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Jack Benny

Comedy

Broadcast History:

• May 2-0ct. 26, 1932, Blue Network. 30m, Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30. The Canada Dry Program. Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Cast: Jack Benny, with announcer George Hicks, maestro George Olsen, and singer/comedienne Ethel Shutta. Benny's wife, Sadye Marks, "as Mary Livingstone beginning Aug. 3. Writer: Harry Conn.

• Oct. 30, 1932-Jan. 26, 1933, CBS. 30m, twice a week (Sundays at 10; Thursdays at 8:15, then beginning in Jan., at 8). A continuation of The Canada Dry Program on a new network. Cast: Benny; Mary Livingstone, maestro Ted Weems, and other various bandleaders.

• March 17, 1933-April1, 1934, NBC. 30m, Fri­days at 10 until the summer break, June 23; returned Oct. 1, Sundays at 10. The Chevrolet Program. General Motors. Cast: Benny, Mary Livingstone. Tenors James Melton (1933) and Frank Parker (1933-34). Announcers Howard Claney (1933) and Alois Havrilla (1933-34). Maestro Frank Black.

• April 6-Sept. 28, 1934, NBC. 30m, Fridays at 10. The General Tire Show. Cast: Benny, Mary Livingstone, Frank Parker. Announcer Don Wilson. Maestro Don Bestor from New York; Jimmy Grier when the cast visited the West Coast.

• Oct. 14, 1934-May 31, 1942, NBC. Blue Network until Oct. 4, 1936, then Red. 30m, Sundays at 7 throughout. The Jell-O Program. Cast: Benny, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, maestro Johnny Green, and temporary singer Michael Bartlett. Kenny Baker the new singer and comedic stooge as of Nov. 3, 1935. Phil Harris as the wise­cracking maestro-figure beginning Oct. 4, 1936. Eddie Anderson intermittently, beginning as a Pullman porter March 28, 1937; becoming Benny's gravel-voiced Negro valet, Rochester Van Jones, with the show of June 20, 1937. Dennis Day, tenor, replacing Kenny Baker as singer and resident scatterbrain with the show of Oct. 8, 1939. Supporting Players: Sam Hearn as Schlepperman from ca. 1935. Andy Devine in periodic "Buck Benny" western spoof skits. Mel Blanc in many roles, notably as Carmichael, the polar bear in Benny's basement, and as Benny's sputtering, coughing antique automobile, a Maxwell. Frank Nelson in nameless sarcastic roles. Final New York broadcast: April 7, 1935; Hollywood thereafter. Writers: Harry Conn until early 1936; Al Boasberg, Howard Snyder, Hugh Wedlock Jr., on a transitional basis; then Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin.

• Oct. 4, 1942-June 4,1944, NBC. 30m, Sundays at 7. The Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes Program. Cast: Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Rochester (Eddie Anderson), and Don Wilson. Supporting Players: Mel Blanc, Frank Nelson, Joe Besser, etc. Writers: Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin until 1943, then a longtime staff of four: Sam Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, George Balzer, and John Tackaberry.

• Oct. 1, 1944-Dec. 26, 1948, NBC. 30m, Sun­days at 7. The Lucky Strike Program. CAST: Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Rochester, and Don Wilson. Supporting Players: Mel Blanc as the Maxwell. Blanc also as the announcer at the train station, first heard Jan. 7, 1945. Blanc also as :Benny's violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc, beginning April 29, 1945, Blanc also as Benny's parrot, Polly, beginning Oct.14, 1945. Blanc also as Sy, the little Mexican, arid in many other roles. Frank Nelson in many abrasive roles ("the guy whose whole purpose in life was to annoy the hell out of Jack Benny," he would recall years later). Artie Auerbach as Mr. Kitzel the hot dog man. Larry Stevens substituting as singer for Dennis Day, late 1944 until March 1946, while Day was in the service. Sara Berner in many roles calling for Brooklyn accents, and as Benny's girlfriend, Gladys Zybysko. Sara Berner and Bea Benaderet as Mabel Flapsaddle and Gertrude Gearshift, telephone operators who talked about Benny between connections. Jane Morgan and Gloria Gordon as Martha and Emily, a pair of old ladies who found Benny irresistible. Joe Besser and Benny Rubin as crazy men encountered periodically by Benny. Sheldon Leonard as the racetrack tout, often encountered by Benny at the train station. Joseph Kearns as Ed, the guard who'd been protecting Benny's vault since the Revolutionary War. Ronald and Benita Colman as special guests, several times a year. Vocal Quartet: The Sportsmen (formed in the 1930s, consisting of Bill Days, Max Smith, John Rarig, and Gurney Bell; later members included Jay Mayer, Marty Sperzel and Thurl Ravenscroft). Orchestra: Mahlon Merrick. Themes: Yankee Doodle Boy, blending into Love in Bloom (Benny's personal theme); Hooray for Hollywood (closing theme).

• Jan. 2, 1949-May 22,1955, CBS. 30m, Sundays at 7. The Lucky Strike Program, a direct continuation of the NBC show, lured to CBS in the controversial "talent raids," without missing a week. Cast: Continued with few changes. Bob Crosby replaced Phil Harris as the token bandleader as of Sept. 14, 1952.

• Oct. 28, 1956-June 22, 1958, CBS. 30m, Sun­days at 7. The Best of Benny, repeat broadcasts. Home Insurance Company, 1957-58.

At Various Times: Announcers Bob Gregor, Sid Silvers, and Paul Douglas. Actors Dix Davis, Elliott Lewis, Eddie Marr and Blanche Stewart. Veola Vonn with baby cries and French accents, ca. 1940s.{Frank Fontaine as John L. C. Sivoney, a slow-talking nitwit who won the sweepstakes. Producers: Hilliard Marks, Irving Fein. Sound Effects: Ed Ludes, Virgil Reimer, Jack Wormser, Monty Fraser (NBC); James Murphy, Gene Twombly, Cliff Thorsness (CBS).

The Jack Benny Program evolved slowly from its vaudeville roots to become the quintessential American radio comedy show. Today, four decades after his last original broadcast, Benny's reputation is alive and well, and the show he created is consistently ranked among the most timeless classics ever produced. The secret of his success was deceptively simple: he was a man of great heart. Who else could play for four decades the part of a vain, miserly, argumentative skinflint, and emerge a national treasure?