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Volume 1 • Number 25
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Lakes, WI 53185 • Published By Southern Lakes Newspapers, LLC
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Jack Benny remains Waukegan’s claim to fame By Sandra Landen Machaj CORRESPONDENT
Jack Benny, one of America’s favorite entertainers in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, was well known as a musician, comedian, vaudevillian, movie actor and television star. Yet throughout his career spanning so many decades, Benny never forgot his roots and often returned to his hometown of Waukegan, Ill. Benjamin Kubelsky, who would eventually be known as Jack Benny, made his entrance into the world at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, on Valentine’s Day 1894. His parents, Meyer and Emma Kubelsky, welcomed their first born, returning to their home in Waukegan. Six years later, a sister joined the family. For his sixth birthday, Benny received a gift that would be a steppingstone into his future career. A half-size violin opened the world of music. His father encouraged him to become a musician, but he became far more than a musician in the world of
This small statue of Benny on display at the Jack Benny Center for the Performing Arts displays him in one of his well known comedic pauses with his violin as at his side.
entertainment. He began to play in local bands and in the high school orchestra. While he succeeded in music, he was not the best student academically and dropped out of school. While playing in the pit of the Barrison Theater, a local theater, Benny met the Marx brothers who offered him a job touring with them for which he would be paid $7.50 a week plus room and board. His parents declined the offer for their son since he was still a minor. The Marx brothers and Benny remained friends for life. In 1912, Benjamin Kubelsky changed his name to Ben K. Benny and teamed up with a piano player, Cara Salisbury and played together for five years. With Salisbury’s retirement, Benny found a new pianist named Lyman Woods, and together they played everything from opera to ragtime. Benny interrupted his career in 1917 to return home to care for his ailing mother. Upon her death, life changed again. In 1917, World War I led many young men, including Benny, to join the military The Jack Benny Center for the Performing Arts, located appropriately at 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan, Ill., provides instruction in the fine arts, including music, theater and dance. A small theater provides a place for performances.
SANDRA LANDENMACHAJ Hi-Liter
SANDRA LANDEN-MACHAJ
as the United States plunged into war. Benny enlisted in the Navy and while at Great Lakes Naval Station was assigned to entertain the troops with his violin performances. At one performance when Benny was booed, fellow sailor and actor Pat O’Brien encouraged him to ad lib his way out of the performance. When he left the stage the audience was laughing. As Benny moved into more comedic routines, his violin became more of a prop. His name changed again, this time to Jack Benny, which he used for the rest of his life. Sadie Marks, who later adopted the stage name Mary Livingston, married Benny in 1927 at the Clayton Hotel in Waukegan. Marks, who had a comedic flair herself, began a partnership both in life and in comedy that was to last their lifetime. The year 1932 marked the beginning of radio’s popularity and Benny was quick to join in. After an appearance on the Ed Sullivan radio show, he began his own series of shows. His shows often were called by the name of their sponsors, the “Canada Dry Show” and the “Chevrolet Show” being two such programs. The shows were a blend of comedy, music and fictional episodes. Although, Benny was successful in radio, he didn’t limit himself to one theatrical scene. He starred in about 22 movies beginning in 1939 with the movie “Man About Town,” and was well known for the 1941 movie “Charley’s Aunt.” Around 1950 there was another new medium for the entertainment world. Television made its appearance into homes and new types of programming began. Benny’s variety radio show made its
See BENNY, Page 7
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