TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1955)

Jack Benny — Man or Myth? (Continued from page 47) of the great editors of our time; his yarns have gone over the air, instead of down on paper, which makes him a throwback (with microphone) to the days of the traveling minstrels who brought gossip and song to the scattered populace. The radio and TV Jack Benny is a character created over the years, his idiosyncracies deepened, his foibles and traits sharpened until he steps out of speakers and tubes as real as those risen-from-ink myths of Sherlock Holmes, Paul Bunyan, Pollyanna, Elsie Dinsmore, Philo Vance, and Scrooge. Especially Scrooge. Not long ago the following classified advertisement was run in the Sacramento (California) Union: "Two women about Jack Benny's age would like small unfurnished house. Would like to pay what Jack Benny would like to pay." To at least one hundred million Americans, this description of prospective renters and their financial status was perfectly clear. Children by the dozen have written Jack to ask for options on any cubs produced by Carmichael, the bear that roams the Benny premises — in radio scripts only. During the war, the conservation board hit upon an ideal way to call public attention to the need for scrap iron: They asked Jack to donate his completely fictitious 1924 Maxwell to the scrap drive. It is clear that, in times to come, "Jack Benny" will become part of our language, along with such meaningful names as Steve Brodie and Annie Oakley. A "Jack Benny" will be a gently swaggering, mildly fourflushing show-off who always gets his comeuppance; a tight-fisted, harmlessly vain, perpetually frustrated and somehow likable "fall guy." Long ago, when Jack was still in vaudeville, slowly bringing the Benny character to fully realized form, the drama critic for New York's erudite Times commented, "Jack Benny's is the most civilized act in vaudeville." A celebrated actress, after having lost a movie plum she had believed certain, after having banged up her five-thousand dollar automobile, and after having staged a battle with her husband that sent him to a hotel to recoup, announced to a friend, "I feel exactly like that newspaper etching of Jack Benny — you know, the one advertising his TV show." This economical sketch, reproduced throughout America, depicts a pair of tragic eyes, a pair of crossed Mona Lisa-like hands, and an expression of profound frustration. Essentially sad, it is also essentially funny because nearly everyone recognizes one of his own moods in that projection of bewildered dejection. We all get "sassed back" by salespeople, taxi drivers, and police officers. We all overstep our knowledge of our abilities and fall flat on our faces. The "Jack Benny" character, suffering such disaster with us, reduces our fate to a subject for laughter. So much for the myth that makes us smile. What of the living, breathing man who has created the legend? First of all, he wasn't born in Waukegan, Illinois. He debuted into this world in Chicago, on Valentine's Day, just 39 years ago (or in the year 1894). Much of the time he looks somewhat younger than 39, having — as General MacArthur phrased it — "a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions," that keep him timeless. His proud boast that he is the world's worst violinist is open to challenge. His show-business start came as a direct result of his proficiency with the fiddle. At 16, he toured for two vaudeville seasons with a pianist, a woman old enough to be his mother and having a mother's conviction that the Benny lad had talent — even if he had been kicked out of school for exasperating his teachers. In 1916, with a male partner (Lyman Wood), Jack Benny and violin played the Palace, that famous goal of all vaudeville artists. Benny wasn't asked back until 1924 — and, by that time, he was carrying his fiddle onstage merely as a prop — but his musical abilities cannot be denied. During the war, Jack was invited to do a benefit for Greek War Relief. In white tie and tails he strode onto the stage, tucked his violin into place, and played a highly involved concerto arrangement of "Love in Bloom." Finishing his performance, he bowed solemnly and strolled backstage, where a friend congratulated Jack effusively, saying that he'd never realized that Jack had not been kidding about his violin lessons all those years. Jack's deadpan response: "Listen — when I was younger, they used to call me another Heifetz . . . not this Heifetz — another Heifetz." oecond most persistent of the legends with which Jack libels himself is that he's a slow man with a nickel. This gag started during Jack's 1924 Palace engagement. It seems that the country was suffering from a mild post-war slump, prices were high and money scarce. Looking over his audience, Jack realized that there were many couples in attendance only because the escort had been living on peanut-butter sandwiches for a week. Wistfully, he said that he had been thinking of taking his girl to a movie — because, down the street there was theater where, in blazing lights on the marquee, it said: "The Woman Pays." This produced such understanding howls that the character of the man clinging devoutly to his dough was born. In actuality, Jack is not profligate (never gambles, cares nothing for betting on the horses) , but his checkbook is always open to worthy causes. During the war, he spent well over a hundred thousand dollars for telephone line charges to bring his shows to servicemen. He pays the highest salaries of any comedian in the broadcasting business, and recently sent a generous check to Walter Winchell for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund — with the understanding that the fact would not be publicized. Many a man, professionally generous, is personally parsimonious, but Jack could never be accused of domestic penny -pinch ings. The Bennys live in unostentatious but unmistakable elegance. Their Beverly Hills home cost $250,000 when built in 1939, and it is furnished in a deceptively simple style best described as "comfortable contemporary." Their Palm Springs home was purchased in 1951, at a cost of $75,000. The main house consists of living room, dining room, kitchen, servants' quarters, and three family bedroom suites. There is also a pool, a palm-shaded patio and a guest house which always seems to be occupied. In small things, as in great, Jack is not inclined to scrimp. When his daughter, Joan, reached the age of telephonitis, he had a private line installed for her (use unlimited — as long as she did her home work) . Both Jack and Mary have always had their own private lines so that Jack's often-lengthy business calls would not interfere with Mary's active social life. The women in the Benny family have always been considered among the bestdressed in Beverly Hills, and Jack himself is considered by his tailor, Eddie Schmidt, to be one of the 10 best dressed men in the world today. At latest inventory, Jack owned around 80 cashmere sweaters, about K HIGH school;* No classes to attend Easy spare-time training covers big choice of subjects. Friendly^ instructors ; standard texts. Full credit for 1 previous schooling. Diploma awarded. Write now for FREE catalog I WAYNE SCHOOL CotologHH-23 2527 Sheffield Ave./ Chicago 14, Illinois, Callouses Pain, Tenderness, Burning Are Quickly Relieved You'll quickly forget you have painful callouses, burning or tenderness on the bottom of your feet, when you apply Dr. Sertoli's Zino-pads. Thin, soft, wonderfully soothing, cushioning, protective. Separate Medi* cations included for quickly removing callouses. Try them! D-Scholls Zino-pads 101