141-408: The Jack Benny Program , starring Jack Benny , is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 and 1961 Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series , and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy. Throughout his career, Jack Benny played
282-595: A Lithuanian Jewish immigrant, and Frederick Blank (born in New York to German Jewish parents ), the younger of two children. He grew up in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood, and later in Portland, Oregon , where he attended Lincoln High School . He had an early fondness for voices and dialect, which he began practicing at the age of 10. He claimed that he changed the spelling of his name when he
423-503: A stereotype by some, his attitudes were unusually sardonic for such a role. As was typical at the time in depicting class distinctions, Rochester always used a formal mode of address to the other (White) characters ("Mr. Benny", "Miss Livingstone") and they always used a familiar mode in speaking to him ("Rochester"), but the formal mode when speaking to him about another White character ("Mr. Benny" when speaking to Rochester but "Jack" when speaking to Jack). In many routines, Rochester gets
564-445: A CBS affiliate, the network television version of The Jack Benny Program ran from October 28, 1950, to 1965, all but the last season on CBS. Initially scheduled as a series of five "specials" during the 1950–1951 season, the show appeared every six weeks for the 1951–1952 season, every four weeks for the 1952–1953 season and every three weeks in 1953–1954. For the 1953–1954 season, half the episodes were live and half were filmed during
705-419: A Mexican in a sombrero and serape sitting on a bench. Jack Benny sits down and begins a conversation. To each question asked by Benny, Blanc replies Sí . When Benny asks his name, Blanc replies Sy , which would prompt the exchange, Sy? , Sí. And when Benny asks where Blanc is going, Blanc replies, "to see his sister", Sue ( Sue? , Sí. ), who of course sews for a living ( Sew? , Sí. ). A running gag
846-649: A Puddy Tat (shown with Happy Feet Two ) and Daffy's Rhapsody (shown with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ). For his contributions to the radio industry, Blanc has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard . His character Bugs Bunny was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 10, 1985. Blanc trained his son Noel in the field of voice characterization. Noel performed his father's characters (particularly Porky Pig) on some programs, but did not become
987-484: A benign nemesis for Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor ), George Washington Slept Here (1942), and notably, Charley's Aunt (1941) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). He and Livingstone also appeared in Ed Sullivan 's Mr. Broadway (1933) as themselves. Benny often parodied contemporary films and genres on the radio program, and the 1940 film Buck Benny Rides Again features all the main radio characters in
1128-643: A co-starring role. Unlike later incarnations of the Benny show, The Canada Dry Program was primarily a musical program. Benny then appeared on The Chevrolet Program , airing on the NBC Red Network between March 17, 1933, until April 1, 1934, initially airing on Fridays (replacing Al Jolson), moving to Sunday nights in the fall. The show, which featured Benny and Livingstone alongside Frank Black's orchestra and vocalists James Melton and (later) Frank Parker , ended after General Motors' president insisted on
1269-417: A commercial for the sponsor (e.g. Jell-O or Grape Nuts Flakes ), accompanied by a musical number from the orchestra. Wilson would then introduce Jack Benny as the "Master of Ceremonies" and banter with him. Gradually, the rest of the cast members—including Mary Livingstone , bandleader Phil Harris , and tenor Kenny Baker or Dennis Day —would "walk on" to join the conversation. The banter between Benny and
1410-809: A commercial. He was originally expected to recover, but doctors later discovered that he had advanced coronary artery disease after his health had worsened. He also fell from his bed and broke his femur during the stay. Blanc died at the age of 81 from complications related to both illnesses on July 10, 1989 at 2:30 p.m., nearly two months after being admitted into the hospital. He is interred in Hollywood Forever Cemetery section 13, Pinewood section, plot #149 in Hollywood. His will specified that his gravestone read " That's all folks "—the phrase with which Blanc's character, Porky Pig, concluded Warner Bros. cartoons from 1937 to 1946. Blanc
1551-493: A crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California . His will arranged for a single long-stemmed red rose to be delivered to his widow, Mary Livingstone, every day for the rest of her life. Livingstone died eight and a half years later on June 30, 1983, at the age of 78. In trying to explain his successful life, Benny summed it up by stating: "Everything good that happened to me happened by accident. I
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#17327978718141692-480: A funny Western parody adapted from program skits. The failure of one cinematic Benny vehicle, The Horn Blows at Midnight , became a running gag on his radio and television programs, although contemporary viewers may not find the film as disappointing as the jokes suggest. Benny may have had an uncredited cameo role in Casablanca , claimed by a contemporary newspaper article and advertisement and reportedly in
1833-436: A future when he would be around no longer to record. 15 hours of new tapes of Mel's material were discovered in 1996, with Noel Blanc expecting to find more soon. These new recordings of Blanc's voices were also given to a variety of toys, watches, video games, and websites. More recently, archive recordings of Blanc have been featured in new computer-generated imagery -animated Looney Tunes theatrical shorts; I Tawt I Taw
1974-426: A guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , during which he recreated several classic radio skits with Mel Blanc the day before his final television special aired. Benny was preparing to star in the film version of Neil Simon 's The Sunshine Boys when his health failed later the same year. He prevailed upon his longtime best friend, George Burns , to take his place on a nightclub tour while preparing for
2115-479: A joint appearance with Phil Silvers on Dick Cavett 's show, Benny recalled that he had advised Silvers not to appear on television. However, Silvers ignored Benny's advice and proceeded to win several Emmy awards as Sergeant Bilko on the popular series The Phil Silvers Show . Benny also acted in films, including the Academy Award -winning The Hollywood Revue of 1929 , Broadway Melody of 1936 (as
2256-551: A minor vaudeville performer before becoming a national figure with The Jack Benny Program , a weekly radio show that ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS . It was among the most highly rated programs during its run. Benny's long radio career began on April 6, 1932, when the NBC Commercial Program Department auditioned him for the N. W. Ayer & Son agency and their client Canada Dry , after which Bertha Brainard , head of
2397-478: A musical program. He continued with sponsor General Tire on Fridays through the end of September. The show switched networks to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley 's notorious "raid" on NBC talent in 1948–1949. It stayed there for the remainder of its radio run, ending on May 22, 1955. CBS aired repeat episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny . After making his television debut in 1949 on local Los Angeles station KTTV , then
2538-472: A number of shows on the West Coast for two years – featuring Jimmie Grier as guest conductor – whenever he was doing movie work. Green was replaced by Phil Harris . During this period, the Benny character gradually became that of the vain, miserly, untalented performer for which he would be recognized, while the "ditzy" role went from Mary to Kenny, and Don Wilson would become
2679-535: A number. Don Wilson would bring the Sportsmen Quartet over to Jack's house, to sing a new commercial for the sponsor, Lucky Strike Cigarettes, to Benny's consternation. Later in the show, Jack might step out to handle some common errand, such as going to the dentist, or visiting a store to buy a new suit, where the dentist or store clerk would inevitably turn out to be Frank Nelson . While on these errands, he might encounter Mr. Kitzel ( Artie Auerbach ),
2820-646: A performance in Dallas after suffering a dizzy spell, coupled with numbness in his arms. Despite a battery of tests, Benny's ailment could not be determined. When he complained of stomach pains in early December, a first test showed nothing, but a subsequent examination showed that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer . Benny went into a coma at home on December 22, 1974. While in a coma, he was visited by close friends, including George Burns , Bob Hope , Frank Sinatra , Johnny Carson , John Rowles and then Governor Ronald Reagan . He died on December 26, 1974, at age 80. At
2961-621: A plumber who resembles Jack Benny and in 1967 "Lucy Gets Jack Benny's account" where Lucy takes Jack on a tour of his new money vault. In the late 1960s, Benny did a series of commercials for Texaco Sky Chief gasoline, using his "stingy" television persona, always telling the attendant, played by Dennis Day, after being implored, "Mr. Benny, won't you please fill up?", "I'll take a gallon." In his unpublished autobiography, I Always Had Shoes (portions of which were later incorporated by Jack's daughter, Joan Benny, into her memoir of her parents, Sunday Nights at Seven ), Benny said that he, not NBC, made
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#17327978718143102-399: A record 28 consecutive years). In the fall of 1935, Don Bestor was replaced by Johnny Green as the maestro, while Parker was replaced by Michael Bartlett, who himself left after 13 weeks, with Kenny Baker taking over. In early 1936, Harry Conn left the program after creative conflicts with Benny, who had to resort to vaudeville writers Al Boasberg and Edmund Beloin through the end of
3243-560: A shattering cacophony of whistles, sirens, bells, and blasts before ending invariably with the sound of a foghorn. The alarm rang even when Benny opened his safe with the correct combination. The vault also featured a guard named Ed (voiced by Joseph Kearns ) who had been on post down below, apparently, before the end of the Civil War, the end of the Revolutionary War, the founding of Los Angeles, on Jack's 38th birthday and even
3384-495: A show like The Jack Benny Program , which used sophisticated humor and complex, well-written scripts. When they happened, Jack would laugh along with the audience, ad lib a joke or two, and continue on with the show, although the line flubs clearly annoyed him. When Eddie Anderson, who had a habit of missing rehearsals, would flub his lines on the air, Jack would sometimes shout in mock indignation, "Just one rehearsal! That's all I ask!" As professional as he was, even Jack himself
3525-506: A sponsor – The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program , beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933. Arriving at NBC on March 3, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934, with Frank Black leading the band. He continued with The General Tire Revue for
3666-570: A sponsor, Benny came to radio on The Canada Dry Program , on May 2, 1932, broadcast on Mondays and Wednesdays on the NBC Blue Network , featuring George Olsen and his orchestra. After a few shows, Benny hired Harry Conn as writer. The show continued on Blue for six months until October 26, moving to CBS on October 30, now airing Thursdays and Sundays. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933, when Canada Dry opted not to renew Benny's contract after it attempted to replace Conn with Sid Silvers, who would have also gotten
3807-480: A successful run from 1954 until 1958. Both television shows often overlapped the radio show. In fact, the radio show alluded frequently to its television counterparts. Often as not, Benny would sign off the radio show in such circumstances with the line "Well, good night, folks. I'll see you on television." When Benny moved to television, audiences learned that his verbal talent was matched by his controlled repertory of dead-pan facial expressions and gesture. The program
3948-554: A tune-up), violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, Polly the Parrot, Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael and the train announcer. The first role came from a mishap when the recording of the automobile's sounds failed to play on cue, prompting Blanc to take the microphone and improvise the sounds himself. The audience reacted so positively that Benny decided to dispense with the recording altogether and have Blanc continue in that role. One of Blanc's characters from Benny's radio (and later TV) programs
4089-497: A variety of film, advertising and theme park projects. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Blanc performed his Looney Tunes characters for bridging sequences in various compilation films of Golden Age-era Warner Bros. cartoons, such as: The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie , The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie , Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales , Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island and Daffy Duck's Quackbusters . His final performance of his Looney Tunes roles
4230-423: A week (about $ 250 in 2020 dollars). He was joined on the circuit by Ned Miller , a young composer and singer. That same year, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers . Minnie , their mother, enjoyed Benny's violin playing and invited him to accompany her boys in their act. Benny's parents refused to let their son go on the road at 17, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with
4371-403: A writing staff, Jack Benny was often described by his writers as a consummate comedy editor rather than a writer per se . George Burns described Benny as "the greatest editor of material in the business. He's got the knack of cutting out all the weak slush and keeping in only the strong, punchy lines." Jack Benny has a reputation as a master of timing. Since his days in radio, he often explored
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4512-671: Is astounding to realize that Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam are the same man!" Blanc said that Sylvester the Cat was the easiest character for him to voice, because "[he's] just my normal speaking voice with a spray at the end"; and that Yosemite Sam was the hardest, because of his loudness and raspyness. A doctor who examined Blanc's throat found that he possessed unusually thick, powerful vocal cords that gave him an exceptional range, and compared them to those of opera singer Enrico Caruso . After his death, Blanc's voice continued to be heard in newly released productions, such as recordings of Dino
4653-415: Is probably the most memorable: Robert McKimson engaged Benny and his actual cast (Mary Livingstone, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, and Don Wilson) to do the voices for the mouse versions of their characters, with Mel Blanc – the usual Warner Brothers cartoon voicemeister – reprising his old vocal turn as the always-aging Maxwell, always a phat -phat- bang! away from collapse. In
4794-424: Is regarded as the most prolific voice actor in entertainment history. He was the first voice actor to receive on-screen credit. Blanc's death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and the sheer number of the continuing characters he portrayed, whose roles were subsequently assumed by several other voice talents. As film critic Leonard Maltin observed, "It
4935-748: The Casablanca press book. When asked in his column "Movie Answer Man", film critic Roger Ebert first replied, "It looks something like him. That's all I can say." He wrote in a later column, "I think you're right." Benny also was caricatured in several Warner Brothers cartoons including Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (1939, as Casper the Caveman), I Love to Singa , Slap Happy Pappy , and Goofy Groceries (1936, 1940, and 1941 respectively, as Jack Bunny ), Malibu Beach Party (1940, as himself), and The Mouse that Jack Built (1959). The last of these
5076-524: The fourth wall , with the characters interacting with the audience and commenting on the program and its advertisements. In his first years on radio (c. 1932–1935), Jack Benny followed the format of many other radio comedians, standing at the microphone, telling jokes and stories, and introducing band numbers. As the characters of Jack and his cast became more defined, the show took on a "variety show" format, blending sketch comedy and musical interludes. The show usually opened with announcer Don Wilson doing
5217-856: The '39ers." A statue of Benny with his violin stands in downtown Waukegan. The British comedian Benny Hill , whose original name was Alfred Hawthorne Hill, changed his name as a tribute to Jack Benny. He was mentioned by Doc Brown in Back to the Future , in which Doc guesses who would be Secretary of the Treasury by 1985, not believing Ronald Reagan was President of the United States of America. Papers Metadata Audio Video Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank / b l æ ŋ k / ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989)
5358-730: The 1970s, Blanc gave a series of college lectures across the US and appeared in commercials for American Express . Mel's production company, Blanc Communications Corporation, collaborated on a special with the Boston-based Shriners' Burns Institute called Ounce of Prevention , which became a 30-minute TV special. In 1972, Chuck McKibben started working as Blanc's personal recording engineer/producer and studio manager. His daily responsibilities at Mel Blanc Audiomedia in Beverly Hills, California included recording Blanc's voice for
5499-741: The City of Los Angeles. His accident, one of 26 in the preceding two years at the intersection known as Dead Man's Curve , resulted in the city funding the restructuring of curves at the location. Years later, Blanc revealed that during his recovery, his son Noel "ghosted" several Warner Bros. cartoons' voice tracks for him. Warner Bros. had also asked Stan Freberg to provide the voice for Bugs Bunny, but Freberg declined, out of respect for Blanc. Jerry Hausner briefly filled in for Blanc as Bugs and Yosemite Sam for some commercials and spots for The Bugs Bunny Show and additional lines in Devil's Feud Cake . At
5640-819: The Dinosaur in the live-action films The Flintstones (1994) and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). Similarly, recordings of Blanc as Jack Benny's Maxwell were featured in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). In 1994, the Blanc estate and Warner Bros. forged a new alliance: the Warner-Blanc Audio Library, which consisted of approximately 550 songs and voices of every character in Blanc's repertoire, which he had begun setting down at his multi-track studio in 1958 amid fears of
5781-703: The Happy Postman on Burns and Allen , and as August Moon on Point Sublime . During World War II, he appeared as Private Sad Sack on various radio shows, including G.I. Journal . Blanc recorded a song titled "Big Bear Lake". In December 1936, Mel Blanc joined Leon Schlesinger Productions , which was producing theatrical cartoon shorts for Warner Bros. After sound man Treg Brown was put in charge of cartoon voices, and Carl Stalling became music director, Brown introduced Blanc to animation directors Tex Avery , Bob Clampett , Friz Freleng , and Frank Tashlin , who loved his voices. The first cartoon Blanc worked on
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5922-598: The Jell-O and Grape-Nuts years, announcer Don Wilson would announce the name of the show, some of the cast, then state "The orchestra opens the program with [name of song]." The orchestra number would continue softly as background for Don Wilson's opening commercial. Starting in the Lucky Strike era, Benny adopted a medley of " Yankee Doodle Dandy " and " Love in Bloom " as his theme music, opening every show. "Love in Bloom"
6063-475: The Jewish character, Schlepperman (Sam Hearn), would make an appearance. At some point, Jack would tell the tenor that it was time for their singing number ("Sing, Kenny!" or "Dennis, let's have your song."). Don Wilson would insert another commercial for the sponsor, and the band would do a "Big Band" number (ostensibly led by Phil Harris, although conductor Mahlon Merrick actually led the band). The second half of
6204-551: The Marx Brothers, especially Zeppo Marx . The next year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora Folsom Salisbury , who needed a partner for her act. This angered famous violinist Jan Kubelik , who feared that the young vaudevillian with a similar name would damage his reputation. Under legal pressure, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to change his name to Ben K. Benny, sometimes spelled Bennie. When Salisbury left
6345-522: The October 27, 1946 episode, during a lunch counter sketch, Mary mistakenly ordered a "chiss sweeze sandwich," instead of a "Swiss cheese sandwich." On the December 3, 1950 episode, Jack told the story of how he met his valet, Rochester. According to Jack, he was driving his car, made a turn into a garage owned by Amos 'n' Andy , and accidentally hit Rochester's car – while it was up on the grease rack. At
6486-542: The ability to cause laughter with a long pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated summation " Well! " His radio and television programs, popular from 1932 until his death in 1974, were a major influence on the sitcom genre. Benny portrayed himself as a miser who obliviously played his violin badly and claimed perpetually to be 39 years of age. Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, and grew up in nearby Waukegan . He
6627-591: The act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and renamed the act "From Grand Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly integrated comedy elements into the show. They reached the Palace Theater , the "Mecca of Vaudeville", and did not do well. Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the United States Navy during World War I, often entertaining fellow sailors with his violin playing. One evening, his violin performance
6768-564: The age of 19 in 1927, when he made his acting debut on the KGW program The Hoot Owls , where his ability to provide voices for multiple characters first attracted attention. He moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum (1909–2003), whom he married a year later, before returning to Portland. He moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and co-host his Cobweb and Nuts show with his wife Estelle, which debuted on June 15. The program played Monday through Saturday from 11:00 pm to midnight, and by
6909-500: The band would play a final musical number, as Don Wilson did a final commercial. Over the years, The Jack Benny Program evolved into the modern domestic situation comedy form, crafting particular situations and scenarios from the fictionalized life of Jack Benny, the radio star. For example, an entire show might be devoted to Jack taking a violin lesson, instructed by his harried violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc (played by Mel Blanc ). Common situations included hosting parties, nights on
7050-408: The beginning of humanity. Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky ; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing the violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with a highly popular comedic career in radio, television, and film. He was known for his comic timing and
7191-591: The best-remembered running gag in classic radio history, in terms of character dialogue. Benny alone sustained a classic repertoire of running gags in his own right, though, including his skinflint radio and television persona, regular cast members' and guest stars' reference to his "baby blue" eyes, always sure to elicit a self-satisfied smirk or patently false attempt at modesty from Benny, perpetually giving his age as 39, and ineptitude at violin playing, most frequently demonstrated by futile attempts to perform Rodolphe Kreutzer 's Étude No. 2 in C major . In fact, Benny
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#17327978718147332-406: The better of Benny, often pricking his boss' ego, or simply outwitting him. The show's portrayal of black characters could be seen as advanced for its time. In a 1956 episode, African American actor Roy Glenn plays a friend of Rochester's, and he is portrayed as a well-educated, articulate man not as the typical "darkie stereotype" seen in many films of the time. Glenn's role was a recurring one on
7473-576: The brother of Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, became the show's full-time producer. In early 1944, Dennis Day enlisted in the Navy, not returning until 1946. He was temporarily replaced by tenor Larry Stevens. In October, 1944, after 10 years with General Foods, American Tobacco's Lucky Strike became Benny's sponsor, an association that lasted until 1959. The show switched networks to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley 's notorious "raid" on NBC talent in 1948–49. It stayed there for
7614-512: The cartoon, Benny and Livingstone agree to spend their anniversary at the Kit-Kat Club, which they discover the hard way is inside the mouth of a live cat. Before the cat can devour the mice, Benny himself awakens from his dream, then shakes his head, smiles wryly, and mutters, "Imagine, me and Mary as little mice." Then, he glances toward the cat lying on a throw rug in a corner and sees his and Livingstone's cartoon alter egos scampering out of
7755-404: The cast recorded the episode in front of a live studio audience, and Mary would later dub in her lines from the safety of her living room at home. On the broadcast of January 8, 1950, journalist Drew Pearson was the subject of a joke gone wrong. Announcer Don Wilson was supposed to say he heard that Jack bought a new suit on Drew Pearson's broadcast, but accidentally said "Dreer Pooson". Later in
7896-636: The cat's mouth. The cartoon ends with a classic Benny look of befuddlement. It was rumored that Benny requested that, in lieu of monetary compensation, he receive a copy of the finished film. Benny made a cameo appearance in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World . After his broadcasting career ended, Benny performed live as a violinist and as a standup comedian. In the 1960s, Benny was the headlining act at Harrah's Lake Tahoe with trumpeter Harry James , clown Emmett Kelly and singer Ray Vasquez . Benny made one of his final television appearances on January 23, 1974, as
8037-486: The character's first three shorts when he was signed to an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Despite this, his laugh was still used in the Woody Woodpecker cartoons until 1951, when Grace Stafford recorded a softer version, while his "Guess who!?" signature line was used in the opening titles until the end of the series and closure of Walter Lantz Productions in 1972. During World War II, Blanc served as
8178-691: The characters who received the most frequent use in these shorts (later, newly introduced characters such as Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse were voiced by Larry Storch ). Blanc also continued to voice the Looney Tunes for the bridging sequences of The Bugs Bunny Show , as well as in numerous animated advertisements and several compilation features, such as The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979). He also voiced Granny on Peter Pan Records in 4 More Adventures of Bugs Bunny (1974) and Holly-Daze (1974), in place of June Foray , and replaced
8319-451: The contract was amended to also include a screen credit for cartoons featuring Porky Pig and/or Daffy Duck. This however, excluded any shorts with the two characters made before that amendment occurred, even if they released after the fact ( Book Revue and Baby Bottleneck are both examples of this). By the end of 1946, Blanc began receiving a screen credit in any subsequent Warner Bros. cartoon for which he provided voices. In 1960, after
8460-454: The contrary, he publicized it – not just in conversations, but in interviews and on the air." Historical accounts like those by longtime Benny writer Milt Josefsberg indicate that Benny's role was essentially as head writer and director of his radio programs, though he was not credited in either capacity. In contrast to Fred Allen, who initially wrote his own radio scripts and extensively rewrote scripts produced in later years by
8601-470: The decision to end his TV series in 1965. He said that while the ratings were still very good (he cited a figure of some 18 million viewers per week, although he qualified that figure by saying he never believed the ratings services were doing anything more than guessing, no matter what they promised), advertisers were complaining that commercial time on his show was costing nearly twice as much as what they paid for most other shows, and he had grown tired of what
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#17327978718148742-408: The division, said, "We think Mr. Benny is excellent for radio and, while the audition was unassisted as far as orchestra was concerned, we believe he would make a great bet for an air program." Recalling the experience in 1956, Benny said Ed Sullivan had invited him to guest on his program (1932), and "the agency for Canada Dry ginger ale heard me and offered me a job." With Canada Dry ginger ale as
8883-504: The downtown LA Broadway Boulevard May Company, this was across the street from the Orpheum Theater. Jack was playing at the theater. Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in a Benny routine, Sadie proved to be a natural comedienne. Adopting the stage name Mary Livingstone , Sadie collaborated with Benny throughout most of his career. They later adopted a daughter, Joan (1934–2021). Sadie's older sister Babe would often be
9024-416: The end of the show, Mary asked Jack, "How could you possibly hit a car when it was up on the grass reek?" Unfortunately, these line flubs may have contributed to Mary Livingstone developing a bad case of "mike fright." In the radio show's final years (1952–1955), Mary's character appeared less and less. When the show was transcribed (pre-recorded), Mary's daughter, Joan Benny, would fill in for her mother when
9165-491: The episode onstage. Scripts and storylines from radio show episodes were re-used and adapted for TV episodes, with the writers using visual gags and settings (e.g. Jack's underground vault) that had previously been described on air and left to the radio listeners' imaginations. Jack Benny first appeared on radio as a guest of Ed Sullivan in March 1932. He was then given his own show later that year, with Canada Dry Ginger Ale as
9306-521: The excursion; possibly the basis for this report was that Eastland was a training vessel during World War I and Benny received his training in the Great Lakes naval base where Eastland was stationed. Benny achieved the rank of Seaman First Class. Shortly after the war, Benny developed a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology". He then received legal pressure from Ben Bernie , a "patter-and-fiddle" performer, regarding his name, so he adopted
9447-681: The expiration of his exclusive contract with Warner Bros., Blanc continued working for them, but also began providing voices for the TV cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera ; his roles during this time included Barney Rubble of The Flintstones and Cosmo Spacely of The Jetsons . His other voice roles for Hanna-Barbera included Dino the Dinosaur , Secret Squirrel , Speed Buggy , and Captain Caveman , as well as voices for Wally Gator and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop . Blanc also worked with former Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones, who by this time
9588-842: The film. Burns ultimately had to replace Benny in the film as well, going on to win an Academy Award for his performance. Benny made one last appearance on The Tonight Show on August 21, 1974, with Rich Little as guest host. According to his own statement during that appearance, Benny was still expecting to star in "The Sunshine Boys". He also made several appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast in his final 18 months, roasting Ronald Reagan , Johnny Carson , Bob Hope and Lucille Ball , in addition to himself being roasted in February 1974. The Lucille Ball roast, his last public performance, aired on February 7, 1975, several weeks after his death. In October 1974, Benny cancelled
9729-518: The fourth wall and remarks not to worry about Benny on the grounds that anyone who has been 39 years old as long as he has is a citizen of the "Twilight Zone". In 1964, Walt Disney was a guest, primarily to promote his production of Mary Poppins . Benny persuaded Disney to give him over 110 free admission tickets to Disneyland for his friends and one for his wife, but later in the show Disney apparently sent his pet tiger after Benny as revenge, at which point Benny opened his umbrella and soared above
9870-405: The funeral, Burns, Benny's best friend for more than fifty years, attempted to deliver a eulogy but broke down shortly after he began and was unable to continue. Hope also delivered a eulogy in which he stated, "For a man who was the undisputed master of comedic timing, you would have to say this is the only time when Jack Benny's timing was all wrong. He left us much too soon." Benny was interred in
10011-538: The hotel, a manager told Benny that some White guests from Mississippi had complained to him about Anderson staying in the hotel. He asked Benny to please "do something about it." Benny assured him that he would fix the matter. That evening, Benny moved all his people into another hotel, where Anderson would not be made to feel unwelcome. Jack Benny was a man of serious integrity. In the Golden Age of Radio, line flubs were common during live broadcasts, especially on
10152-436: The last few years of the radio show, she pre-recorded her lines and Jack and Mary's daughter, Joan, stood in for the live taping, with Mary's lines later edited into the tape replacing Joan's before broadcast. Mary Livingstone finally retired from show business permanently in 1958, as her friend Gracie Allen had done. Benny's television program relied more on guest stars and less on his regulars than his radio program. In fact,
10293-517: The late Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd 's voice during the post-golden age era. On January 24, 1961, Blanc was driving alone when his sports car was involved in a head-on collision on Sunset Boulevard ; his legs and his pelvis were fractured as a result. He was in a coma and completely non-responsive. About two weeks later, one of Blanc's neurologists at the UCLA Medical Center tried a different approach than just trying to address
10434-480: The least effort. An example of this occurred at a party when Benny pulled out a match to light a cigar. Burns announced to all, "Jack Benny will now perform the famous match trick!" Benny had no idea what Burns was talking about, so he proceeded to light up. Burns observed, "Oh, a new ending!" and Benny collapsed in helpless laughter. Benny even had a sound-based running gag of his own: his famous basement vault alarm, allegedly installed by Spike Jones , ringing off with
10575-430: The limits of timing for comedic purposes, like pausing a disproportionate amount of time before answering a question. Balzer described writing material for Benny as similar to composing music, with one element being the rhythm of delivery as equivalent to musical tempo. During his early radio shows, no recurring theme was used, with the program instead opening each week with a different then-current popular song. Throughout
10716-607: The lodge for 58 years. Blanc was also a Shriner . Blanc began smoking at least one pack of cigarettes per day at the age of nine and continued up through 1985, having quit smoking after being diagnosed with emphysema . He was later diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), after his family checked him into the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 19, 1989 when they noticed he had been coughing profusely while shooting
10857-566: The mid-1950s. By that time, the practice of using the sponsor's name as the title began to fade. The show returned to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley 's "raid" of NBC talent in 1948–49. There it stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955. CBS aired repeats of previous 1953–55 radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny for State Farm Insurance , which later sponsored his television program from 1960 through 1965. In October, 1934, General Foods agreed to take up sponsorship from
10998-399: The only radio cast members who appeared regularly on the television program as well were Don Wilson and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson . Singer Dennis Day appeared sporadically, and Phil Harris had left the radio program in 1952, although he did make a guest appearance on the television show ( Bob Crosby , Phil's "replacement", frequently appeared on television through 1956). A frequent guest
11139-534: The other Flintstones co-stars gathered around him. He returned to The Jack Benny Program to film the program's 1961 Christmas show, moving around by crutches and a wheelchair. On January 29, 1962, Mel and his son Noel formed Blanc Communications Corporation, a media company which produced over 5,000 commercials and public service announcements, which remains in operation. Mel and Noel appeared with many stars, including: Kirk Douglas , Lucille Ball , Vincent Price , Phyllis Diller , Liberace and The Who . In
11280-410: The pantry), with help from Rochester. As the show progressed, Jack would receive visits or phone calls from Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris or Bob Crosby (who replaced Harris as the radio show's "band leader" in 1952), and Dennis Day. Following an exchange with Day, Benny would order him to "rehearse" a song ("Let's hear the song that you're going to sing on my show tomorrow night."), and Dennis would sing
11421-498: The race track tout ( Sheldon Leonard ) or John L.C. Sivoney ( Frank Fontaine ). In other shows, Jack might fall asleep while reading a book in his study (e.g. "I Stand Condemned" or "The Search for the Elephant's Graveyard"), and dream that he was the star of the story he was reading. In the 1950s, as The Jack Benny Program gravitated to television, the "domestic sitcom" became the show's standard format, often with Benny introducing
11562-493: The recording of the January 8, 1950 episode, Jack's laughter is not heard. However, since the show was transcribed, it may have been edited out of the final broadcast.) The line flubs would occasionally cause the show to run overtime. When this happened, Jack would cut the "coda joke" at the end of the episode, and sign off with the customary statement, "We're a little late, so good night, folks." Benny teamed with Fred Allen for
11703-616: The regulars generally covered the news of the day, Jack's latest exchange in his ongoing feud with Fred Allen , or one of the running jokes on the program, such as Jack's stinginess, his age, or his vanity, Phil's habitual drunkenness, egotism, or illiteracy, Don's obesity, Dennis's stupidity, or Mary's letters from her mother. As the show progressed, Jack might be interrupted by a phone call from his valet, Rochester ( Eddie Anderson ), reporting some problem at Benny's home (e.g. with Jack's pet polar bear , Carmichael, or with his crazy wartime boarder, Mr. Billingsley). Occasionally, Andy Devine or
11844-637: The remainder of its radio run, ending on May 22, 1955. In 1952, Harris was replaced by Bob Crosby . CBS aired repeat episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny . In the early days of radio and in the early television era, airtime was owned by the sponsor, and Benny incorporated the commercials into the body of the show. Sometimes, the sponsors were the butt of jokes, though Benny did not use this device as frequently as his friend and "rival" Fred Allen did then, or as cast member Phil Harris later did on his successful radio sitcom . Nevertheless, for years, Benny insisted in contract negotiations that his writers pen
11985-450: The residence where he met 17-year-old Sadie Marks (whose family was friends with, but not related to, the Marx family). Their first meeting did not go well when he tried to leave during Sadie's violin performance. They met again in 1926. Jack had not remembered their earlier meeting and was immediately taken with her. They married the following year. She was working in the hosiery section of
12126-565: The rest of that season, and in the fall of 1934, for General Foods as The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny (1934–42), and when sales of Jell-O were affected by sugar rationing during World War II , The Grape Nuts Flakes Program Starring Jack Benny (later the Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes Program ) (1942–44). On October 1, 1944, the show became The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny , when American Tobacco 's Lucky Strike cigarettes took over as his radio sponsor, through to
12267-460: The sailor's nickname of Jack. By 1921, the fiddle was more of a prop, and the low-key comedy took over. Benny had some romantic encounters, including one with dancer Mary Kelly, whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down his proposal because he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Kelly by Gracie Allen . In 1922, Benny accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover Seder in Vancouver at
12408-590: The same character: A pompous, vain, and stingy man who played the violin badly but was convinced of his own talent. Although technically the star of his show, Benny was constantly the butt of jokes from his cast members, including Mary Livingstone (Sayde Marks Benny, his real-life wife); Phil Harris , his band leader; Kenny Baker or Dennis Day , his tenors; Don Wilson , his portly announcer; and Rochester Van Jones ( Eddie Anderson ), his African American valet. As radio historian John Dunning explains, "Unlike Bob Hope , Jack Benny didn't tell jokes. On his show, Jack
12549-495: The same year. Benny was able to attract guests who rarely, if ever, appeared on television. In 1953, both Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart made their television debuts on Benny's program. Another guest star on the Jack Benny show was Rod Serling , who starred in a spoof of The Twilight Zone in which Benny goes to his own house and finds that no one knows who he is; Jack runs away screaming in panic; Serling breaks
12690-449: The season. In 1936, after a few years of broadcasting from New York, Benny moved the show to Los Angeles, allowing him to bring in guests from among his show-business friends, including Frank Sinatra , James Stewart , Judy Garland , Barbara Stanwyck , Bing Crosby , Burns and Allen (George Burns was Benny's closest friend), and many others. Burns, Allen, and Orson Welles guest-hosted several episodes in March and April 1943 when Benny
12831-419: The series, where he was often portrayed as having to support two people on one unemployment check (i.e., himself and Rochester). Black talent was also showcased, with several guest appearances by The Ink Spots and others. Once, when Benny and his cast and crew were doing a series of shows in New York, the entire cast, including Eddie Anderson, stayed in a prominent New York hotel. Shortly after they decamped at
12972-579: The show as Harris joined the Merchant Marines, being absent from the program from December 1942 until March 1943. That fall, Morrow joined the Army and Beloin left the show; they were replaced by Milt Josefsberg , John Tackaberry , George Balzer , and Cy Howard, the latter of whom was soon replaced by Sam Perrin . The new writers emphasized sitcom situations instead of the film parodies prevalent in earlier years. Also during this time, Hilliard Marks,
13113-409: The show due to being traumatized by the error. In fact, the radio show was generally not announced as The Jack Benny Program . Instead, the primary name of the show tied to the sponsor. Benny's first sponsor was Canada Dry Ginger Ale from 1932 to 1933. Benny's sponsors included Chevrolet from 1933 to 1934, General Tire in 1934, and Jell-O from 1934 to 1942. The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny
13254-437: The show was usually announced as The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny . Benny employed a small group of writers, most of whom stayed with him for many years. This was in contrast to many successful radio or television comedians, such as Bob Hope , who changed writers frequently. One of Benny's writers, George Balzer , noted: "One of the nice things about writing for Jack Benny was that he never denied your existence. On
13395-524: The show would be devoted to a comedy sketch. Jack might leave the studio and go home to handle some problem (e.g. getting Carmichael to take his medicine). Or there would be a miniplay (e.g., "Buck Benny Rides Again" or a murder mystery starring Jack as Police Captain O'Benny), or a satire of a current movie (e.g., "Snow White and the Seven Gangsters"). In some episodes, Jack closed the show with brief instructions to his band leader ("Play, Phil."), and
13536-428: The show, comedic actor Frank Nelson was asked by Benny if he was the doorman. Changing his original response at the suggestion of the writers, Nelson said, "Well, who do you think I am, Dreer Pooson?" The audience laughed for almost 30 seconds. (According to several sources on the show, including writer Sam Perrin, Jack collapsed in laughter on hearing Nelson's ad lib, and it was several minutes before he could continue. On
13677-512: The song in and of itself, only as his theme. Proving his point, he begins reciting the lyrics slowly and deliberately: "Can it be the trees. That fill the breeze . With rare and magic perfume. Now what the hell has that got to do with me? " Eddie Anderson was the first black man to have a recurring role in a national radio show, which was significant because at the time, black characters were not uncommonly played by white actors in blackface . Although Eddie Anderson's Rochester may be considered
13818-411: The sponsor's commercial in the middle of the program (leaving the sponsor to provide the opening and closing spots) and the resulting ads were cleverly and wittily worked into the storyline of the show. For example, on one program, Don Wilson accidentally misread Lucky Strike's slogan ("Be happy, go Lucky") as "Be Lucky, go happy", prompting a story arc over several weeks that had Wilson unable to appear on
13959-460: The stage like Mary Poppins. CBS dropped the show in 1964, citing Benny's lack of appeal to the younger demographic the network began courting, and he went to NBC , his original network, in the fall, only to be out-rated by CBS's Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. The network dropped Benny at the end of the season. He continued to make occasional specials into the 1970s, the last one airing in January 1974. Benny also appeared on The Lucy Show twice: Once as
14100-458: The struggling tire-maker, using the show (now airing on the Blue network) to promote its low-selling Jell-O desserts. Beginning from this point, Benny was heard Sunday evenings at 7, at the time seen as a "graveyard slot". However, this was eventually associated with Benny, who appeared in that very time spot for his remaining 21 years on radio (counting his TV shows, he would broadcast on Sundays for
14241-439: The summer, to allow Benny to continue doing his radio show. From the fall of 1954 to 1960, it appeared every other week, and from 1960 to 1965 it was seen weekly. On March 28, 1954, Benny co-hosted General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein with Groucho Marx and Mary Martin . In September 1954, CBS premiered Chrysler's Shower of Stars co-hosted by Jack Benny and William Lundigan . It enjoyed
14382-408: The target of jokes about his weight. Halfway through the season, the famous "feud" with Fred Allen began, climaxing with a visit to New York, after which Eddie Anderson was cast as a porter for the train trip back to Los Angeles. His character was so well received that it was decided to have Anderson join the cast as Rochester Van Jones, Benny's valet. In 1939, Kenny Baker chose to leave the show and
14523-636: The target of jokes about unattractive or masculine women, while her younger brother Hilliard would later produce Benny's radio and TV work. In 1929, Benny's agent, Sam Lyons , convinced Irving Thalberg , American film producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , to watch Benny at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Benny signed a five-year contract with MGM, where his first role was in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 . The next film, Chasing Rainbows , did not do well, and after several months Benny
14664-514: The time of the accident, Blanc was also serving as the voice of Barney Rubble in The Flintstones . His absence from the show was relatively brief; Daws Butler provided the voice of Barney for a few episodes, after which the show's producers set up recording equipment in Blanc's hospital room and later at his home to allow him to work from there. Some of the recordings were made while he was in full-body cast as he lay flat on his back with
14805-456: The time rarely received screen credits, but Blanc was an exception; by 1944, his contract with Warner Bros. stipulated a credit reading "Voice characterization(s) by Mel Blanc". According to his autobiography, Blanc asked for and received this screen credit from studio boss Leon Schlesinger after he was denied a salary raise. Initially, Blanc's screen credit was limited only to cartoons in which he voiced Bugs Bunny. This changed in March 1945 when
14946-600: The time the show ended two years later, it appeared from 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm. With his wife's encouragement, Blanc returned to Los Angeles and joined Warner Bros.–owned KFWB in Hollywood in 1935. He joined The Johnny Murray Show , but the following year switched to CBS Radio and The Joe Penner Show . Blanc was a regular on the NBC Red Network show The Jack Benny Program in various roles, including voicing Benny's Maxwell automobile (in desperate need of
15087-532: The title character of Speed Buggy , and Captain Caveman on Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and The Flintstone Kids . Referred to as " The Man of a Thousand Voices ", he is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice acting industry, and as one of the greatest voice actors of all time. Blanc was born on May 30, 1908, in San Francisco , California , to Eva (née Katz),
15228-530: The town, income-tax time, contract negotiations, "backstage" interactions between Jack and his cast during show rehearsals at the radio studio, traveling in the Maxwell, or traveling by train or plane to and from Jack's many personal appearances throughout the country (hence the "Train leaving on track five" running gag). The sitcom shows usually opened at Jack's house in Beverly Hills , with Jack handling some common domestic task (e.g. Spring cleaning or organizing
15369-402: The unconscious Blanc—address his characters instead. Blanc was asked, "How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?" After a slight pause, Blanc answered, in a weak voice, "Eh ... just fine, Doc. How are you?" The doctor then asked Tweety if he was there, too. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat", was the reply. Blanc returned home on March 17. Four days later, Blanc filed a US$ 500,000 lawsuit against
15510-406: The voice of the hapless Private Snafu in a series of shorts produced by Warner Bros. as a way of training recruited soldiers through the medium of animation. Throughout his career, Blanc, aware of his talents, protected the rights to his voice characterizations contractually and legally. He, and later his estate, never hesitated to take civil action when those rights were violated. Voice actors at
15651-827: The voices of Bugs Bunny , Daffy Duck , Tweety , Sylvester the Cat , Yosemite Sam , Foghorn Leghorn , the Tasmanian Devil , and numerous other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons . Blanc also voiced the Looney Tunes characters Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd after replacing their original performers Joe Dougherty and Arthur Q. Bryan , respectively, although he occasionally voiced Elmer during Bryan's lifetime as well. He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera 's television cartoons, including: Barney Rubble and Dino on The Flintstones , Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons , Secret Squirrel on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show ,
15792-532: Was Picador Porky (1937) as the voice of Porky's drunken friends who dress up as a bull. He soon after received his first starring role when he replaced Joe Dougherty as Porky Pig's voice in Porky's Duck Hunt , which marked the debut of Daffy Duck, also voiced by Blanc. Following this, Blanc became a very prominent vocal artist for Warner Bros., voicing a wide variety of the Looney Tunes characters. Bugs Bunny, as whom Blanc made his debut in A Wild Hare (1940),
15933-451: Was the joke. Everything revolved around him and his comic foibles, with Benny serving as 'straight man.' The other characters on the show were the comedians, making wisecracks, remarks, and asides about Benny's stinginess, his vanity, or his lousy violin-playing." On both television and radio, The Jack Benny Program used a loose show-within-a-show format, wherein the main characters were playing versions of themselves. The show often broke
16074-469: Was "Sy, the Little Mexican", who spoke one word at a time. He continued to work with Benny on radio until the series ended in 1955 and followed the program into television from Benny's 1950 debut episode through guest spots on NBC specials in the 1970s. Radio Daily magazine wrote in 1942 that Blanc "specialize[d] in over fifty-seven voices, dialects, and intricate sound effects", and by 1946, he
16215-565: Was 16, from Blank to Blanc, because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a "blank". He joined the Order of DeMolay as a young man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame. After graduating from high school in 1927, he divided his time between leading an orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in the country at the age of 19; and performing shtick in vaudeville shows around Washington, Oregon and northern California. Blanc began his radio career at
16356-522: Was Benny age always being 39 – a guest on the show was Rod Serling who is the mayor of a town where no one recognizes Benny; Jack runs off screaming for help while Serling breaks the fourth wall and remarks to the audience that anyone who has been 39 for as long as Benny has is a resident of this "Zone" (i.e., Twilight Zone ). A running gag in Benny's private life concerned George Burns. To Benny's eternal frustration, he could never get Burns to laugh. Burns, though, could crack Benny up with
16497-399: Was Otto Graham Sr., a neighbor and father of football player Otto Graham . At 14, Benny was playing in dance bands and his high school orchestra. He was a dreamer and poor at his studies, ultimately getting expelled from high school. He later did poorly in business school and in attempts to join his father's business. In 1911, he began playing the violin in local vaudeville theaters for $ 7.50
16638-624: Was a quite good violinist who achieved the illusion of a bad one, not by deliberately playing poorly, but by striving to play pieces that were too difficult for his skill level. In one of his show's skits, Benny is a USO performer in the Pacific playing his violin when he comes under fire; Benny still plays his violin when two Japanese surrender to him – all the other enemy soldiers committed suicide rather than endure listening to Benny's terrible music. A skit heard numerous times on radio, and seen many times on television, had Mel Blanc as
16779-424: Was added to "sweeten" the soundtrack, as when the studio audience missed some close-up comedy because of cameras or microphones obstructing their view. Television viewers became accustomed to live without Mary Livingstone, who was afflicted by a striking case of stage fright that didn't lessen even after performing with Benny for 20 years. Hence, Livingstone appeared rarely if at all on the television show. In fact, for
16920-496: Was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio , he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of Jack Benny , Abbott and Costello , Burns and Allen , The Great Gildersleeve , Judy Canova and his own short-lived sitcom . Blanc became known worldwide for his work in the Golden Age of American Animation as
17061-548: Was appearing on over fifteen programs in various supporting roles. His success on The Jack Benny Program led to his own radio show on the CBS Radio Network , The Mel Blanc Show , which ran from September 3, 1946, to June 24, 1947. Blanc played himself as the hapless owner of a fix-it shop, as well as his young cousin Zookie. Blanc also appeared on such other national radio programs as The Abbott and Costello Show ,
17202-402: Was booed by the sailors, 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 received more comedy spots in the revues and did well, earning a reputation as a comedian and musician. Despite stories to the contrary, no reliable evidence indicates Jack Benny was aboard during the 1915 Eastland disaster or scheduled to be on
17343-461: Was called the "rate race". Thus, after some three decades on radio and television in a weekly program, Jack Benny went out on top. In fairness, Benny himself shared Fred Allen's ambivalence about television, though not quite to Allen's extent. "By my second year in television, I saw that the camera was a man-eating monster ... It gave a performer close-up exposure that, week after week, threatened his existence as an interesting entertainer." In
17484-544: Was directing shorts with his own company Sib Tower 12 (later MGM Animation/Visual Arts ), doing vocal effects for the Tom and Jerry series from 1963 to 1967. Blanc was the first voice of Toucan Sam in Froot Loops commercials. Blanc reprised some of his Warner Bros. characters when the studio contracted him to make new theatrical cartoons in the mid- to late 1960s. For these, Blanc voiced Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales ,
17625-487: Was eventually decided to have Gideon be a mute character (similar to Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ), so all of Blanc's recorded dialogue was deleted except for a solitary hiccup, which was heard three times in the finished film. Blanc also originated the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker for the theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz for Universal Pictures , but stopped voicing Woody after
17766-494: Was ill with pneumonia, while Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume appeared often in the 1940s as Benny's long-suffering neighbors. The 1936–37 season brought many changes instrumental to the development of the show. Aside from having a new writing team (Beloin and Bill Morrow , with script doctoring by Boasberg), Benny returned to the NBC Red Network and established the program in Hollywood. Benny had already done
17907-821: Was in Bugs Bunny's Wild World of Sports (1989). After spending most of two seasons voicing the diminutive robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century , Blanc's last major original character was Heathcliff , who he voiced from 1980 to 1988. In the live-action film Strange Brew (1983), Blanc voiced the father of Bob and Doug McKenzie , at the request of comedian Rick Moranis . In the live-action/animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Blanc reprised several of his roles from Warner Bros. cartoons (Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Sylvester ), but left Yosemite Sam to Joe Alaskey (who later became one of Blanc's regular replacements until his death in 2016). The film
18048-473: Was increased to 39 cents in 2006, fans petitioned for a Jack Benny stamp to honor his stage persona's perpetual age. The U.S. Postal Service had issued a stamp depicting Benny in 1991 as part of a booklet of stamps honoring comedians; however, the stamp was issued at the then-current rate of 29 cents. Jack Benny Middle School in Waukegan is named after Benny. Its motto matches his famous statement as "Home of
18189-686: Was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1988 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. He was also inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. Benny was inducted as a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the state's highest honor) by the governor of Illinois in 1972 in the area of the performing arts. When the price of a standard first-class U.S. postal stamp
18330-407: Was known for eating carrots frequently (especially while saying his catchphrase "Eh, what's up, doc?"). To follow this sound with the animated voice, Blanc would bite into a carrot and then quickly spit into a spittoon . One often-repeated story is that Blanc was allergic to carrots, which Blanc denied. In Disney 's Pinocchio , Blanc was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat. However, it
18471-540: Was later the theme of his television show. His radio shows often ended with the orchestra playing " Hooray for Hollywood ". The TV show ended with one of two bouncy instrumentals written for the show by his musical arranger and conductor, Mahlon Merrick . Benny sometimes joked about the propriety of "Love in Bloom" as his theme song. On a segment often played in Tonight Show retrospectives, Benny talks with Johnny Carson about this. Benny says he has no objections to
18612-484: Was not filled with ambition nor fired by a drive toward a clear-cut goal. I never knew exactly where I was going." Upon his death, Benny's family donated his personal, professional and business papers, as well as a collection of his television shows, to UCLA . The university established the Jack Benny Award for Comedy in his honor in 1977 to recognize outstanding people in the field of comedy. Johnny Carson
18753-565: Was not immune to flubs. On the November 6, 1949 episode, in a sketch where he was on a yacht cruise, Jack told the boat captain that he had been "on the Navy" during World War I, instead of "in the Navy." The episode featured so many line flubs that the following week's episode, November 13, was built around Jack calling a meeting of his cast to discuss their mistakes in the previous week's episode. Mary Livingstone had several flubs that became notorious running gags for weeks after they happened. On
18894-462: Was one of the few Disney projects in which Blanc was involved. Blanc died just a year after the film's release. His final recording session was for Jetsons: The Movie (1990). Blanc and his wife Estelle Rosenbaum were married on January 4, 1933, and remained married until his death in 1989. Their son, Noel Blanc , was also a voice actor. Blanc was a Freemason as a member of Mid Day Lodge No. 188 in Portland, Oregon . He held membership at
19035-475: Was released from his contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities . At first dubious about the viability of radio, Benny grew 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? ' " Benny had been
19176-516: Was replaced by Dennis Day. In 1941, NBC celebrated Benny's 10th anniversary in radio in an unprecedented manner, broadcasting part of a banquet dedicated to him, in which the network conceded the Sunday 7:00 to 7:30 pm slot to Benny instead of the sponsor, as it was the custom during the Golden Age of Radio . In 1942, due to sugar shortages during war time, General Foods switched their sponsor product from Jell-O to Grape-Nuts . World War II affected
19317-403: Was similar to the radio show (several of the radio scripts were recycled for television, as was somewhat common with other radio shows that moved to television), but with the addition of visual gags. Lucky Strike was the sponsor. Benny did his opening and closing monologues before a live audience, which he regarded as essential to timing of the material. As in other TV comedy shows, a laugh track
19458-548: Was so successful in selling Jell-O, that General Foods could not manufacture it quickly enough when sugar shortages arose in the early years of World War II, and the company stopped advertising the dessert mix. General Foods switched the Benny program from Jell-O to Grape-Nuts from 1942 to 1944, and it was The Grape Nuts Program Starring Jack Benny . Benny's longest-running sponsor, was the American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike cigarettes, from 1944 to 1955, when
19599-469: Was the Canadian-born singer-violinist Gisele Mackenzie . As a gag, Benny made a 1957 appearance on the then-wildly popular $ 64,000 Question . His category of choice was "Violins", but after answering the first question correctly Benny opted out of continuing, leaving the show with just $ 64; host Hal March gave Benny the prize money out of his own pocket. March made an appearance on Benny's show
19740-532: Was the first award recipient. Benny also donated a Stradivarius violin (purchased in 1957) to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra . Benny had quipped, "If it isn't a $ 30,000 Strad, I'm out $ 120." In 1960, Benny was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with three stars. His stars for television and motion pictures are located at 6370 and 6650 Hollywood Boulevard , respectively, and at 1505 Vine Street for radio. He
19881-446: Was the son of Jewish immigrants Meyer Kubelsky (1864–1946) and Naomi Emma Sachs Kubelsky (1869–1917). Meyer was a saloon owner and later a haberdasher who had emigrated to the United States of America from Poland. Emma had emigrated from Lithuania. At his father's behest, Benny began taking violin lessons at the age of six and was soon considered to be a child prodigy. He loved the instrument but hated to practice. His music teacher
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