Jack Benny Books

I was very happy after reading this that I purchased this book. I have always enjoyed the Jack Benny Show, the radio show even more than the tv version, (even though I was not born until 1961 and the tv show is in my immediate memory---I later in life "discovered" the radio shows on old time radio show programs and cd's) To hear the story of his career through his own memories and then to have them reflected by the point of view of his daughter was indeed a treat and a fascinating view into his life. I highly recommend this book for the serious Benny fan.

I really enjoyed this autobiography of Jack Benny. It is based on an unfinished manuscript that his daughter Joan found when she was going through her mother's house shortly after her death. Since it was incomplete, Joan contributes roughly half of the book's contents and Jack contributes the other half. There are also a few paragraphs written here and there by other people who knew Jack, including George Burns, his lifetime friend.

Jack gives quite a bit of the details of his personal life from his childhood up until the beginning of his radio career. At that point, most of his comments concentrate on his comedy, how he built his radio show, the transition to television, and various anecdotes on how people often mistook the personality they saw on TV or heard on the radio with the real Jack Benny. Jack was always a generous fellow, so there is much information about the other performers on his show and what went into making each performance.

Joan's half of the book fits nicely with Jack's since she gives many personal details of what it was like being Jack Benny's daughter and talks about the goings on in the Benny household in the years that Jack basically omits from his autobiography. The only thing that is a little off-track about the book is that Joan goes into considerable detail about the problems she had with her mother. From the book it appears she never talked to her father about these problems in much detail, so it really doesn't have much to do with Jack's story.

This is a very detailed portrait - not from the standpoint of retracing every step Jack took, but from the standpoint of getting a real feel for the man in his own words. He was truly one the great comedians of the twentieth century and a genuinely nice guy. Highly recommended.

Don't expect some exhaustive book on Benny (like the recent mega-biography of Bing Crosby) and you won't be disappointed. This book consists of light, amusing anecdotes - show biz fluff and recollections. It is great fun for Jack Benny fans and can be consumed in one afternoon. Enjoyable.

Jack Benny wrote an autobiography entitled: "I Always Had Shoes." Though complete, it was never published, and when Jack's daughter Joan found it she decided to take excerpts from it and publish it with her own reflections on growing up in the Benny household.

Jack Benny's text is highlighted in bold type, while Joan's is in regular font. The average reader will no doubt very soon begin skipping Joan's writing and will read only Jack's text. Jack was apparently a surprisingly good writer.

Why not just publish Jack's autobiography? I'd give it five stars in a heartbeat.

Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco, I have heard Joan Benny on various radio programs over the years and she truly was blessed to have Mr. Benny as a father. Unlike many of the Mommy & Daddy dearest books written by the children of celebrities this books tells of an enchanted childhood growing up in Hollywood's golden age, Many of Mr. Benny's insights on his contemporaries like Fred Allen & George Burns as well as his defense that the Rochester character was NOT explotive of African Americans are insightful. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was one of the highest paid comedians of his generation and owned a large house with servants, numerous automobiles, & large chunks of California real estate. Eddie and Jack were great friends for many years and Eddie was very broken up at Jack's funeral. The numerous radio interviews Joan Benny did on Larry King and several other stations are usually found on Jack Benny radio show collection CDs sold on Ebay & elsewhere and make for a wonderful companion for this book.

I got this tape from my local library because it included an appearance by Al Jolson on it. I listened to the tape and found myself taken by the charm of the old radio from the sweet jokes to the strong personalities right down to the charming plugs for Swan soap and Maxwell House coffee.

Although George Burns and Gracie Allen have a relationship similar to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's (one I don't find appealing), there is a certain something one cannot ignore or dislike. Adding to this quiet quality are the variety of stars on this set ranging from Mickey Rooney to Rita Hayworth to Eddie Cantor.

There are songs on the broadcasts, skits, and jokes which make for some highly entertaining and unique moments. We do not have anything equivalent to old time radio in modern times, so there is a transition into liking it, but it is easy to adapt to. It really is a shame we don't have it anymore.

If your familiarity with George Burns only goes back as far as "The Sunshine Boys", here's a refresher course. Of the six hour-long cassettes, four of these come from the 1940s-era Burns and Allen show, one of the classic sitcoms of American radio (and early TV). The remaining tapes include guest spots George did (with and without Gracie) with Jack Benny and Bing Crosby. All programs are complete (or as complete as possible). A few of my favorite Burns and Allen shows were passed over in the selection, which is why this set doesn't get the extra star. However, this set is a bushel of fun and a great gift idea for the comedy fan in your life

In his heyday, Dennis Day was the epitome of Irish singers with his tenor singing. The along came the three tenors, albeit from separate countries, they sang Irish mostly. Daniel O"Donnell was good on the PBS special, using only a couple of Irish songs. I was surprised that he had taken the reportroi of old songs by such as Don Gibson (O Lonesome Me), several Ray Price songs, and even a hymn, "It is no secret," which I sang in my first amateur show at school. His fans out in the audience all knew the words to these '40s and '50s American recordings, even though they are from Ireland. Amazing!

These "Tales of Mystery and Suspense" are guarenteed to keep you in Suspense! My favorite one was "Lady Killer" about a woman who believes that her food poisioning was no accident. The only one that wasn't good was "The Face is Familiar" with Jack Benny.

This book, The Encyclopedia of American Radio, is an excellent, comprehensive compilation of facts and photos relating to radio shows and personalities of the past that were part of Radio's Golden Age...the thirties, forties and fifties. It is a very fond look back at those days when we all gathered around the family radio and listened to such great shows as The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, The Lux Radio Theater, Jack Benny, et al. The amount of information given in this book is vast and the Appendices, which lists hundreds of dramatic anthology shows and personalities not given separate entries in the book, is extensive. An amazing achievememnt and it is Fun to read and not dull, which is more than I can say for other less well written Radio Encyclopedias that have been published in the last few years. Congratulations, Mr. Lackmann, for a job well done.

This book, The Encyclopedia of American Radio, is an excellent, comprehensive compilation of facts and photos relating to radio shows and personalities of the past that were part of Radio's Golden Age...the thirties, forties and fifties. It is a very fond look back at those days when we all gathered around the family radio and listened to such great shows as The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, The Lux Radio Theater, Jack Benny, et al. The amount of information given in this book is vast and the Appendices, which lists hundreds of dramatic anthology shows and personalities not given separate entries in the book, is extensive. An amazing achievememnt and it is Fun to read and not dull, which is more than I can say for other less well written Radio Encyclopedias that have been published in the last few years. Congratulations, Mr. Lackmann, for a job well done.

Nice photos, but how much faith can you put into the text when simple errors stick out like sore thumbs

For instance:

Man Called X: Ken Thurston did not have a girlfriend and had nothing to do with the Cafe Tamborine (that was an entirely different program.)

Jack Moyles did NOT replace Frank Sinatra as Rocky Fortune. That series ended when Sinatra left it. Moyles DID star in Rocky Jordan, an entirely different show.

It is little things like this and make the book suspect for me. How many more errors are in this book? What can one take as fact and not with a grain of salt?

Excellent concept, faulty execution. I would not buy this book again and am considering returning my copy for credit. I do not consider this book to be a valuable reference item. Casual reading yes...reference work...no

Ron Lackmann's Encyclopedia of American Radio is a great book to have in a library. The descriptions of the celebrated radio programs of the past and the hundreds of short biographies of many of the most popular radio actors of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, as well as those of several current radio performers, are informative and clearly and simply written. Most important, this is a fine reference book for anyone who wants to read about "old time" radio. The photographs in the book are really excellent and I have never seen most of them anywhere else before, in spite of the fact that I have read about old time radio extensively. This is a good book for young people who want to learn more about a radio show or a performer of the past they might have heard about in passing. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in entertainment of the past.

The only useful thing about this infuriating -- and inaccurate-- book is the selection of photos. Otherwise, get Dunning.

I listened to the Jack Benny Program as a very young child and was better able to appreciate his humor on TV. As an adult I've relished listening to tapes of Benny's radio programs. Milt Josefsberg's "The Jack Benny Show" drew a Benny portrait, albeit sometimes disjointed and sketchy, that gave me a real feel for the entertainer, human being, and his entourage. Josefsberg amply demonstrated Benny's innocence, love of humor, schnookiness, modesty and artistry. That alone made the book worth reading. I also treasured his relating Jack Benny to George Burns, Bob Hope, the Ronald Colmans, Fred Allen and his various writers. The book did lose punch when describing Benny's last years and alluding to his possible extramarital relations on one hand while eliminating the possibility on the other. Curiously, while Josefsberg addresses Benny's last illness, he never provides a cause of death. In fact, Benny's family and doctors never told him that he had stomach cancer. I completed my read knowing so much more about Jack Benny and Company and glad that I did.

The book covers Benny's career from 1910's to the very end in 1974. It includes his relationship with his father and mother as well.

Written by one of his writers who worked with him from the mid-forties and on, whom Jack confided in.

It includes Benny's vaudeville, movie, radio, and television experience as if Benny was writing an autobiography.

Published in 1977 when most of the people written about were still alive. While punches are thrown, they are delivered with a velvet glove.

On the plus side, it gives a complete realistic description of Benny as a person, which is why so many people liked him. It also shows how radio and early television worked in those days.

It gives a good insight of the Fred Allen vs. Jack Benny "feud" and a good character of Fred Allen himself.

On the negative side, with the exception of Jack's wife Mary Livingstone, it basically ignores the other people who worked with him.

Not an essential read, but a good addition to those wanting to know more about Jack Benny, particularly the real man himself

By the way, why does Amazon include a 'NO' in 'was this review helpful to you?'. People are only human and don't like opinions that differ from themselves, thus the 'NO' makes it too easy express such displeasure.

Are they trying to discourage negative reviews, hence not purchase the CD. Such reviews only help a person in not being dissatisfied a product that received positive reviews

This is not a proper biography or critical overview of Jack Benny's life, but a disorganized collection of anecdotes by one of his former writers. Full of affection, but thoroughly toothless, and a lot of Benny's humor doesn't translate to the printed page -- recaps of favorite bits and gags fall flat. It's not in chronological order (often it's not even clear when some of the events described took place), and it gives very little perspective on Benny's long career. For Benny's life, look elsewhere; for his humor, get one of the many collections of his classic radio series.

There's something highly suspicious about all the one-star reviews on this book. Sounds like somebody is out to promote their competing book if you ask me. Some of the "reviews" contain outright fibs: e.g., the entry on NBC's Monitor Show states very clearly it was a radio show that ran from 1955 to 1974, not a "TV show" as the reviewer alleges. I used to listen to radio as a kid, starting in the late 1940s. I looked up all my old favorites, and found the entries to be accurate and informative. The huge number of entries are necessarily short, but this book brought back memories! It's good place to start in getting into the history of old radio. Also contains 120 period photos.

Five years later, and nothing's changed - this book is still an embarrassment and Facts on File will never own up to it.

I need not cite any other example than this one: The entry on the pioneering program "Amos 'n' Andy" runs for several pages - and through the entire piece, Lackmann confuses Charles Correll, who played Andy, with Freeman Gosden, who played Amos, persistently having it the other way round. If he cannot even get this elemental fact about the show straight, there is no reason to pay attention to any other assertion he might make. It's inexcusable.

As others note, errors like this may be found on every single page. What a waste of paper.

Readers interested in old-time radio are directed to the very excellent "On the Air: the Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio," by John Dunning.

The book is published by Facts on File. Apparently having facts on file is not a substitute for knowledge of the subject. In just one sitting I discovered... The Lone Ranger was produced in Pittsburgh (No, Detroit). NBC Monitor was a TV show (No, radio). Paul Harvey retired in the mid 80's (I heard him yesterday). And the errors just keep on comin.' Buy Tune in Yesterday, instead.

This book is full of inaccuracies from beginning to end. I list a few of them in Cave Canem, an online guide to reference book erratas. Email me for the URL.

Mr. Lachmann, in his comments on our 'amateur reviews,' says that its easier for us to criticize his work than produce one of our own, and in that manner dismisses our critiques. Yes, writing is definitely hard work, completing a project even harder. Congrats to Mr. Lachmann for that. BUT, we are not saying that the book is poorly written - i.e., something that is subjective. We are saying that the book is filled with factual errors! Mr. Lachmann should rather embrace our comments so that he can fix these errors in a new edition, rather than not even address the issue. As for the 'professional' people who gave it such good reviews, it can only be that they didn't do much more than skim over it. If we 'amateurs' saw all these errors, think what the pros would have seen had they actually concentrated on it!