Jack Benny

He was acclaimed as the funniest man in the world but because he died so long ago his fame has been eclipsed by such as Bob Hope, etc. His films are a mixed bag and many of them have never even been issued on VHS, much less DVD. I'm surprised that his movies have been so neglected, but he did have a famous flop which killed off his studio career with THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT. After that, no studio wanted to touch him. His wounded pride found solace in thinking he was still the #1 radio star and he was soon to start a great new television career. And in "concerts" he and his violin were always popular. Remember his theme song, "Love in Bloom?" Well, if you are under 60 you probably don't. I liked this biography, but at times it crept close to the tasteless. Maybe back in the day the routine was funny, but in print the account of how Benny and Greg Peck traded laughs and quips over who beat their wife more often is crass. And I didn't like Mary, she comes across in this book (which she helped to write) as egotistical and driven. Her biggest laugh on radio came with a bit where Jack is talking on and on about something and Mary finally turns to him and says, "Oh, shut up!" That brought the house down, she reports. Most disgusting of all is the joke that Armand Deutsch tells about his youth, when as a child he was the intended victim of the pedophiles Leopold and Loeb. In the locker room at the golf club, Jack asks Deutsch what it felt like to know one came so close to being raped and mutilated by two killers. "Well, Jack," he says, "after the way I putted today, I kinda wish they had gotten me!"

This loving biography is written by Jack Benny's widow, Mary Livingstone Benny, her brother and Macia Borie. Reading this biography takes you back to a much simpler time, when you could listen to the radio without hearing shock jocks and stupid promotions every 10 seconds. It's also a love story, one that is made sweeter by the lasting quality of it compared to the current crop of celebrities that are out now (Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley splitting after less than 4 months of marriage - who even has the thank you notes finished by then?).If you enjoyed Jack Benny on radio or tv, get this book and get an intimate portrait of this wonderfully funny man.