Jack Benny

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Actor:

The Man (1972)

"Kraft Music Hall Presents: The Des O'Connor Show" (1 episode, 1971)

Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970) (TV)

"The Kraft Music Hall" (1 episode, 1970)

"The Lucy Show" (3 episodes, 1964-1967)

A Guide for the Married Man (1967) (Ollie 'Sweet Lips')

All About People (1967) Narrator

"The Jack Benny Program" (250 episodes, 1950-1965)

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) (uncredited)

"Checkmate" (1 episode, 1962)

The Slowest Gun in the West (1960) (TV)

Who Was That Lady? (1960) (uncredited)

The Mouse That Jack Built (1959) (voice)

"Make Room for Daddy" (2 episodes, 1957-1958)

"The George Burns Show" (1 episode, 1958)

"Shower of Stars" (10 episodes, 1955-1958)

"General Electric Theater" (4 episodes, 1953-1957)

"The Jackie Gleason Show" (1 episode, 1955)

"Four Star Playhouse" (1 episode, 1955)

"Omnibus" (1 episode, 1953)

The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)

The Meanest Man in the World (1943)

George Washington Slept Here (1942)

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Charley's Aunt (1941)

Love Thy Neighbor (1940)

Buck Benny Rides Again (1940)

Man About Town (1939)

Artists and Models Abroad (1938)

Artists & Models (1937)

College Holiday (1936)

The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936)

It's in the Air (1935)

Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

Paramount Headliner: Broadway Highlights No. 1 (1935)

Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)

Taxi Tangle (1931)

Cab Waiting (1931)

A Broadway Romeo (1931)

The Medicine Man (1930)

Lord Byron of Broadway (1930) (uncredited)

The Rounder (1930)

Chasing Rainbows (1930)

Producer:

"The Jack Benny Program" (executive producer) (1 episode, 1965)

"The Gisele MacKenzie Show" (executive producer) (4 episodes, 1957)

The Lucky Stiff (1949) (producer)

Appearances:

"Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America" (1 episode, 2009)

Biography (1 episode, 1994)

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Lucille Ball (1975) (TV)

Annie and the Hoods (1974) (TV)

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Bob Hope (1974) (TV)

"Dinah!" (1 episode, 1974)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (15 episodes, 1970-1974)

"The Dean Martin Show" (4 episodes, 1972-1974)

Jack Benny's Second Farewell Special (1974) (TV)

Parkinson (2 episodes, 1973-1974)

The American Film Institute Salute to John Ford (1973) (TV) (uncredited)

Jack Benny's First Farewell Special (1973) (TV)

"Flip" (2 episodes, 1972-1973)

"ABC's Wide World of Entertainment" (1 episode, 1973)

"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (9 episodes, 1968-1972)

The Great Radio Comedians (1972) (TV)

"Here's Lucy" (4 episodes, 1968-1971)

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jack Benny But Were Afraid to Ask (1971) (TV)

"The Bob Hope Show" (2 episodes, 1962-1970)

Jack Benny's Twentieth Anniversary Special (1970) (TV)

"The-Red-Skelton-Show" (3 episodes, 1957-1970)

"Dinah's Place" (1 episode, 1970)

"The David Frost Show" (1 episode, 1970)

The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) (TV) (voice)

"The Jackie Gleason Show" (2 episodes, 1969-1970)

Jack Benny's New Look (1969) (TV)

Baja Marimba Band (1969) (TV)

"The Kraft Music Hall" (1 episode, 1967-1969)

"The Liberace Show" (1 episode, 1969)

An Evening with Jack Benny (1969) (TV)

Jack Benny's Birthday Special (1969) (TV)

The Ann-Margret Show (1968) (TV)

Jack Benny's Bag (1968) (TV)

"BBC Show of the Week" (1 episode, 1968)

The 22nd Annual Tony Awards 1968 (TV)

Carnival Nights (1968) (TV)

"The Hollywood Palace" (2 episodes, 1967-1968)

"The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (2 episodes, 1967)

"The London Palladium Show" (1 episode, 1967)

The Ed Sullivan Show (6 episodes, 1954-1967)

The Jack Benny Hour (1966) (TV)

"What's My Line?" (3 episodes, 1953-1966)

Bob Hope Christmas Show (1965) (TV)

The Jack Benny Hour (1965) (TV)

"The Jack Benny Program" (2 episodes, 1964-1965)

"Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1 episode, 1964)

"The Andy Williams Show" (1 episode, 1964)

The Tennessee Ernie Ford Hour (1964) (TV)

Bob Hope Comedy Special (1963) (TV)

CBS: The Stars' Address (1963) (TV)

"I've Got a Secret" (1 episode, 1963)

Gypsy (1962) (uncredited)

"Password" (1 episode, 1962)

"The Milton Berle Show" (1 episode, 1962)

President Kennedy's Birthday Salute (1962) (TV)

"The Dupont Show Of The Week
" (1 episode, 1961)

Carnegie Hall Salutes Jack Benny (1961) (TV)

"This Is Your Life" (3 episodes, 1955-1960)

"The Garry Moore Show" (2 episodes, 1958-1960)

"Make Room for Daddy" (1 episode, 1960)

"The George Gobel Show" (3 episodes, 1955-1959)

"Startime" (1 episode, 1959)

The Jack Benny Hour (1959) (TV)

The Jack Benny Hour (1959) (TV)

"Bachelor Father" (1 episode, 1958)

"The Gisele MacKenzie Show" (1 episode, 1957)

"The $64,000 Question" (1 episode, 1957)

Beau James (1957) (uncredited)

Screen Snapshots: The Walter Winchell Party (1957)

"Shower of Stars" (4 episodes, 1955-1956)

"Climax!" (1 episode, 1956)

"The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (4 episodes, 1951-1956)

Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Beauty (1955)

The Easter Seal Teleparade of Stars (1955) (TV)

"The Colgate Comedy Hour" (2 episodes, 1953-1954)

The Bing Crosby Show (1954) (TV)

Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Great Entertainers (1953)

Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Pair of Jacks (1953)

Stars in the Eye (1952) (TV)

Somebody Loves Me (1952)

Screen Snapshots: Memorial to Al Jolson (1952) Narrator

"The Frank Sinatra Show" (1 episode, 1951)

"This Is Show Business" (1 episode, 1951)

You Can Change the World (1951)

Screen Snapshots: The Great Showman (1950)

The Great Lover (1949) (uncredited)

The Jack Benny Program (1949) (TV)

Screen Snapshots 9860: Hollywood Friars Honor George Jessel (1948)

Screen Snapshots: Photoplay Gold Medal Awards (1948)

Is Everybody Listening? (1947)

Without Reservations (1946) (uncredited)

It's in the Bag! (1945)

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Show Business at War (1943)

Hollywood Goes to Town (1938)

Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6 (1938)

The March of Time Volume IV, Issue 5 (1937)

Mr. Broadway (1933)

The Voice of Hollywood No. 13 (1930) (uncredited)

Children of Pleasure (1930) (uncredited)

The Song Writers' Revue (1930)

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

Emmy Awards

1970 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Variety or Musical Program - Variety and Popular Music for: "The Kraft Music Hall" (1967). Shared with: Gary Smith & Dwight Hemion (producers) for: episode "The Fiars Club 'Roasts' Jack Benny"

1959 Won Emmy Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series for: "The Jack Benny Program" (1950)

1958 Won Emmy Best Continuing Performance (Male) in a Series by a Comedian, Singer, Host, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or any Person who Essentially Plays Himself for: "The Jack Benny Program" (1950)

1957 Nominated Emmy Best Continuing Performance by a Comedian in a Series for: "The Jack Benny Program" (1950)

1956 Nominated Emmy Best Comedian


Golden Globes

1958 Won Golden Globe Best TV Show


Walk of Fame (Hollywood)

Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture At 6650 Hollywood Blvd. Television At 6370 Hollywood Blvd.

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The perennial thirty-nine-year-old, Jack Benny was a radio, TV, and movie star known for his self-effacing humor, mimicking manner, and unparalleled ability to mangle a violin. By the time of his screen debut, as the master of ceremonies in The Hollywood Review of 1929 (1929), Benny had spent years performing in vaudeville and nigh clubs. He started learning the violin at the age of six. Despite his painful but comic attempts to master the instrument onstage, he was in reality an accomplished player. His screen persona possessed inverse traits to the real Jack Benny, who was a modest individual. in 1932, Benny made his radio debut with NBC's weekly show The Jack Benny Program, which ran for 16 years. A deal with Paramount Pictures brought the musical comedies College Holiday (1936), Artists & Models (1937), and Man About Town (1939). Later films such as Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) capitalized on his radio persona with Benny playing himself.

Benny's best and most praised onscreen role was as a vain actor pitted against Nazis in Ernst Lubitsch's satire To Be or Not to Be 91942). Following the disappointment of The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945), Benny focused on radio and TV work. His radio show transferred to CBS in 1948 and ran for seven years. He also started a TV version of The Jack Benny Program in 1950; it ran until 1965. Benny continued to do cameo parts in film, and even lent his voice to cartoons. He was preparing to star in the adaptation of The Sunshine Boys (1975) before his death in 1974. His role was filled by his good friend George Burns. In his will, Benny stipulated that flowers be delivered to his widow, Mary Livingstone, every day for the rest of her life, and she duly received a rose daily until she passed away six years later.

[After being presented with an award] I don't deserve this, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that, either.

Interred at Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California, USA.

He once appeared on the TV quiz show "The $64,000 Question" (1955). After answering the first question correctly he quit and took home $1.00. His category was violins.

At his funeral George Burns began the eulogy but broke down. Bob Hope rose to the podium in a shaky voice and honored the comedian by reading, "for a man who was the undisputed master of comedy timing, you'd have to say that this was the only time when Jack Benny's timing was all wrong. He left us much too soon."

When he died in 1974, he left an estate estimated at $4 million.