A Tribute to the Iconic Jack Benny

The year 1940 saw the birth of many of the most talented actors and actresses in Hollywood. These gems shone brightly in the entertainment industry, during the golden age of radio in American history.

One of the most famous comedians of radio ancient times was Kubelsky, Benjamin, aka "Jack Benny." This Waukegan, Illinois native played different roles in the iconic and colorful world of showbiz. Although the roots of his professional career were anchored on his days in Vaudeville, his quick wit and rapier-like humor, immediately earned him a place in Hollywood.

His life as a professional entertainer began as a violin-toting vaudeville comedian. Despite his exceptionally terrible playing, this would the lead to more substantial on air character portrayals. In fact, Benny’s musical ineptness gave birth to the funny and ironic plots that make up several episodes during his long time stint in the glorious era of old radio shows.

Benny was first featured as an on-air guest on Ed Sullivan’s show. His quick wit soon landed him his own series of old radio programs. The first of many was the "Canada Dry Program," with Canada Dry Ginger Ale, as the main sponsor of show that began on the May 2, 1932 on the NBC Blue network. Benny went on to endorse other products throughout the course of his career, but he was more identified with General Foods’ “Grape Nuts” and “Jell-O," and American Tobacco’s “Lucky Strike"

Jack Benny infused a breath of fresh air into the industry with his droll and rather acerbic wit. It would even be safe to say that his success was largely dependent on the listener’s acceptance and appreciation for the deadpan and ironic dramatization of his fictional namesake, ‘Jack Benny.’  His old radio program called "The Jack Benny Show" ran from 1932 to 1948 and was a very popular series that was heard nationally on NBC station every week. It later continued its serialization from 1949 - 1952 on the CBS network.

According to the renowned professor and expert in the history of American old time radio John Dunning, Jack Benny was an icon of the times and went on to say: "Who else could play in four decades, the proportion of vain, miserly, flint, skin, argumentative, and appear as a national treasure? "(From "On The Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio")

Jack Benny was blessed with a creative team of writers who created unique scripts for Benny and his co-stars to showcase their effortless talent in delivering hilarious punch lines. Characters like his ever-faithful chauffeur-valet Rochester van Jones, his healthy and robust announcer Don Wilson, and the naive office boy Dennis Day all brought Benny’s foibles to stark and comic relief.

It was during airing of the “Jack Benny Show” that he met and married his wife, Sadye (Sadie) Markes, who played several different roles throughout the life of the series. Her acting skills and natural talent for comedy inspired Benny’s writers to create a more permanent for her in the program, thus the sassy and impudent character of Mary Livingstone was born.

A tribute to the program’s success is that it is probably one of the longest running syndicated serial on in the history of old time radio. The "Jack Benny Show" would more than ten years and will be remembered as one of the greatest old radio shows of all time.