orig. Benjamin Kubelsky
born Feb. 14, 1894, Chicago, Ill., U.S.
died Dec. 27, 1974, Beverly Hills, Calif.
U.S. comedian.
He took up the violin as a boy and played it in vaudeville from 1912. After discovering a talent for comedy while in the navy, he returned to vaudeville as a comedian. He made his film debut in 1927 and appeared in 18 films in the years 1930–45. His weekly Jack Benny Program on radio (1932–55) and television (1950–65) won loyal audiences, and he became famous for a unique comic style characterized by subtle verbal inflection, meaningful pauses, seriocomic violin playing, and the stage image of a vain, stingy man.