Jack Benny

For many years he lived at 1002 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills. His neighbors were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz at 1000 North Roxbury, and Peter Falk and his wife at 1004 North Roxbury.

Two holidays figured prominently in his life: Born on St. Valentine's Day, 1894, he died on the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, 80 years later.

Star of "The Canada Dry Program" on NBC Radio (1932) and CBS Radio (1932-1933).

1933-34: Star of NBC Radio's "The Chevrolet Show".

1934-42: Star of NBC Radio's "The Jell-O Program".

1934: Star of NBC Radio's "The General Tire Show".

1934: He and his wife adopted a daughter, Joan Naomi.

1942-44: Star of NBC Radio's "The Grape Nuts Flakes Program".

Took his father to see To Be or Not to Be (1942), but he left the theatre disgusted when he saw Jack in a Nazi uniform. It wasn't until years later that Jack finally managed to convince him that he was making fun of Nazis not supporting them. His father saw the movie again and loved it.

The Jack Benny radio show that followed the premature death of Carole Lombard was canceled because Benny, a good friend and admirer, was grief-stricken. The time was filled with music instead. Both had just starred together in To Be or Not to Be (1942).

Star of "The Lucky Strike Program" on NBC Radio (1944-1949) and CBS Radio (1949-1955).

Hosted the Academy Awards in 1944 and 1947

In 1948, the radio quiz show Truth or Consequences ran a weekly contest to identify the Walking Man. The gag was to guess who the foot steps belonged to. Every week they played the steps. Eventually they revealed it was Jack Benny.

January 1949: A personal friend of Harry S. Truman, he served as Master of Ceremonies for Truman's Inaugural Ball. When he arrived at the White House for the event, a guard pointed to his violin case and asked, "Mr. Benny, what do you have in there?" As a joke, Jack whispered back, "It's a Thompson sub-machine gun." The guard replied, "Oh, that's a relief. I was afraid it was your violin".

One of Benny's best-known schticks as a radio star was his long-standing feud with fellow radio comedian Fred Allen. The two often appeared on each other's radio programs to trade barbs. Sadly, other than an appearance on "The Jack Benny Program" (1950), in which Allen tries to steal Jack's sponsor, this did not carry over into television, as Allen died shortly after beginning his own TV show. In real life, of course, Benny and Allen were great friends, and Benny even took time on his radio program to eulogize Allen after his death.

He once appeared on the TV quiz show "The $64,000 Question" (1955). After answering the first question correctly he quit and took home $1.00. His category was violins.

Towards the end of his TV series, he was waiting for his show to air and began watching "Bonanza" (1959), which started half an hour sooner. He wound up missing his show and said "If I won't even watch me, what chance do I have?".

According to Phyllis Diller's autobiography "Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse", in the late 1960s Broadway producer David Merrick approached Benny with the idea of him playing Dolly Levi in drag in "Hello, Dolly!" opposite George Burns as Horace Vandergelder. The intention was to turn Broadway on its ear and revive flagging interest in the show, which had been running since 1964, originally with Carol Channing as Dolly Levi. This idea never came to fruition. (Diller did appear in the show for 3 months in 1970.).

When he appeared as a celebrity guest on the game show "Password" (1961), he got the word "miser" and gave his first clue as, "Me!" thus bringing down the house.

When he died in 1974, he left an estate estimated at $4 million.

At the time of his death, he was scheduled to appear in The Sunshine Boys (1975/I). After he died, the role was taken over by his friend, George Burns.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.

Pictured on one of five 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating famous comedians, issued in booklet form 29 August 1991. The stamp designs were drawn by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The other comedians honored in the set are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Edgar Bergen (with alter ego Charlie McCarthy); Fanny Brice; and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 42-44. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6650 Hollywood Boulevard, for Radio at 1505 Vine Street, and for Television at 6370 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.