Jack Benny Month

[Maxwell]

I hate to do this so early, but I will be busy next couple of weekends, so this is my best chance to post this.

As always, Chuck Schaden's "Those Were the Days" radio program will be celebrating Jack Benny Month in February. This years shows will feature some interviews that Schaden did over the years with staff and performers from the Jack Benny Program along with an interview he did with Jack himself. The interviews are liberally sprinkled with clips from Jack's shows. The February shows will also feature performances by Jack in radio plays.

The programs can be heard live from 1:00-5:00 p.m. CST at http://www.wdcb.org on the dates given below. In addition they can be heard beginning the following Tuesday at http://www.nostalgiadigest.com. Just click on the "Those Were the Days" link (RealAudio required).

Here's the breakdown of the Jack Benny Month programming.

February 3

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (2/5/94). Recollections by Sheldon Leonard and Jack Benny.

Family Theatre (5/19/54): ".45 Calibre Teapot." "Jack plays a teapot unhappily married to a coffee pot. Introduced by Mary Livingstone. Featuring Verna Felton and Charlotte Lawrence.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (2/12/94): Recollections by George Balzer and Milt Josefsberg.

Suspense (2/2/53): "Plan X." Jack is a Martian chosen to deal with visitors from Earth while the Martians carry out "Plan X." Cast: Joe Kearns, William Conrad, Jack Kruschen, Mary Jane Croft, Stuffy Singer. Announcer: Harlow Wilcox. (This is one of my favorite Benny radio performances.)

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (2/19/94): Recollections of Don Wilson and Dennis Day.

February 10

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (2/26/94): Recollectinos by Frank Nelson, Veola Von, Don Wilson, George Balzer, and Mel Blanc.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (5/7/94): Recollections by George Balzer and Milt Josefsberg.

Campbell Playhouse (3/24/40): "June Moon." Jack is a song writer from Schenectady who goes to New York to write a romantic hit. Cast: Benny Rubin, Bea Benaderet, Lee Patrick, and Virginia Gordon. Host: Orson Wells. Announcer: Ernest Chappel.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (7/30/94): Recollections by Jack Benny.

February 17

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (9/24/94): Recollections by George Balzer and Milt Josefsberg, Jack Benny and Joan Benny.

Suspense (6/2/52): "A Good and Faithful Servent." Jack as a man who works for 30 years "to prepare a most unusual retirement plan." Cast: Joe Kearns, Hy Averback, Doris Singleton, Gerald Mohr, Norma Varden.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (10/1/94): Recollections by George Balzer.

Screen Guild Players (6/13/43): "Love Is News." An heiress turns the tables on a pest of a reporter by anouncing that she is going to marry him, just to let him feel what it's like to be constantly in the spotlight. Cast: Ann Sheridan, Jack Benny, James Gleason.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (10/15/94): Recollections by Irving Fein, Jack Benny, and George Balzer.

February 24

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (11/19/94): Recollectons by Don Wilson and George Balzer.

Lux Radio Theatre (12/16/46): "Killer Kates." Jack as a would-be comedian who bombs in night clubs but becomes a hit playing a gangster on Broadway. Cast: Gail Patrick, Alan Reed, Gale Gordon, Gerald Mohr, Herb Vigran. Host: William Keighley.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (11/26/94): Recollections by Phil Harris, Dennis Day, and Elliott Lewis.

Speaking of Radio: The Jack Benny Program (1/14/95): Recollections by Don, Wilson, George Balzer, Dennis Day, Jack Benny, and Joan Benny.

[ZEjackbennykid]

We should all wear shirts with 39 forever written on them on his birthday

[Maxwell]

Now that Jack Benny Month is here, I hope everyone gets a chance to listen to the TWTD broadcasts either live or later in the week. I've heard bits and pieces of some of the interviews in the past (especially Jack's) and they were really interesting.

[Maxwell]

As often happens during Jack Benny month, Chuck Schaden has come up with an unannounced surprise--a tape of a testimonial dinner given to Jack at the Biltmore Hotel in LA on May 9, 1941 in honor of his tenth anniversary on radio.

The testimonial was never broadcast and runs for about 90 minutes. Schaden will be dividing it up among the four Saturdays of February. It is hosted by Rudy Vallee and features many of Jack's fellow stars at NBC. I'm listening to the opening now, and it's fascinating as Rudy Vallee lists some of Jack's innovations in radio.

[Maxwell]

I wasn't able to hear the last half of today's show, which included Jack in "June Moon," but I'll be listening later this week at the Nostalgia Digest web site.

The first half was definitely must hear with Don Wilson and Frank Nelson telling the Drear Pooson story (complete with Nelson's description of Jack's reaction) and Veola Vonn revealing how she would get in the mood to play certain characters. The last half of the clip from the tenth anniversary testimonial dinner (after a long, boring address by the president of General Foods followed by Rudy Vallee thanking him for keeping it brief) with Burns and Allen was absolutely hilarious. Gracie was at her best explaining how Mary Livingstone should have gotten the dinner. The funniest part to me was a one-liner about how not everybody loves Jack Benny. I can picture Jack pounding the floor after that one.

[ZEjackbennykid]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

My present to you: I talk about you in the editors column of my high school paper. And a picture of you with George.