The son of a saloon keeper, Jack Benny (born Benny Kubelsky) began to
study the violin at the age six, and his "ineptness" at it, would later become
his trademark (in reality, he was a very accomplished player). When
given the opportunity to play in live theatre professionally, Benny
quit school and joined vaudeville. In the same theatre that Benny was
working with were the very young
The Marx Brothers. Their mother,
Minnie Marx, wanted Benny to go on the road
with them. However, this plan was foiled by his parents who would not
let their 17-year-old son on the road.
Having a successful vaudeville career, Benny also had a greater career
on radio for "The Jack Benny Program". The show was one of the few
successful radio programs that also became a successful television
show.
Benny also starred in several movies, including
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929),
Broadway-Melodie 1936 (1935),
Der Engel mit der Trompete (1945)
and
Unser trautes Heim (1942),
although he had much greater success on radio and on TV than he did on
the big screen.
He was good friends with Fred Allen,
with whom he had a long-standing comic "feud".
