This past weekend here at the Baldpate Inn was special,
due in part to the play Seven Keys to
Baldpate, which premiered on Friday and Saturday. For those of you that
have visited the Key Room here at the Inn, you are probably familiar to the Seven Keys to Baldpate radio play and the stage play of the same name which we show at our Keythedral Theatre. The voice most notable to visitors when they listen to the
radio play is that of comedian Jack Benny.
Born Benjamin Kubelsky on Valentine’s Day, 1894 in
Chicago, IL, Benny picked up the violin at the age of six, which would become a
trademark later in his career. By 17, he was playing violin at local vaudeville
theaters. It was during this time that Benny came into contact with the famous
Marx Brothers, who not only were working in the same theater as Benny, but
would form a lifetime friendship with him as well. After serving duty in the
U.S. Navy from 1917 to 1921, where he was considered a comedian and musician by
fellow soldiers, Benny would start a one-man act called "Ben K. Benny: Fiddle Funology". It
was around this time that he changed his stage name to Jack Benny due to legal
pressure from famed violinist, Ben Bernie.
One night in 1922, Benny was invited over to a
Passover Seder by friend Zeppo Marx, where he would meet the love of his life,
Sadie Marks, but better known by her stage name, Mary Livingstone. Benny and
Livingstone would go on to get married, along with becoming comedic partners,
too. Ten years later, after a four-week comedy show stint at nightclubs, Benny
was invited onto TV host and writer Ed Sullivan’s radio show. This would
eventually lead Benny to get his own radio show, The Jack Benny Program, later that year. The weekly radio show,
which ran for a total of 30 years (from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to
1955 on CBS) is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century
American comedy. This radio show would be followed up with a TV show of the
same name from 1950-1965.
(Group
photograph of Eddie Anderson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Jack
Benny, Don Wilson, and Mel Blanc)
Here at the Inn we are honored to have keys to Jack Benny’s dressing
room at Paramount Studios. We are glad to have the opportunity to have this key
on display for visitors!
Come see!
Cameron
