Happy 39th Birthday Again, Mr. Benny

If you knew me like I knew me, I have a slight hatred of this day of love. However, I do celebrate the 14th day of February and not because of the obvious. It was on this day back in the grand old year of 1894 that the biggest comic star in the history of radio was born. A true labor of love truly was little Benjamin Kubelsky, or known to the world over as Jack Benny.
Although one of the many running gags was Benny forever turning 39, in reality, it has been 116 years since Jack was born and after twenty years spent on the Vaudeville circuits, he came to radio in an interesting way. A fellow Vaudevillian later famous for his television work, Ed Sullivan, invited Jack on his radio show in 1932. The first line spoken by Mr. Benny was "This is Jack Benny talking. There will be a short pause while you say, 'who cares?'"
A few weeks later, Jack became the host of The Canada Dry Program. In those days, the shows are put on and paid by the sponsor in the title, not the network. That first program, a more musical than comedy-based outings, earned listeners due to Jack's comments, mainly on the sponsor. Jack, in turn, changed over to Chevrolet and General Tire as sponsors before he signed up with the makers of a popular dessert: JELL-O. Later sponsors were Grape Nuts (1942-44) and Lucky Strikes (1944-55)
It is this show that the program that all of us fans known came to pass. Jack's wife in real life, Mary Livingstone, played the unwed female sidekick to Benny's character. The two had met through one of Mary's distant relatives: Zeppo Marx. Married in 1927 after a brief courtship, the two stayed together until Jack's passing in 1974. Their marriage was never mentioned on the air except once, in a dream sequence.
Hired in 1934, announcer Don Wilson had the honor of doing the mid-show commericial for the product, doing it in interesting and funny ways. Another gag about him was his size. He was portrayed as a large fellow, whose very size made for some interesting jokes at his expanse (pun very well intented). In many instances, the point was made that this was always the case, with one joke having the stork that delivered him remark, "Oh, my aching back!"
There was the leader of the show's band, as played by Phil Harris. The running gag with Phil and his boys was their musical knowledge was highly suspect or nonexistent. Another runner was Phil's off-air drinking. One joke had Phil being able to feel the opening of any liquor bottle from miles away and running to it in seconds. A third runner was the shape of Phil's band, with it being implied that all or most were ex-cons.
Then, there was the young naive boy singer, who as musically sharp, was as dim as a three-watt bulb. That position, at first played by Kenny Baker, was eventually filled by Dennis Day, whose annoyance of Jack became the stuff of gags. Dennis also proved to be a good impressionist as his impersonations of well-known celebrities were used in various scenes and jokes. Dennis, despite being young, got the better of his ever-unaging boss time and again.
Then, there was Rochester, Jack's ever ready valet. In an age of stereotypes, Rochester as played by the black Eddie Anderson was a groundbreaking character in that he was allowed to one-up his white boss. Jack, also the victim of discrimination (he was Jewish), made sure to keep things that way, especially after learning the horrors of the Holocaust. Rochester became Jack's equal but still his valet.
As always, there was the revolving door of bit players and characters. Two stick out to me. One of them was Frank Nelson, who played the various professionals that Jack ran into in his life and cause more pain than help. His characters included doctors, dentists, radio announcers, floorwalkers, and the list goes on. He always came on the scene with a rising "Yessss?" That intro has become a standard gag by many, who always make sure to credit the man who first spoke it.
The other was a man of a thousand voices: Mel Blanc. Mel first joined the show in the mid-1930s and stayed until the end of Jack's television program in 1965. His roles included playing Jack's Maxwell automobile, always one step away from death. For those who wonder, yes, Mel's cartoon alter egos did stop by. Bunny and Benny had a couple of meetings to the delight of the studio audiences present. After all, Bugs Bunny was a big movie star and as part of that stardom, he needed to appear on radio.
The gags that Jack and his writers came up with are legendary comedy bits still remembered by those who have no idea who Jack Benny is. That, to me, tells of influence, when you use a gag and don't question or know where it came from. That included the aforementioned Maxwell, a car whose manufacturer went out of business in 1925 and as the span between then and each broadcast increased, so did the amount of age the car gained, due to its owner's unwillingness to spend a cent on upkeep.
Another gag was Jack's vault. Buried an untold distance below the surface of the Earth and surrounded by various security measures, it held Jack's wealth. One might say that Jack had more money than there was in circulation. The most well-known security measure Jack employed to guard his money was Ed, a character played by noted radio and television actor Joseph Kearns, who was the vault guard. The amount of time he has spent down there has included since the Revolutionary War, the discovery of America, and even the dawn of civilization.
Another amount of time also centered around another running gag: since Jack first turned 39. In reality, Jack hit 39 during his first year in radio in 1933. When his birthday came up again in 1934, he simply turned 39 again because he felt there was nothing funny about turning 40. If you wish to know, Jack turned 39 on radio and television 32 times. It was such a identifying mark of Jack's character that at Benny's death in 1974, many newspapers reported the event happening to him at age 39, if only for a joke.
The running gags and jokes would take too long to list. In real life, Jack is nothing like he was on-air. He was very generous with his money and gave to charities the world over. As stated before, he was married to Mary Livingstone and the two enjoyed an interesting marriage that lasted for 47 years, despite the odd fight now and then. The two had only one child, an adopted daughter named Joan, who appeared on her parents' show from time to time and had to fill in for her mother at times due to Livingstone suffering from stage flight which got worse over her career.
Jack Benny left us at age 80 on December 26th, 1974. Even death could not stop Jack from being generous. In his will, he had it made that a fresh long-stemmed red rose being delivered to his widow Mary every day for the rest of her life, which ended on June 30th, 1983. Those of us left on Earth have the countless radio episodes and television broadcasts to enjoy Jack's unique brand of comedy. Although they were made upwards of 75 years ago, they sound as fresh as if they were made last week. So, I give you a new holiday to celebrate every 14th of February: Jack Benny Day.
Until the next posting, see ya later!