Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer, who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to a highly popular comedic career in radio, television and film.
His eponymous comedy series, which aired for more than three decades on radio and then TV, would be a major influence on the sitcom genre. Benny played a self-lampooning version of himself, as a vain and self-centered miser who obliviously played his violin badly and ridiculously claimed to be 39 years old regardless of his actual age. He was also known for his superb comic timing and bemused Aside Glance reactions to the camera.
Benny was married to fellow performer and longtime co-star Sadie Marks (aka Mary Livingstone) for 47 years; the couple had one adopted daughter, Joan. In accordance with provisions Benny made prior to his death from pancreatic cancer in 1974, a single red rose was delivered to his widow each and every day until her own death in 1983.
