February 14th is the natal anniversary of all-time comedy great Jack Benny. It is apropo that we pay tribute to the King Of Cheapskates and old time radio today, as a recent post was devoted to Jack's good friend Eddie Cantor.
The star of radio, television and (occasionally) movies was born Benny Kubelsky on this day in 1894. Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog respectfully tipped our top hats (originally worn by Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle in THE ROUNDERS) to Jack six years ago on his birthday - and are thrilled and delighted to pay tribute to him yet again.
We'll kick this tribute to the man hated by violins around the world off with an episode of The Jack Benny Program featuring a guest star dear to all of us at the Psychotronix Film Festival: the one, the only Vincent Price.
The biggest stars in show business appeared on The Jack Benny Program, both on radio and television. He wasted no time in enlisting silver screen icon Marilyn Monroe, the bombshell with a flair for comedy, as the guest star for the TV show.
Here's Jack with special guest star Humphrey Bogart.
On this live show with Bob Hope, bound and determined to crack Jack up on the air, ad-libs abound.
Hope would frequently return as a guest star.
Sometimes Jack guest starred on his pals' shows, with felicitous results.
As funny as the Jack Benny radio shows, especially those from 1946-1950 are, I consider Jack's TV shows of the early-to-mid 1960's among his very best work. The following episode co-starring Jack's chum George Burns is a scream.
Some of the funniest episodes of The Jack Benny Program involve guest stars who grab the opportunity to have a bit of fun with their silver screen images as bad guys. Peter Lorre (and Jack's writers) has a field day in the following show. It's not that surprising, considering how much humor slips into the Peter Lorre Warner Bros. movies in which he co-stars with Sydney Greenstreet.
Asking the question of what my single favorite Jack Benny TV or radio show would be, the answer, hands-down, would be the episode in which Raymond Burr co-stars as Perry Mason. Burr did several appearances with Benny and clearly, after so many years portraying the likes of that creep in REAR WINDOW and the Cherries Jubilee slingin' mob boss in RAW DEAL, clearly loved doing comedy.
Need lots of laughs right now, as the recent passing of music giant Chick Corea and the losses of two personal friends in 2020 have hit this blogmeister hard. Luckily, Jack's the guy to deliver the laughs!
For more info, read Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy by Kathryn H. Fuller-Seeley (the William P. Hobby Centennial Professor of Media History at the University of Texas), as well as Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy by Trav S.D.
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