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|death_place = |death_cause = Pancreatic cancer |resting_place = Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California |occupation = Actor, comedian, vaudevillian, violinist |years_active = 1911–1974 |home_town = Waukegan, Illinois |residence = Beverly Hills, California |education = Waukegan High School |alma_mater = |known_for = ''The Jack Benny Program'' |network = NBCCBS |timeslot = |show2 = |station2 = |timeslot2 = |country = United States |prevshow = |spouse = Mary Livingstone (married 1927–1974) |children = 1 |awards = Golden Globe for Best TV Show (1958) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1957, 1959) * ''more'' |website = http://www.jackbenny.org/ }} Jack Benny (born February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American comedian, vaudevillian, radio, television, and film actor, and violinist. Recognized as a leading American entertainer of the 20th century, Benny portrayed his character as a miser, playing his violin badly. In character, he would claim to be 39 years of age, regardless of his actual age. Benny was known for comic timing, and the ability to create laughter with a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "''Well!''" His radio and television programs, popular from the 1930s to the 1970s, were a major influence on the sitcom genre. ==Early life== Benny was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in neighboring 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.〔Jack Benny appearance on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'', episode 1025: "Academy Awards" (1971)〕〔Dunning, Jack. ''Tune in yesterday: the ultimate encyclopedia of old-time radio, 1925–1976''. p. 315.〕〔Benny, Mary Livingstone, Hilliard Marks, & Marcia Borie. ''Jack Benny'' New York: Doubleday, 1978. pp. 8–10〕〔United States 1900 Census, starting at line 94〕〔''The Jack Benny Times'', September – December 2008, Volume XXIII Numbers 5–6, Page 9., The International Jack Benny Fan Club.〕 Emma had emigrated from Lithuania. Benny began studying violin, an instrument that became his trademark, at the age of six, his parents hoping for him to become a professional violinist. He loved the instrument, but hated practice. His teacher was Otto Graham Sr., a neighbor and father of Otto Graham of NFL fame. At 14, Benny was playing in dance bands and his high school orchestra. He was a dreamer and poor at his studies, and was ultimately expelled from high school. He did poorly in business school later, and at attempts to join his father's business. At age 17, he began playing the violin in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week.〔 He was joined by Ned Miller, a young composer and singer, on the circuit.〔Fein, Irving, ''Jack Benny: An Intimate Biography'', Putnam, ISBN 978-0-671-80917-1, , 1976〕 In 1911, Benny was playing in the same theater as the young Marx Brothers. Minnie, their mother, enjoyed Benny's violin playing, and invited him to accompany her boys in their act. Benny's parents refused to let their son go on the road at 17, but it was the beginning of his long friendship with the Marx Brothers, especially Zeppo Marx. The next year, Benny formed a vaudeville musical duo with pianist Cora Salisbury, a buxom 45-year-old widow who needed a partner for her act. This provoked famous violinist Jan Kubelik, who feared that the young vaudevillian with a similar name would damage his reputation. Under legal pressure, Benjamin Kubelsky agreed to change his name to Ben K. Benny, sometimes spelled Bennie. When Salisbury left the act, Benny found a new pianist, Lyman Woods, and renamed the act "From Grand Opera to Ragtime". They worked together for five years and slowly integrated comedy elements to the show. They reached the Palace Theater, the "Mecca of Vaudeville", and did not do well. Benny left show business briefly in 1917 to join the United States Navy during World War I, and often entertained the troops with his violin playing. One evening, his violin performance was booed by the troops, so with prompting from fellow sailor and actor Pat O'Brien, he ad-libbed his way out of the jam and left them laughing. He received more comedy spots in the revues and did well, earning a reputation as a comedian and musician. Shortly after the war, Benny developed a one-man act, "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology".〔 He then received legal pressure from Ben Bernie, a patter-and-fiddle performer, regarding his name, so he adopted the sailor's nickname Jack. By 1921, the fiddle was more of a prop, and the low-key comedy took over. Benny had some romantic encounters, including one with dancer Mary Kelly,〔 whose devoutly Catholic family forced her to turn down his proposal because he was Jewish. Benny was introduced to Kelly by Gracie Allen. Some years after their split, Kelly resurfaced as a dowdy fat girl and Jack gave her a part in an act of three girls: one homely, one fat and one who couldn't sing. In 1921, Jack accompanied Zeppo Marx to a Passover seder in Vancouver at the Marks' residence where he first met 14-year-old Sadie Marks. Their first meeting did not go well when he tried to leave during Sadie's violin performance.〔 They met again in 1926. Jack had not remembered their earlier meeting and instantly fell for her.〔 They married in 1927. She was working in the hosiery section of the Hollywood Boulevard branch of the May Company, where Benny courted her.〔 Called on to fill in for the "dumb girl" part in a Benny routine, Sadie proved to be a natural comedian. Adopting Mary Livingstone as her stage name, Sadie collaborated with Benny throughout most of his career. They later adopted a daughter, Joan. In 1929 Benny's agent, Sam Lyons, convinced Irving Thalberg, American film producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to watch Benny at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Benny signed a five-year contract with MGM, where his first role was in ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929''. The next movie, ''Chasing Rainbows'', did not do well, and after several months Benny was released from his contract and returned to Broadway in Earl Carroll's ''Vanities''. At first dubious about the viability of radio, Benny grew eager to break into the new medium. In 1932, after a four-week nightclub run, he was invited on to Ed Sullivan's radio program, uttering his first radio spiel "This is Jack Benny talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, 'Who cares?'..."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack Benny」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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