Happy Birthday To Jack Benny!

Tomorrow is the birthday of Jack Benny. He was born on February 14, 1894 in Chicago. I was too young to remember Jack when he was alive. I was born in December of 1970 and he died in December of 1974. Growing up I learned about him from my grandparents, who were all big fans of his. I also learned about him from George Burns, who was his best friend for years. It was actually through George Burns that I would find out more about many stars of yesteryear who had passed away. I was reminded of that fact recently when I read All My Best Friends by George Burns. He wrote about so many of his friends. Pretty much all of those friends had passed away over the years by the time of the book's publication in the late 1980's. George Burns himself would die at the age of 100 in 1996. George wrote so much about his long and meaningful friendship with Jack Benny. He was definitely devastated when Jack passed away from cancer. I wish I could have really gotten to see Jack when he was living. I've seen clips featuring him over the years on specials and so forth, but I feel like I really missed out on something special. I want to raise a toast to the legendary Jack Benny. Happy Birthday! Cheers!



That picture is from a Hollywood benefit for mental health in 1960. It features Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, George Burns, Dean Martin & Jack Benny. When I decided to do this post, I was hoping to find either a picture of Jack Benny and George Burns, or possibly even one of Jack with Dean Martin. I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this one. I definitely plan to post some more things in the future about Jack Benny.

George Burns on The Dean Martin Variety Show

I recently finished reading All My Best Friends by George Burns. It was cool reading about George's friendships with Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, Al Jolson, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, etc. I've been a big fan of George since I was a little kid. I always found him so funny. So much of his humor dealt with his age. I thought it was wonderful that he did live long enough to make it to 100. I'm sure he's now in the afterlife with his beloved Gracie. Here's a clip of George appearing on The Dean Martin Variety Show. Check George and Dean out in this clip. I hope you enjoy it.