Jack Benny

This small page is dedicated to the life and works of Jack Benny. At age 3 he was a virtuoso. Although, a genius in music, in academics he was not. Benny never got past ninth grade. At age 18 he entered vaudeville with pianist, Cora Salisbury. He continued with Lyman Woods after she quit to take care of her ailing mother. In 1917 he was inducted in World War One and was stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base. After the he got Jack first did a single. His fame in vaudeville grew to a peak in 1927-29 as an extremely popular emcee. In '29 he was signed with MGM. Unfortunately the deal proved lackluster and he went back to New York. In 1932  Benny first appeared on radio on Ed Sullivan's show. Later that year he started his own show which was on the air continuously until 1956. Starting in 1950 Benny did a television show. It did not become weekly until 1960. In 1965, when his run ended 'Ol Blue Eyes' started making periodic TV specials. In this time away from the screen he made several appearances with symphonies (for which he raised over 7 million dollars) and theatres. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1974.

LINKS:

www.peoriaplayers.com
www.lucylibrary.com
www.jackiemason.com
www.ebay.com