me,
it was a custom for vaudeville comics to put their wives into the act once
married, in order to save on expenses and so that the marital partners could
keep an eye on each other). They later adopted a daughter, Joan.
In 1929, Benny's agent Sam Lyons convinced MGM's Irving Thalberg to catch Benny's
act at the Orpheum in Los Angeles. Benny was signed to a five-year contract and
his first film role was in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. His next movie, Chasing
Rainbows, was a flop and after several months, Benny was released from his
contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities. At first dubious
about the viability of radio, by this time Benny was eager to break into the new
medium. In 1932, after a four-week nightclub run, he was invited onto Ed
Sullivan's radio program, uttering his first radio spiel "This is Jack Benny
talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, 'Who cares?'..."