IN: Vaslav Nijinsky (also Vatslav; Russian: Vatslav Fomich Nizhinskii; Russian: ['vatsl@f f@'mjitc njI'zinskjIj]; Polish: Waclaw Nizynski; 12 March 1889/1890 - 8 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreographer cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century.

Vaslav Nijinsky was born in 1889 or 1890 in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), as Waclaw Nizynski, to ethnic Polish parents, touring dancers Tomasz Nizynski (b. 7 March 1862) and Eleonora Bereda (b. 28 December 1856). Nijinsky was christened in Warsaw. He identified himself as Polish although he grew up in the interior of Russia with his parents and he had difficulty speaking Polish. Eleanora, along with her two brothers and two sisters, was orphaned while still a child. She started to earn a living as an extra in Warsaw's Grand Theatre Ballet (Polish: Teatr Wielki), becoming a full member of the company at age thirteen. In 1868 her talent was spotted and she moved to Kiev as a solo dancer. Tomasz Nizynski also attended the Wielki Theatre school, becoming a soloist there. At age 18 he accepted a soloist contract with the Odessa Theatre. The two met, married in May 1884 and settled into a career with the traveling Setov opera company. Tomasz was premier danseur, and Eleanora a soloist. Eleanora continued to tour and dance while having three children, sons Stanislav Fomitch (b. 29 December 1886 in Tiflis) and Vaslav; and daughter Bronislava Fominitchna ('Bronia', b. 8 January 1891 in Minsk). She suffered from depression, which may have been a genetic vulnerability shared in a different form by her son Vaslav. Both boys received training from their father and appeared in an amateur Hopak production in Odessa in 1894. After Josef Setov died about 1894, the company disbanded. Thomas attempted to run his own company, but was not successful. He and his family became itinerant dancers, the children appearing in the Christmas show at Nizhny Novgorod. In 1897 Thomas and Eleanora separated after Thomas had fallen in love with another dancer, Rumiantseva, while touring in Finland. Eleanora moved to 20 Mokhovaya Street in St Petersburg with her children. She persuaded a friend from the Wielki Theatre, Victor Stanislas Gillert, who was at the time teaching at the Imperial Ballet School, to help get Vaslav into the school. He arranged for the noted teacher Enrico Cecchetti to sponsor the application. Bronia entered the school two years after Vaslav. Their older brother Stanislav had suffered a fall from a window when young and seemed to have suffered some brain damage. Vaslav and Bronia, just two years apart, became very close as they grew. As he got older, Stanislav became increasingly mentally unstable and would have fierce tantrums. He was admitted to an asylum for the insane in 1902.

Can you tell me of other significant incidents in his life?

OUT: Victor Stanislas Gillert, who was at the time teaching at the Imperial Ballet School, to help get Vaslav into the school.

IN: Benny was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Waukegan, Illinois. He was the son of Meyer Kubelsky and Emma Sachs Kubelsky. His parents were Jewish. Meyer was a saloon owner and later a haberdasher who had emigrated to America from Poland.

Benny's comic persona changed over the course of his career. At some point he developed a miserly persona. This stage character was everything that Jack Benny was not: cheap, petty, vain and self-congratulatory. His comic rendering of these traits was the linchpin to the success of his show. Benny set himself up as comedic foil, allowing his supporting characters to draw laughs at the expense of his own flaws. With his humanism and vulnerability in an era where few male characters were allowed such character traits, Benny made what could have been unlikable into an everyman character. Benny said: "I don't care who gets the laughs on my show, as long as the show is funny." Benny felt he got the credit or blame either way, not the actor saying the lines, so there was emphasis on the comedic bottom line. This attitude reached its apogee in a broadcast structured as a Hollywood bus tour of the stars' homes. Each "stop" on the tour was at a house belonging to one of the show's supporting cast, who would then have a scene which included jokes about the absent Benny. Not until the final moments of the program did the bus arrive at Jack Benny's house, at which point the listening audience heard Benny's only line of the episode: "Driver, here's where I get off." Few stars possessed the combination of daring, humility and comic timing to commit to such an extended payoff. Mary Livingstone, his wife, was a supporting character, as his wisecracking and not especially deferential female friend. She was not quite his girlfriend, since Benny would often try to date movie stars like Barbara Stanwyck, and occasionally had stage girlfriends, such as "Gladys Zybisco". Don Wilson, the rotund announcer, also appeared on the show. He also announced for Fanny Brice's hit Baby Snooks. Bandleader Phil Harris appeared as a jive talking, alcoholic philanderer whose repartee was profoundly risque for its time. Boy tenor Dennis Day appeared as a sheltered, naive youth who often got the better of his boss. This character was originated by Kenny Baker whom Day replaced. Singer Larry Stevens replaced Dennis Day from November 5, 1944 to March 10, 1946, while the latter served in the Navy.

What can you tell me about Jack's characters?

OUT:
Benny's comic persona changed over the course of his career. At some point he developed a miserly persona.