Jack Benny

Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a popular radio comedian, as star of The Jack Benny Program from 1932 until 1955. He later transferred the program to television, where it ran on CBS from 1950 until 1965, and in specials thereafter (almost annually between 1965 and 1974). 
In both radio and television, Benny played a distinct comic characterization of himself as a vain yet insecure miser. He frequently made himself the butt of jokes and let his supporting cast have the laughs and spotlight, including Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Mel Blanc, Frank Nelson, The Sportsmen ("HmmmmMMMMM!"), and even recurring guest Ronald Colman. His awful violin playing was another flaw. Benny appeared in several films, starring in To Be or Not to Be (later remade by Mel Brooks) and the infamous The Horn Blows at Midnight.
After his own series ended, Benny was a popular guest star on the talk show and variety show circuit. He crossed paths with Jim Henson, however briefly, as fellow guests on The Flip Wilson Show on September 14, 1972, when they shared the stage for the closing guest bows. 
A more notable encounter occurred on the January 23, 1974 broadcast of Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog were fellow guests, and at the end of the frog's spot, Benny quipped, "This little louse is the hit of the show!" 
A 1970s proposal for The Muppet Income Tax Show special would have centered largely on guest star Jack Benny, who died before it could progress to a full script.
In 1982, Jim Henson received the March of Dimes Jack Benny Award, for Outstanding and Original Contributions to the World of Entertainment.
==References==
*In an animated Krazy Kat insert on Sesame Street for the word "LOVE," Jack Benny's theme song "Love in Bloom" is played off-key on the violin.
*Big Bird does a Benny-esque take during his appearance on Bob Hope's World of Comedy, complete with Benny's trademark affronted "Well!" and placing his wing to his cheek, as Benny so often did.
*When Rich Little impersonates Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show episode 204, the genuine article guesses other comedians, including Jack Benny.
*During a telephone interview for The Boston Globe while promoting Follow That Bird, Big Bird is asked, "...how can you have been on Sesame Street for 16 years and still claim that you're only 6 years old?" Big Bird replies, "It's in the tradition of Jack Benny [who claimed to be 39 for decades]. Just another marvelous example of the magic of television."Blowen, Michael. "Will Big Bird Fly as a Movie Star?" The Boston Globe. August 01, 1985.
*One of the best remembered Jack Benny bits, first done on radio in 1948, had a hold-up man asking Jack "Your money or your life!" After a long pause, the famously miserly Benny said "I'm thinking it over!" The Sesame Street Season 18 wrap party, in a "People in Your Neighborhood" with less savory occupations, has an Anything Muppet mugger confront Bob with the same query. Bob puts a hand to his cheek, like Benny, while the piano segues into a snatch of Benny's theme song "Love in Bloom." He finally responds "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" In acknowledgement of their borrowing the bit from Jack Benny, the mugger remarks "And they call *me* a thief."
*A recurring stage direction in Sesame Street scripts calls for characters (usually Big Bird or human cast) to deliver a "Jack Benny take" to the camera, referencing Benny's lingering looks of frustration or puzzlement which he used on TV, or to use his delivery on "Well!" In Episode 1849, Bob explains in great detail how he and Oscar have such contrasting personalities, and after getting yelled at by Oscar, he delivers a Benny-style "Well!" to the camera. The practice crops up as late as Season 35, with Bob giving a "Jack Benny deadpan" in Episode 4063.
==Sources==
==External links==
* IMDb
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Celebrities
Category:Celebrity References