Biography
Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film. Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny played the role of the comic penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly. 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!" His radio and television programs, tremendously popular from the 1930s to the 1960s, were a foundational influence on the situation comedy genre. Dean Martin, on the celebrity roast for Johnny Carson in November 1973, introduced Benny as "the Satchel Paige of the world of comedy." Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Benny, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Awards & recognition
- Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series · 1959
- Trustees Award · 1958
- Golden Globe Awards
- Laurel Leaf Award
- Peabody Awards
Show all 6 awards →
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Filmography34 titles
Paper Moon
The Jack Benny Program
To Be or Not to Be
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Hollywood Canteen
Beatles Stories
The Lucy Show
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
The Last Laugh
That's Entertainment! III
That's Entertainment, Part II
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
What's My Line?
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Dick Cavett Show
Rock-a-Bye Baby
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour
Here's Lucy
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
The Automat
Broadway Melody of 1936
Mike Wallace Is Here
Studio 54
The Honey Pot
Gypsy
Who Was That Lady?
George Washington Slept Here
Without Reservations
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
The Medicine Man
The Slowest Gun in the West
Jack Benny Christmas Shopping Show