And he’s still 39!
Well!
Jack Benny and Bill Cosby were the greatest at making you laugh with just a look on their face. Bill is still doing it.
“Raaaah-ch’ster!!”
Strange. I can listen to an old Jack Benny radio program and get a number of solid, genuine laughs from it.
Yet, I can have my television turned on to the “Comedy Central” network for a full day... with its rotten movies, boorish Stewart/Colbert smarminess, and its roster of tiresome and crude late-night standup comedians... and not even get a single smile, much less an actual laugh.
“Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu-ca-monga!”
the best comedian ever
(Carol Burnett a good second...)
120 years? Wow. It took almost that long to get into his vault!
To Be Or Not To Be
a great film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035446/
and another great one
The Horn Blows at Midnight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037790/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34
To celebrate, I should probably get out my old VHS bootleg tape of the movie “Love Thy Neighbor” (1940), which starred Benny and Fred Allen, playing up on their old feud. Pretty funny movie.
“Jello again. This is your host, Jack Benny.”
Carmichael the polar bear. The banter with Phil Harris. The quiet shots from Mary Livingston. All classic.
Thanks for posting that. Jack and Groucho were two classics, among the best.
Thanks! That was wonderful.
A lot of his stuff really holds up well. And he was just hysterical to watch.
I wonder how many young comics even know of him.
“Modesty is my best quality”
http://free-classic-tv-shows.com/Variety/The-Jack-Benny-Program/index.php
Stream or download the episodes. Great stuff.
Ping
It’s easy to get Benny’s radio shows for a pittance from several companies, or on eBay. The first one, from 1932, with George Olsen and his Music, exists in its entirety. (It’s not funny.) There are fragments of shows from 1933-36, and from then on they are virtually complete.
Fibber McGee and Molly are also available, almost their entire radio career.
Also, “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.”
My three favorite OTR programs.
I love Jack Benny. His stuff is better than most of what is around today. Listen to shows almost daily.