Tributes To Your Favorite Classic TV Stars (6 Viewers)

[RobertMG]

Gone too soon -- the days with him and Johnny Carson were golden

 

[The 1960's]

Burt Reynolds February 11, 1936 - September 6, 2018 Birthday Memorial
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In his early roles Burt Reynolds was often cast as a juvenile delinquent, a thug or both. Among others see M Squad S02E15 The Teacher (Jan.02.1959) (2nd appearance), The Lawless Years S01E08 The Payoff (Jun.11.1959) (4th appearance) and Route 66 S02E25 Love Is a Skinny Kid (Apr.06.1962.)

I’ve chosen to profile Ripcord S01E08 Crime Jump (1961) and Gunsmoke S10E02 Crooked Mile (Oct.03.1964). Quite coincidentally Burt Reynolds is paired with Ken Curtis in each. However, both would undergo startling character changes. In Ripcord Crime Jump (1961) Reynolds was the tough-guy saboteur and Curtis was clean shaven. In Gunsmoke Crooked Mile (Oct.03.1964) Reynolds was the half-Comanche, half-white hot headed good guy, while Curtis was the scraggly disheveled and funny Deputy Festus Hagen.

Ripcord (1961-1963
Stars Larry Pennell Ken Curtis Shug Fisher​

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Another great ZIV produced classic tv series released by the now defunct TGG Direct in August of 2013. Ripcord was an American syndicated television series starring Ken Curtis and Larry Pennell that ran for a total of 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963. It ’s about a skydiver and a pilot, on their private airplane, placed in unusual situations where their special skills and abilities are needed, leading them on exciting adventures from chasing dangerous criminals to performing difficult rescues…Continue at Wikipedia​

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S01E08 Crime Jump (1961)
Stars Larry Pennell Ken Curtis Richard Arlen Burt Reynolds Leo Penn Norbert Schiller Gregg Palmer Al Ramsen​

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Ripcord, Inc. is brought under suspicion of murder and espionage when a former student, The Assassin, (Burt Reynolds), parachutes into a top security laboratory at night, kills a scientist, and tries to make off with important secrets. It’s a fun series. Now OPP on DVD and quite expensive. If you can find a copy grab it before it becomes completely extinct.​

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[The 1960's]

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Route 66 (1960-1964)
S02E25 Love Is a Skinny Kid (Apr.06.1962)
Stars Martin Milner George Maharis Tuesday Weld Cloris Leachman Malcolm Atterbury Harry Townes Margaret Phillips Harry Raybould Charlie Briggs Burt Reynolds Joan Chambers Veronica Cartwright Cheryl Anderson Patti Newby Cece Whitney Patrick Cranshaw​

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In this landmark episode, Burt Reynolds has a small part as Tommy, a tough guy delinquent in this episode. Here are a few images and a clip from his appearance.​

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Gunsmoke to follow!​

 

[The 1960's]

Gunsmoke (1955-1975)​

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Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It is set in and around Dodge City, Kansas in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television. When aired in the United Kingdom, the television series was initially titled Gun Law, later reverting to Gunsmoke. The radio series ran from 1952 to 1961. John Dunning wrote that among radio drama enthusiasts, "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television series ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and lasted for 635 episodes. At the end of its run in 1975, Los Angeles Times columnist Cecil Smith wrote: "Gunsmoke was the dramatization of the American epic legend of the west. Our own Iliad and Odyssey, created from standard elements of the dime novel and the pulp Western as romanticized by [Ned] Buntline, [Bret] Harte, and [Mark] Twain. It was ever the stuff of legend. (From Wikipedia)

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Season 10 Episode 02 Crooked Mile (Oct.03.1964) HD Stream

Stars
James Arness … Matt Dillon
Milburn Stone … Doc
Amanda Blake … Kitty
Burt Reynolds … Quint Asper
Ken Curtis … Festus
Katharine Ross … Susan Degler
George Kennedy … Cyrus Degler
Royal Dano … Praylie Degler

Remaining Cast:
John Breen Loren Brown Noble 'Kid' Chissell Rudy Germane Chick Hannan Chester Hayes Pete Kellett Rex Moore Charles Morton Jimmy Noel Glenn Strange
Directed by
Andrew V. McLaglen
Writing Credit
Les Crutchfield
Produced by
Norman MacDonnell
Frank Paris
Music by
Rudy Schrager
Cinematography by
Frank V. Phillips
Film Editing by
Otto Meyer
​

Burt Reynolds was 28 years of age at the time this episode was filmed. He appeared in Gunsmoke for three seasons and a total 50 episodes. This was his 39th appearance as Quint Asper. He passed away a little less than 4 1/2 years ago on September 6th, 2018 at only 82 years old. Katharine Ross was born on January 29th, 1940 and just celebrated her 83rd birthday!

This powerful story begins as a romance with Blacksmith Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds) and Susan Degler (the stunning Katharine Ross) very much in love. Her clearly unstable father Cyrus Degler (George Kennedy) will do anything to prevent his daughter from seeing half-breed Quint. But Quint intends to marry Susan and that enrages Cyrus. So he calls upon family member Cousin Praylie Degler (Royal Dano), (who Festus knows of), to come to Dodge and murder him. There seems to be no shortage of psychotic behavior in the friendly town of Dodge. But there is some levity here thanks to a rather funny scene at the Long Branch where Doc brings a vintage Ham for all to enjoy. (See the third video segment.) The camaraderie between Quint Asper and Festus was priceless throughout all their appearances together. The episode itself is by no means an easy watch nor for the faint at heart. This one in particular touches upon domestic violence. As with many Gunsmoke stories as well as other great westerns of the era, gun violence was quite present. It made for good adventure. But like real life, it often ends in tragedy.

I chose this story to profile because it contains many good close-up shots of Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper, the immediate cast members and Katharine Ross who is so pleasing on the eyes. Images are from the new Amazon Prime HD stream and have not been modified in any way. Quite honestly, I was stunned upon first seeing this remastered in HD, and thus I have posted many more images than I normally would. Special thanks to John Hopper for his aid in helping me craft this commentary. Enjoy! Please note: There are spoiler images within the final post.

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[The 1960's]

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[The 1960's]

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[JohnHopper]

Notes on a Seventies Icon
Along with Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds was a big Seventies star, the first violent action film figure who had a collaboration with director Robert Aldrich (The Longest Yards, Hustle) and Peter Bogdanovitch (At Long Last Love, Nickelodeon). Following his two television series (Hawk of which he directed one episode, Dan August), Reynolds still played cops (Fuzz, Hustle) and private detectives (Shamus) in that era. He was notorious for country folks/populist films filled with brawls, stunts and car chases like White Lightning, Gator—his directorial debut in the feature film industry—, Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run. After leaving the CBS western series Gunsmoke, Reynolds still played an Indian in the feature film Navajo Joe (1966) then a Mexican revolutionary in 100 Rifles (1969) and a gambler/adventurer in Sam Whiskey (1969) but, in the next decade, he participated at an unusual intimist one entitled The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. As a former football player, he acted in two sport films (The Longest Yards, Semi-Tough). His single best part was John Borman’s shocking city dwellers survival drama Deliverance.

Deliverance (1972) Clips+Trailer


The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) Trailer


Hustle (1975) TV Spots


Gator (1976) Trailer

 

[Flashgear]

Great 'Burt' stuff all around, Scott, Doug, Bryan, Neal and John!

For guys our age, it was easy to appreciate the 'Star' charisma that seemed to come so naturally to box-office king Burt Reynolds in the '70s and '80s. But those of us with more than just a passing acquaintance with his earlier work on TV in the '50s and '60s remembered the young actor as a unique persona, his rising potential as an action star who (as Scott mentioned upthread) often did his own stunts, often of the hair-raising variety. By virtue of his athleticism as a star halfback at Florida State University and the bad fortune of a knee injury and car accident, he considered a career as a Hollywood stuntman upon his once-possible NFL football future with the Baltimore Colts being stymied.

It seemed that his acting career was on the fast track with his success on Gunsmoke, where he received critical acclaim and often received more fan letters than the rest of the cast combined. But his career was on a strange and frustrating trajectory in the '60s, leading two more TV series that failed to renew. His ultimate emergence as one of the biggest stars of the '70s seemed to also be a matter of luck, as discussed by Scott, Doug, Bryan, Neal and John upthread, with his rave reviews for the 1972 shocker Deliverance. After that, he was everywhere.

Like most movie-goers, I loved a lot of his films. Doug and John mentioned two of his best in The Longest Yard and Sharky's Machine, but you could easily cite a dozen or more great movies along with his popular genre films as a top action star...but I know that I only fully appreciated the all-around brilliance of his star persona when he guest hosted The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for a full week of 90 minute shows in 1978 (June 5 to 9) while Johnny was on vacation...the unscripted comedic genius of his clearly spontaneous wit in conversation with the audience was stunning...you can't fake that...he was supremely charming, self-deprecating and hilarious...that was the real Burt, who finally had the freedom to unleash his natural and apparently effortless charisma. His celebrity guests that week were Carol Burnett, James Brolin, Roger Miller, Orson Welles, Roy Rogers, Sandy Duncan, David Steinberg, Norman Fell, Wayne Newton, Madeline Kahn and Lola Falana...The first time he guest hosted for Johnny (his good friend in real life), Burt's first guest was ex-wife Judy Carne...who he hadn't talked to for at least 6 years in the aftermath of their bitter divorce! can you imagine?!

Anyway, as part of this tribute I decided to revisit one of his earliest roles...having escaped his turbulent experience with Darren McGavin on Riverboat (they didn't get along and Burt left after 20 episodes), he crossed the Revue/Universal lot and guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents S5E37 Escape to Sonoita (June 26, 1960) W: James Howard, Bill Ballinger. D: Stuart Rosenberg. Cast: Burt Reynolds, Murray Hamilton, Harry Dean Stanton, James Bell, Venetia Stevenson, Robert Karnes.

Burt plays a tank truck driver, who along with his father (James Bell) are in trouble as their radiator overheats on a remote road in the Arizona desert. Coming to a stop to wait for the truck to cool down, they are startled by an old Caddy driving recklessly that bogs down in the soft sand and breaking an axel while driving around their stalled truck. Two strange men (Murray Hamilton and Harry Dean Stanton) emerge from the car as Burt tries to fix their car...but he catches sight of a bound and gagged girl (Venetia Stevenson, daughter of director Robert Stevenson) on the floor of the back seat...she has been abducted for $100K ransom by the two sadistic gangsters! This smiling and cruel duo now hold them at gunpoint, planning to steal their truck and finish their escape to Mexico with the money...it's yet to be determined whether the gangsters will shoot them now, rather than leave them to suffer, dying from thirst in the furnace of this untraveled desert...my screen caps from the Universal DVD set...

This is a fine episode with an ironic plot twist that I won't disclose...yet another of the memorable desert-set episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in season five, along with Road Hog and Coyote Moon...filmed partly on the Revue soundstages, the exteriors at Lake Los Angeles (South of Palm Springs) look to have been stiflingly hot at well over a 100 F...

 

[Flashgear]

More on Burt...Neal, those HD screen caps from Amazon Prime of Gunsmoke season 10 look incredible...that was a powerful Burt episode!...and here's another fave from earlier in season 8...Gunsmoke S8E33 Quint-Cident (April 27, 1963) W: Kathleen Hite. D: Andrew V. McLaglen. Guest cast: Ben Johnson, Mary LaRoche, Don Keefer, Catharine McLeod.

Marshall Matt Dillon (monumental James Arness of course), escorting a prisoner (famed rodeo cowboy and actor Ben Johnson of the 'John Ford road company') back to Dodge City, chance upon blacksmith Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds) bow-hunting rabbits on the prairie...the trio then come across a lonely widow (Mary LaRoche) struggling to dig her recently passed husband's grave...inside a graveyard that also holds the graves of her recently passed child and elder children...a tragic scene of a woman as the last surviving member of her once-thriving family...Dillon and Asper cannot just abandon her to an uncertain fate, so the men cook up rabbit stew and urge the widow to come with them to Dodge...but she refuses, though clearly touched by the kindness of handsome Quint Asper, whom she mistakes his later visit bringing her a deer for food as a romantic overture...Quint lets her down gently, but the desperate woman is at her wit's end and lashes out at him in anger as he leaves...this entanglement witnessed by saddletramp Ben Crown (Ben Johnson), who though found innocent of another crime and now released by Dillon, is in truth a predatory bastard...he returns to the widow's farm and rapes her (strongly implied in this teleplay by Kathleen Hite)...the widow's racist neighbor (Don Keefer) insists that it was half-breed Quint Asper who was guilty of this attack, and in her hopeless grief, the widow does not refute this false claim...forcing Quint's good friends Matt Dillon and Doc (Milburn Stone) to investigate the crime with the innocent Quint as the prime suspect...

As with the season 10 Burt episode that Neal reviewed upthread, this is another very grim outing...an exceptional tragic drama, with one of Burt's most touching performances...as he conveys both hopeless grief and rage in the face of the often relentless racism that his character faces...along with a powerful performance by James Arness, as Dillon feels the guilt of having unwittingly failed his friend with his own rage building as he hunts down the bastard Ben Crown...and dare I say, this makes for a shockingly violent confrontation between James Arness and Ben Johnson...a fight scene with eye-gouging as Matt screams in agony!...and then, an excoriation with a broken bottle!...in 1963, you rarely saw this kind of graphic violence on TV...and in my memory, you NEVER saw an eye-gouging! The network censors would have been aghast at depicting this on camera...there must have been a contentious and lively debate between the CBS censors and director Andrew V. McLaglen and producer John Meston...and in the end, Burt fully conveys a kind of sad, emotional exhaustion in the face of an all-too frequent racist betrayal of his best and noble intentions...we leave him with his head bowed in sadness in his blacksmith shop...seemingly awaiting the next inevitable blow to fall...despite having a true and righteous friend like Marshall Matt Dillon who stands beside him...

My screen caps from the CBS/P DVD set...

This was the kind of quality, prestige programming that made CBS renown as 'the Tiffany Network'.

 

[The 1960's]

Wow the fortified Randall with his new set of eyes. Great surprise and superb posts to close out the Burt Reynolds tribute. Thanks for all your hard work. Those Photo Commentaries must have taken a great deal of time!

Thanks to Scott for Dan August, to Doug for his potpourri of coverage including Evening Shade, our newest participant Bryan H for Naked City, John for his Notes on a Seventies Icon and of course Randall for his overview, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Gunsmoke Super Bowl finale!

Considering I gave you all only 5 days notice, we did good old Burt proud.

I dared everyone to post this and no one bit. Though in his commentary Doug noted, “Who can forget his time as a centerfold model. I remember that stunt, never saw the pictures. But people were talking.”

Some feel it made him a celebrity. Thus, a Burt Reynolds tribute could not be complete without posting the iconic image of his daring 1972 nude appearance in Helen Gurley Brown's Cosmopolitan magazine. You can read all about it here from an article at bbc.com, Burt Reynolds nude: 10 facts about the Cosmo centrefold. I have modified the image for increased enjoyment & appreciation.

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[Flashgear]

Thanks Neal and all you guys for the positive reinforcement!
You've all done us proud with your wonderful tribute posts!

I had to take a break and watch (with my new Bionic eyes, ha, ha!) the Super Bowl and post-game show first, but I actually have one more Burt post for which I've already taken the screen caps to close out with (before we move on to the Great Jack Benny).

Sure, it's not a truly great movie from Burt Reynolds as he was on the cusp of super-stardom, but for us vintage TV and movie fans, Burt's enjoyable 1969 comedy-caper western movie Sam Whiskey has plenty to recommend it...Burt in full Dan August mode (in a bar fight he actually skids along the floor toward the camera, just as he did in that action show's opening montage!), the sexy Angie Dickinson looking 'hawt' (apparently seen topless in the international cut that my old MGM DVD doesn't have, sadly), massive Clint Walker of Cheyenne is a hoot, and just after his turn in Robert Aldrich's box-office hit The Dirty Dozen...and famed Broadway actor Ossie Davis...around the same time as he appeared in the excellent Burt Lancaster Western movie co-starring Telly Savalas in The Scalphunters...and about 20 years before Ossie Davis re-teamed with Burt Reynolds in Doug Wallen's favorite sit-com Evening Shade...and welcome familiar supporting cast of William Schallert, Woodrow Parfrey, Chubby Johnson among others...

Sam Whiskey (97m, 1969) a comedy-caper western heist movie from producers Levy-Gardner-Laven (TV's The Rifleman, Big Valley and successful movie producers in the '70s of a multitude of movies, including two future Burt films in White Lightning and Gator), directed by Arnold Laven (Glory Guys, The Scalphunters, The Hunting Party, The MacKenzie Break, White Lightning, Gator, etc.) Starring Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson, Clint Walker, Ossie Davis, William Schallert, Woodrow Parfrey.

Professional gambler Sam Whiskey (Burt Reynolds) has a problem...after a run of bad luck and having an aversion to honest work, he's short on cash...an alluring Laura Breckinridge (Angie Dickinson), recently widowed, has a proposition...her deceased husband stole a fortune in gold from the Denver U.S. mint...Laura is a promiscuous but nonetheless an honest woman, hoping to preserve her family's good name, she offers Sam $20,000 to put the gold back into the Denver mint vault before the theft is discovered...a big problem to start with is that the gold is on the bottom of the Platte river in a sunken riverboat! Sam enlists the help of two friends, inventor O.W. Bandy (Clint Walker, who has crude diving gear and a Gatling gun!) ) and blacksmith Jed Hooker (Ossie Davis) to recover the gold from the sunken riverboat...unknown to them, they are under watch by a gang off good-for-nuthins led by Fat Henry Hobson (Rick Davis sporting coke-bottle eyeglasses) and Cousin Leroy (creepy Anthony James)...the mint superintendent Perkins (William Schallert) and bank examiner Thorston Bromley (Woodrow Parfrey) will soon discover the theft with a scheduled audit...so the boys (and Laura) only have less than a week to accomplish this impossible mission!

My screen caps from the 2005 MGM DVD...

Concluded next post...

 

[Flashgear]

Sam Whiskey (1969) conclusion of what I have to offer in the way of tribute to the Great Burt Reynolds...

Sam (Burt), O.W. (Clint Walker) and Jed (Ossie Davis), having accomplished the nearly impossible by recovering the gold from the bottom of the Platte river, now have to do something even more improbable (but very enjoyable)...for a fee of $20.000, return the stolen gold to the vault at the Denver mint while removing the fake bullion left by Laura's (Angie Dickinson) deceased husband, preserving her good family name before the theft is discovered by the mint superintendent (William Schallert) and bank examiner (Woodrow Parfrey) during a scheduled audit. All of this must be accomplished in the course of one night, with Burt impersonating the bank examiner, who is drugged with ether back at Laura's bedroom...he groggily awakes, and Laura convinces him that it's all a pleasant dream...but he too needs to be returned before the impersonation is discovered in the morning! A gold bust of George Washington (that comes and goes mysteriously) plays a very important role in this caper...with the mint superintendent suspecting he has lost his mind! But if the gold audit in the morning is proper, that must mean that those strange men that also came and went in the middle of the night had nothing to do with anything? ha, ha!

My screen caps from the MGM DVD...

Speaking on Sam Whiskey in a later interview, a self-deprecating Burt said of himself: "I was doing light comedy, and nobody cared" It's much better than that, and definitely worth a view, for Clint Walker and Ossie Davis fans also (as I am). Kino-Lorber has since released this on Blu-ray. I have two other KL Blus of Burt's other contemporary theatrical film releases of that period, the western 100 Rifles and another quite interesting caper film, Impasse, that I also got recently. His career body of film work had many great films to come, but Sam Whiskey is a feel-good hoot on it's own.



You can watch the movie on Tubi and DL for free...

Sam Whiskey (1969)

A jack of all trades is offered a job from a beautiful widow who decides she wants him to find gold bars her husband stole and rightfully return them.

tubitv.com

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Wonderful stuff, guys! You all did Burt proud. Really enjoyed reading your posts.

 

[The 1960's]

The Jack Benny (February 14, 1894-December 26, 1974) Birthday Memorial
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Today is the birthdate of the great skinflint himself, Jack Benny! Because Jack was so cheap we will follow suit and be as cheap as he was with our coverage of his birthday. For all the very best Jack Benny Specials and episodes of The Jack Benny Program proceed here.

Below, I have posted just two very funny standout episodes, both featuring the surprisingly agile Perry Mason who also had a real flair for comedy!

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S03E04 Air Force Sketch (Oct.16.1962)
Stars Jack Benny Raymond Burr Dennis Day Don Wilson Roland Winters Glen Turnbull Robert Patten Warren Vanders​

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Raymond Burr wants to be a comedian, so Jack allows him to host the show.​

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S12E03 Jack on Trial for Murder (Nov.05.1961)
Stars Jack Benny Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson Don Wilson Raymond Burr Frank Nelson Frank Wilcox Addison Richards Angelina Bauer Grandon Rhodes John Alvin George E. Stone​

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Jack goes on trial for murder, defended by superstar lawyer Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). The women in the courtroom swoon over Perry, but his defense of Jack is feeble. When Jack asks how Perry always wins on his own show, Perry Mason sneers "because my writers are better than yours!" Mel Blanc Frank Nelson standout performances!!​

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Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with a highly popular comedic career in radio, television, and film. He was known for his comic timing and the ability to cause laughter with a long pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated summation "Well! " His radio and television programs, popular from 1932 until his death in 1974, were a major influence on the sitcom genre. Benny portrayed himself as a miser who obliviously played his violin badly and claimed perpetually to be 39 years of age.

Early life
Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in Chicago, Illinois, on February 14, 1894, and grew up in nearby Waukegan. 6  He was the son of Jewish immigrants Meyer Kubelsky (1864–1946) and Naomi Emma Sachs Kubelsky (1869–1917). Meyer was a saloon owner and later a haberdasher who had emigrated to the United States of America from Poland.Emma had emigrated from Lithuania. At the age of 6, Benny began studying violin, an instrument that became his trademark; his parents hoped for him to become a professional violinist. He loved the instrument but hated to practice. His music teacher was Otto Graham Sr., a neighbor and father of football player Otto Graham. At 14, Benny was playing in dance bands and his high school orchestra. He was a dreamer and poor at his studies, ultimately getting expelled from high school. He later did poorly in business school and in attempts to join his father's business. In 1911, he began playing the violin in local vaudeville theaters for $7.50 a week (about $220 in 2020 dollars).11  He was joined on the circuit by Ned Miller, a young composer and singer…Continue at Wikipedia

And now I will turn this over to other member tributes … or not.

 

[Mysto]

Jack Benny

Today is special. Jack Benny turns the same age as me......39

Neal asked me to post about this part of Jack's life because "I was a lot older than him and remembered this stuff first hand". Thanks Neal.

I realize this forum is devoted to the visual arts, but we have to remember that Jack really developed his “family” on the radio. Because radio was the “medium of the mind”, there were things they could do that were difficult or impossible on TV. For example: Jack drove a 1923 Maxwell. On TV a lot of work, on radio – just call Mel Blanc

Here is Jack and Mel on Johnny Carson talking about it.



The rest of the family also came to bloom on radio. Sanity provider Mary Livingstone, Long suffering Rochester (Eddie Anderson) Zany Dennis Day, Tipsy Phil Harris and announcer Don Wilson together built a complete personality that carried on to TV and indeed still is remembered today.

The radio show was so popular that it ran until 1955 and Jack would invite listeners on the radio to watch him on TV and on TV he would tell them to tune in to the radio show. It was an unique time. Here are three great radio birthday shows. Happy Birthday Jack!

Jack Benny’s Birthday 1939



Jack Benny’s Birthday 1942



Jack Benny 39th birthday – again 1954

 

[ponset]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Jack.
My favorite Radio comedy show.

 

[Flashgear]

Jack Benny was a legend of 20th century entertainment, an American treasure and beyond that, an international star. He was among that coterie of entertainers who we dearly loved!

Here he is with wife Mary Livingston and Rochester...

His decades long 'feud' with fellow radio comedian Fred Allen was also rich fodder for both of their great radio shows...

He met his wife Mary while visiting Vancouver B.C. in 1944. While there, he performed a wartime show for the Royal Canadian Navy and shipyard workers...Jack himself served in the U.S. Navy in WW1.

He made a handful of theatrical films...all quite good (IMO including The Horn Blows at Midnight)...but his absolute classic remains the wonderful To Be Or Not To Be...(1942).

His TV show was a treasured staple of our family viewing...love it!

Another running gag concerned his ancient Maxwell motorcar, and his refusal to fill her up...miserly buying one gallon at the time!

The ongoing joke about Jack Benny hoarding his money in his own home was comedic gold...the booby traps, his ever-more formidable vaults...by the time he appeared on Here's Lucy, Jack was taking her on a tour of his subterranean vault...300 feet deep!

Jack Benny was a friend of President Harry Truman, and was MC of his 1949 inaugural ball. Here he is with the former President in 1959 at the Harry Truman Library at Independence Missouri. Jack's episode that he made with Truman is on the Shout Factory 'Lost Episodes' DVD set of 18 Kinescopes from Jack's personal collection donated to UCLA...

President Kennedy and Jack Benny surprised everyone by just dropping-in at the high school prom of John Burroughs H.S., held at the Beverly Hilton, June 8, 1963!

Love this informal photo of Jack in the CBS studios...

He of course pretended to be an inept violinist, but Jack Benny was anything but...here he is with the great Isaac Stern! He joked about headlining at Carnegie Hall, but his fundraising and activism is greatly responsible for saving that landmark in 1956...

With the talented Canadian singer and musician Gisele Mackenzie (who appeared 7 times on his TV show), they created one of American televisions' truly immortal moments...their comedic violin duet of Getting To Know You...

 

[SuperClark]

One of my favorite cameos in this classic comedy.Jack doing his famous 'Well!;as only he can)

 

[The 1960's]

I wanted to say thanks to all of you for taking the time to make your contributions to the Jack Benny Birthday Memorial earlier this week.

Particularly to Marv who is most certainly old enough to remember listening to Jack on radio.
At first I thought Jack had certainly been forgotten when it was just he and I who had posted tributes. But then came Scott, Randall and a little help from Clark and I was both thrilled and relieved.

To Randall, yours was the surprise and the topper!!

Thanks again. We did the great Jack (Benjamin Kubelsky) Benny proud!

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Next up, one week from tomorrow, Saturday, February 25th, 2023, will be a big one ...
The Diane Baker 85th Birthday Celebration!!!

If you would like to make a contribution to this forthcoming tribute, please send me a pm. Thank you!​

 

[shoeshineboy]

Jack Benny was a legend of 20th century entertainment, an American treasure and beyond that, an international star. He was among that coterie of entertainers who we dearly loved!

Here he is with wife Mary Livingston and Rochester...
View attachment 176174

His decades long 'feud' with fellow radio comedian Fred Allen was also rich fodder for both of their great radio shows...
View attachment 176131

He met his wife Mary while visiting Vancouver B.C. in 1944. While there, he performed a wartime show for the Royal Canadian Navy and shipyard workers...Jack himself served in the U.S. Navy in WW1.
View attachment 176130

He made a handful of theatrical films...all quite good (IMO including The Horn Blows at Midnight)...but his absolute classic remains the wonderful To Be Or Not To Be...(1942).
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His TV show was a treasured staple of our family viewing...love it!
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Another running gag concerned his ancient Maxwell motorcar, and his refusal to fill her up...miserly buying one gallon at the time!
View attachment 176122
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The ongoing joke about Jack Benny hoarding his money in his own home was comedic gold...the booby traps, his ever-more formidable vaults...by the time he appeared on Here's Lucy, Jack was taking her on a tour of his subterranean vault...300 feet deep!
View attachment 176136
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Jack Benny was a friend of President Harry Truman, and was MC of his 1949 inaugural ball. Here he is with the former President in 1959 at the Harry Truman Library at Independence Missouri. Jack's episode that he made with Truman is on the Shout Factory 'Lost Episodes' DVD set of 18 Kinescopes from Jack's personal collection donated to UCLA...
View attachment 176137

President Kennedy and Jack Benny surprised everyone by just dropping-in at the high school prom of John Burroughs H.S., held at the Beverly Hilton, June 8, 1963!
View attachment 176132

Love this informal photo of Jack in the CBS studios...
View attachment 176129

He of course pretended to be an inept violinist, but Jack Benny was anything but...here he is with the great Isaac Stern! He joked about headlining at Carnegie Hall, but his fundraising and activism is greatly responsible for saving that landmark in 1956...
View attachment 176127

With the talented Canadian singer and musician Gisele Mackenzie (who appeared 7 times on his TV show), they created one of American televisions' truly immortal moments...their comedic violin duet of Getting To Know You...
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Jack Benny first took notice of a very young Mary Livingston in 1924 I believe when touring the vaudeville circuit with the Marx brothers. He was invited to a seder dinner at Mary's mother's house. Mary was just a teenager I believe. They reconnected a few years later in California when she was actually working at the May Store! His remembrance of that Vancouver stop would be key to saving the same theater, which was bound for demolishing in the late 1960s. He came back and gave a fundraising concert to save the Orpheum, which still stands and serves as a vital entertainment centre in downtown Vancouver... His radio show evolved into a trendsetting sitcom vehicle that so many others, even today, emulate. As noted by many, not only was Benny king of comedy, but he was the complete opposite of his character, a true mensch. Five years ago I was fortunate enough to visit his hometown, see his statue which sits very close to the theatre where he regularly performed. They love him in St. Jo, and everywhere in between...