Did Ronald Reagan get his sense of humor from Jack?

[kurt]

In the current issue of THE NEW YORKER, Edmund Morris, Reagan's "official" biographer, makes this truly astonishing claim:

As a young actor in the Warner Bros. commissary, [Reagan] used to sit at the “fast” Jewish table in order to study, and eventually compete with, the shtick of such motormouths as George Burns, Jack Benny, and the Epstein brothers. Although not naturally a wit, he was capable of dry riposte, as in the crack about Archbishop Desmond Tutu that George H. W. Bush repeated the other day at the Washington National Cathedral, convulsing the congregation.

Does anyone recall any of Jack's "motormouth" wit? Think Jack first met Reagan while Jack was working at Warner Bros. making GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE? Or earlier, when Jack made his cameo in CASABLANCA?

Morris screwed up his bio of Reagan pretty good, eventually concluding that he didn't understand the man at all. And it's not as if Jack and George never met for lunch at Warner Bros., but possibly, since Morris probably relied on one of Reagan's stories, he has the commissary confused with the Hillcrest Country Club roundtable.

There were much funnier people in lunch-table situations than Jack Benny. The Hillcrest anecdotes that mention him only mention his reaction to others' witticisms. The "motormouth" at Hillcrest was usually George Jessel. But Morris had to mention an iconic funnyman, and so came up with Benny.

So there's Jack in THE NEW YORKER, teaching Ronald Reagan how to be funny. He DOES show up in the strangest places sometimes.

[shimp scrampi]

Reagan probably took a cue from Benny's "character" persona, his few famous gag lines "I knew Thomas Jefferson", "I won't take advantage of my opponent's youth and experience", "burning the mid-day oil" are typical of the Benny or George Burns gentle, self-deprecating humor that defuses perceived "negative" character traits - in the case of the "fictional" Benny - his cheapness, vanity, etc. Reagan - whatever you think of his policies - was an astute politician and used that type of humor to his advantage. Benny and others in his social circle were probably influential - but if it was a self-conscious emulation, I doubt it.

[Gerry O.]

Ronald Reagan, although not a "comedian proper", WAS good friends with Jack Benny and George Burns (much in the same way that serious actor Gregory Peck was).

There's a 1950's TV episode of "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" where George is getting ready to attend a testimonial dinner for Ronald Reagan (who then was still "just an actor").....and Reagan even makes a surprise cameo appearance towards the end of the show!

Reagan also did a surprise (and hilarious) guest shot on "Jack Benny's First Farewell Special" when he was Governor of California. All during the special, various guests kept appearing and telling Jack how sorry they were that he was retiring from show business...and Jack would immediately say, "This isn't my 'Farewell' special...this is my FIRST 'Farewell' special! Then next year I'll do my SECOND 'Farewell' special, then a third, then a fourth...."

At the end of the special, Governor Reagan shows up and announces that since Jack is retiring, the State of California is proud to present him with a new car (and it was a very expensive car...I don't remember what kind it was, but it was something like a Rolls Royce). Reagan is standing next to the shiny new car, smiling and holding up the car keys for Jack to take. Jack stands there and doesn't know what to do....if he takes the keys and the car, then he HAS to retire from show business forever....if he explains things to the Governor and stays in show business, then he loses that beautiful new car....

The show ended with Jack standing on the stage, looking at the new car and Ronald Reagan, and Jack stretching out his arms with this, "Gee, what do I DO?" expression on his face...and THAT'S how the special ended (the closing credits and music were played over that)....I remember seeing that when it was first telecast, and it was HILARIOUS! It reminded me of Jack's earlier "Your Money Or Your Life" dilemma!

[Scott P.]

There's a Burns and Allen RADIO show with Reagan, and the main thing I remember is that George keeps calling him "Ronnie Reegan." I think it has to do with a testimonial dinner too-- George is rehearsing a speech.
Speaking of how to pronounce people's names, when Reagan sat in for Bill Stern he referred to his role as George Gipp in "Canute Rocke, All-American." I think maybe Knute is a modification of Canute, but that leads people to say it like "Newt." But did they call Pat O'Brien "Canute" or "Newt"?

[kurt]

That's the proper pronunciation of Knute.

[TheColls2905@AOL.com]

There's a Burns and Allen RADIO show with Reagan, and the main thing I remember is that George keeps calling him "Ronnie Reegan." I think it has to do with a testimonial dinner too-- George is rehearsing a speech.
Speaking of how to pronounce people's names, when Reagan sat in for Bill Stern he referred to his role as George Gipp in "Canute Rocke, All-American." I think maybe Knute is a modification of Canute, but that leads people to say it like "Newt." But did they call Pat O'Brien "Canute" or "Newt"?

I have heard the same Burns and Allen program and noted the pronunciation of Reegan It is hard for me to believe that this was not okay with Reagan at the time, that if he objected to Reegan, he would not have said so. I believe the name can go either way and obviously he ultimately decided to prefer Ragan, rather than Reegan. I also believe that from the same era there was a good college football player from the U of Pennsylvania by the name of Francis X. Reagan who pronounced it Reegan, or at least the sportscasters of the time did. As for Canute, that may by the correct way to pronounce Knute but having been alive when that movie was first released I can tell you that the Americans in my neighborhood uniformly said, Newt. I also have a surname that is awkward to pronounce, also Irish. It is Coll. The Irish say it to rhyme with Doll, but most Americans say it as if it were Cole. They can hardly be blamed, English being what it is, Doll, Loll and Moll go with the short o whereas, Roll, Poll and Toll go with the long o. Ya pays yer money and takes yer choice. Bob Coll

[Jhammes]

(This is kind of a neat story, this affected us in the Eastern and Central time zones:)
February 1981: I remember setting up the tape cassette recorder, happily waiting to record NBC television's "A Love Letter To Jack Benny" special (the audio portion, this WAS a while ago!).
The program was scheduled to air Thursday night, Feb. 5, 9 P.M. on NBC:
the broadcast networks still had almost all of the viewing public (before the hundreds of cable channels we know today) so this really was an event!! Not to mention that Burns, Hope, and Carson were all hosting, WOW!!
Well, the newly elected president needed prime time to give a speech from the Oval Office: his staff went with 9 P.M. that same night. The speech went about half an hour. The "Love Letter" special DID air in it's entirety, though beginning around 9:45 P.M! (I remember, as I had permission to stay up late anyway to tape: was up LATER than anticipated, and Dad, also a Benny fan, said "How late is that show going to run?!?" There was school the next day)
NBC had touted Ronald Reagan as one of the guest stars originally appearing with Jack on the "Love Letter" special.
That night, much of the country saw President Reagan from the White House, and then later, with his friend Jack Benny. Somewhere up there, Jack must have been amused at such publicity... THAT MONEY CAN'T BUY.

[Maxwell]

There's a Burns and Allen RADIO show with Reagan, and the main thing I remember is that George keeps calling him "Ronnie Reegan." I think it has to do with a testimonial dinner too-- George is rehearsing a speech.
Speaking of how to pronounce people's names, when Reagan sat in for Bill Stern he referred to his role as George Gipp in "Canute Rocke, All-American." I think maybe Knute is a modification of Canute, but that leads people to say it like "Newt." But did they call Pat O'Brien "Canute" or "Newt"?

I have heard the same Burns and Allen program and noted the pronunciation of Reegan It is hard for me to believe that this was not okay with Reagan at the time, that if he objected to Reegan, he would not have said so. I believe the name can go either way and obviously he ultimately decided to prefer Ragan, rather than Reegan. I also believe that from the same era there was a good college football player from the U of Pennsylvania by the name of Francis X. Reagan who pronounced it Reegan, or at least the sportscasters of the time did. As for Canute, that may by the correct way to pronounce Knute but having been alive when that movie was first released I can tell you that the Americans in my neighborhood uniformly said, Newt. I also have a surname that is awkward to pronounce, also Irish. It is Coll. The Irish say it to rhyme with Doll, but most Americans say it as if it were Cole. They can hardly be blamed, English being what it is, Doll, Loll and Moll go with the short o whereas, Roll, Poll and Toll go with the long o. Ya pays yer money and takes yer choice. Bob Coll

Regarding Rockne: While most Americans might have pronounced it "Newt," in the Pat O'Brien movie, it was ALWAYS pronounced correctly as "Canute." Here in Illinois we always pronounced the former President's name "Ray-gun."

[Jhammes]

Ronald Reagan's "official" biography was titled "An American Life", published in 1990. He mentioned Jack once or twice in the book. Reagan also remembered his "age issue" during the 1980 presidential campaign: he wrote that he still felt vigorous, and that 1980 was only "...the 30th anniversary of my 39th birthday." !!
(It was).

[David47Jens]

Reagan also remembered his "age issue" during the 1980 presidential campaign: he wrote that he still felt vigorous, and that 1980 was only "...the 30th anniversary of my 39th birthday." !!
(It was).

...as I've been telling people lately that two weeks ago today was the tenth anniversary of my thirty-ninth birthday! Which makes me... oh, let's see, now... thirty-nine, of course!