onesmedia Store HOME | BOOKS | JEAN SHEPHERD | MOVIES | OLD TIME RADIO AUDIO CD | OLD TIME RADIO mp3 CD ROM |OLD TIME RADIO mp3 DVD ROMJACK BENNY (1932-1944) Disc 1Old Time Radio - DVD-ROM - 364 mp3Benny was born on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in neighboring Waukegan, Illinois. He was the son of Meyer Kubelsky and Emma Sachs Kubelsky. Meyer was a Jewish saloonkeeper, later to become a haberdasher, who had emigrated to America from Poland. Emma had emigrated from Lithuania. Benny began studying the violin, an instrument that would become his trademark, when he was just six, with his parents' hopes that he would be a great classical violinist. He loved the violin but hated practice. By age 14, he was playing in local dance bands as well as in his high school orchestra. Benny was a dreamer and a poor student and he was expelled from high school. He did equally badly in business school and at his father's trade. At age 17, he began playing the instrument in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week.In 1911, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers and whose mother Minnie Palmer was so enchanted with Benny's musicianship that she invited him to be their permanent accompanist. The plan was foiled by Benny's parents, who refused to let their son, then 17, go on the road, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with Zeppo Marx. Benny's wife Mary Livingstone was a distant cousin of the Marx Brothers.The following year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora Salisbury, a buxom 45-year-old widow who needed a partner for her act. This provoked famous violinist Jan Kubelik, who thought that the young vaudeville entertainer with a similar name (Kubelsky) would damage his reputation. Under pressure from Kubelik's lawyer, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to change his name to Ben K. Benny (sometimes spelled Bennie). When Salisbury left the act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and re-named the act "From Grand Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly added comedy. They even reached the Palace Theater, the "Mecca of Vaudeville", but bombed. Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the Navy during World War I, and he often entertained the troops with his violin playing. One evening, his violin performance was booed by the troops, 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 got more comedy spots in the revues and was a big hit, and earned himself a reputation as a comedian as well as a musician.Shortly after the war, Benny started a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology".[5] But then he heard from another lawyer, this time that of Ben Bernie, another patter-and-fiddle performer who also threatened to sue. So Benny adopted the common sailor's nickname Jack. By 1921, the fiddle became more of a prop and the low-key comedy took over.Benny had several romantic encounters, including one with a dancer, Mary Kelly, whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down Benny's proposal because he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Mary Kelly by Gracie Allen. Later on, years after the split between Mary Kelly and Jack, Mary resurfaced as a dowdy fat girl and Jack gave her a part in an act of three girls: one homely, one fat and one who couldn't sing. This lasted till, at Mary Livingstone's request, Mary Kelly was let go.In 1922, Jack accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover seder where he met Sadye (Sadie) Marks, whom he married in 1927 after meeting again on a double-date. She was working in the hosiery section of May's department store and Benny would court her there.[5] Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in one of Benny's routines, Sadie proved a natural comedienne and a big hit. Adopting Mary Livingstone as her stage name, Sadie became Benny's collaborator throughout most of his career (according to Fred Allen's book on vaudeville, Much Ado About Me, it was a custom for vaudeville comics to put their wives into the act once married, in order to save on expenses and so that the marital partners could keep an eye on each other). They later adopted a daughter, Joan.In 1929, Benny's agent Sam Lyons convinced MGM's Irving Thalberg to catch Benny's act at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Benny was signed to a five-year contract and his first film role was in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. His next movie, Chasing Rainbows, was a flop and after several months, Benny was released from his contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's Vanities. At first dubious about the viability of radio, by this time Benny was 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?'..."EPISODES LIST1932320502 (001) First Professional Appearance1933330101 (070) Outstanding Achievements of 1932 Review330122 (076) Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl 330331 (082) She Done Him Right330414 (084) Kiddies Night330421 (085) Guest - Edward G Robinson330505 (087) Russian Sketch330602 (090) Sherlock Holmes and King Kong, Part 2330609 (092) Who Killed Mr X330623 (094) Mary's Birthday331210 (104) Uncle Tom's Cabin1934340211 (113) Miniature Women340218 (114) Don't Live Right340225 (115) My Life as a Floor Walker340304 (116) Dual in the Graveyard340311 (117) Haunted House340318 (118) An Arizona Western340401 (120) The Eternal Triangle340406 (121) Frank Parker's Music Store340413 (122) Bridge Game340427 (124) New Hampshire Through A Keyhole -or- Lord Of The City340504 (125) The Hills of Kentucky340511 (126) Home Cooking at Don's340518 (127) Jack Is Taking A Taxi To The Show340713 (135) Why Gals Leave Home340720 (136) Who Killed Mr Stooge, Part 5340803 (138) To New York on the 20th Century Limited340824 (141) The House of Rawchild340831 (142) The House of Benny340914 (144) The School Days Part Two340921 (145) School Days Part Three340928 (146) More House of Rawchild341014 (147) The Jack Benny Grocery Store341028 (149) The Bennys of Wimpole Street341104 (150) Through Romantic Hawaii341111 (151) Charlie Chan in Radio City341118 (152) Mrs Wiggs of the Onion Patch341202 (154) Rose of the Rio Grande341216 (156) Russia Through a Keyhole1935350106 (159) The Count Of Monte Jell-O351103 (192) Kenny Baker's Debut351117 (194) Blue Room Murder1936360119 (203) Jack And Johnny Are in Jail360209 (206) Benny Of The North West Mounted360216 (207) Drug Store360223 (208) Eternal Triangle360308 (210) The Gang Visits The Central Park Zoo360315 (211) Jack Is Guest of Honor at the French Embassy Dinner360329 (213) Cinderallen360405 (214) Clown Hall Tonight360412 (215) Ah Wilderness360419 (216) I Got A Heavy Date360426 (217) Boston Tea Party360503 (218) Code Of The Hills360510 (219) Jack Test Drives a Car360517 (220) Everybody's Not So Hot360524 (221) Travel Agent Pays a Visit360607 (223) Jack Forms Bennymount Films360614 (224) Opening of Bennymount Films360621 (225) Vacation Plans361004 (226) Phil Harris Introduced361011 (227) Anthony Adverse361018 (228) Anthony Adverse Part Two361025 (229) Previews Romeo and Juliet361101 (230) Doc Benny's Minstrels - Romeo and Juliet361108 (231) Girls Dormitory (Incomplete)361115 (232) Buck Benny Rides Again 1361122 (233) Buck Benny Rides Again 2361129 (234) Buck Benny Rides Again361206 (235) Money Ain't Everything361213 (236) Buck Benny Rides Again361220 (237) An Old Fashioned Christmas Party361227 (238) Buck Benny Rides Again and Again1937370103 (239) More Buck Benny370110 (240) Buck Benny Rides Again 10370117 (241) Buck Benny in Ensenada, Mexico370124 (242) Philzie Lamb And Stinky Pie370131 (243) Nightmares of Fred Allen370207 (244) Jacks Violin is Stolen370214 (245) Jack's Birthday370221 (246) Buck Benny Rides Again 12370228 (247) Jack Plays 'The Bee'370307 (248) Fight of the Century370314 (249) Battle of the Century -- Or Fizzle370321 (250) Days Of Our Lives370328 (251) The Train Porter370404 (252) Jack And Phil Argue About Fred Allen 370411 (253) Guests - George Burns and Gracie Allen370418 (254) Lady Milicent's Husband370425 (255) In the Spring Tra-La370502 (256) Buck Benny Party370613 (262) Mary's Movie370620 (263) Jack's Movie371031 (269) The Devine Farm371212 (275) Christmas Shopping371219 (276) Little Red Riding Hood1938380102 (278) Leaving for San Francisco Next Week380109 (279) In San Francisco380116 (280) Driving Back from San Francisco380123 (281) Scoop Benny, Ace Reporter380130 (282) Hurricain380206 (283) Jack Is Late380213 (284) Robert Taylor Plays TheCello380220 (285) Submarine D-1 Part 1380306 (287) Don Wilson's Fifteenth Anniversary in Radio380313 (288) Death in the Night Club380320 (289) Preparing For New York380327 (290) Harry Von Zell Subs For Don Wilson380403 (291) Returning to Hollywood380410 (292) A Yank At Oxford380417 (293) At the Circus - Easter Show380424 (294) Snow White Seven Gangsters380501 (295) Beverly Hills Home Under Cnstruction380508 (296) Mother's Day Show380515 (297) Murder in the Library380529 (299) The Adventures of Tom Saywer Part 2380605 (300) The Adventures of Tom Saywer Part 3380612 (301) Artists and Models Abroad380619 (302) Back Home In Indiana380626 (303) Last Show Of The Season381002 (304) Preparing To Return To Work381009 (305) 'Yellow Jack' Movie Spoof381016 (306) Farewell To The Old Studio381023 (307) Algiers381030 (308) Jack Throws a Halloween Party381106 (309) The Crowd Roars381113 (310) Jack Tries To Steal Phil's Girl381120 (311) Too Hot To Handle381127 (312) Flash Benny, Footbal Coach381204 (313) Murder at the Movies381211 (314) Christmas Shopping in New York381218 (315) Returning To Hollywood381225 (316) Jack's Christmas Open House1939390101 (317) Goodbye 1938, Hello 1939390108 (318) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs390115 (319) Jack's Screen Guild Theater Performance390122 (320) Jack Tells How He Saved Fred Allen's Life