(1894-1974) a popular and well-known
American comedian, born Benjamin Kubelsky. He began his career as a violinist performing in
vaudeville (
American light theater entertainment in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which consisted of a succession of
short unrelated
acts of all kinds, such as comedians, singers, dancers, jugglers and musicians). After serving in the navy during
World War I (1914-1918), he
returned to
vaudeville with a comedy
act. He toured for several years, gradually rising to stardom, and in 1929 appeared in his first movie. His first radio
program began broadcasting in 1932 and continued for twenty-three years. Through radio, and later television, he became famous for his
image as a miser, his comic timing, his mildly
exasperated expression, "Well!" his continuing joke that after decades he was still only thirty-nine years
old and his
self-
mockery as a violinist. His television
program, "The
Jack Benny Show," which also starred his real-
life wife, Mary Livingston, continued for fifteen years.