As I Recall: In Case You Don't Know Jack, You Should!

In a recent article, I mentioned my rather frugal aunt and compared her to Jack Benny. While I would hope that most readers would know who Jack Benny was, several years ago I had to face the cold hard reality that there is now at least one generation who does not have a clue. When I mentioned Jack Benny to a couple of co-workers, I received blank stares which conveyed the question "Who is that?" Ouch. For those who are younger and perhaps were not brought up right [to borrow my children's terminology applied to those who do not recognize the names of classic performers and programs], Jack Benny was a star of stage, screen, radio, and television, and who was portrayed to be a miser [a/k/a "cheapskate."] In reality, just as Lucille Ball was not the wacky, scatter-brained Lucy who we saw on television, Jack Benny was in fact a quite generous man who also championed racial equality in a time when some, unfortunately, were not of that mindset. To digress for a moment, I will speak a bit more of this gentlemen whom I can remember watching in first run broadcasts [not that I am old, just filled with many years of viewing/listening experience...ahem]. Jack Benny surrounded himself with talent and did not mind sharing the limelight with them. His generosity in that sense might mean that there were times when other performers received the louder or greater number of laughs, and that was all right...it all helped the cause, that is the success of The Jack Benny Program. Among those who were part of Jack's program were Don Wilson, Mary Livingstone [Jack's real life wife], Phil Harris, Kenny Baker [no known relation to me!] Dennis Day, Frank Nelson, Mel Blanc, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. From time-to-time Jack and his company would travel, sometimes just for the purpose of presenting the program from a different locale [particularly during the radio days] or to entertain military troops. Eddie Anderson, an African American, portrayed his valet, Rochester. Unfortunately, in a few locations where the group traveled, there was some resistance in permitting Mr. Anderson to stay in the same accommodations as the rest of the company. On those occasions, Jack was unrelentless and maintained if they did not allow Mr. Anderson to stay, neither would he. Over the years, Jack also influenced the writing of his program in order to eliminate dialogue which might be perceived as offensive. Whether his efforts were a complete success might be a matter of some debate, but nonetheless Jack Benny was very forward thinking for his time, and commendably so. Some achievements cannot be surpassed nor duplicated, and likely Jack's program was one of them. However, if it were possible to bring the program into a bit more modern times, the following are some of the situations that I could visualize [in the case of my aunt as well as Jack.] While the occupation of valet is an honorable one, regardless of one's race or any other criteria, we could assume that in this more up to date version, Rochester is still Jack's valet, but also an equal business partner in many of Jack's side ventures. A visitor enters Jack's kitchen to find Rochester with his ear next to the microwave and hears him counting. Visitor: "Rochester, what are you doing?" Rochester: "Counting the pops." Visitor: "What do you mean, counting the pops?" Rochester: "Mr. Benny has me put all of the unpopped popcorn kernels back in the bag to give them another chance to pop. It might not seem like much, but my previous record was 43 re-pops!" [I should probably put myself in this place along with my aunt, as I have been known to engage in the practice of "re-pop!"] In the next scene Rochester asks the visitor to sit down, and offers him a cup of coffee, and starts the Keurig. When the visitor receives the cup, he notices that the color is closer to beige but first assumes that it must be a light roast variety. After the first sips, the visitor says "Rochester, what kind of coffee is this? It tastes more like hot water than coffee!" Rochester: "Oh, I forgot. I'm sorry. Mr. Benny won't let me discard a pod until after it has been used at least a dozen times. I think you got cup number 11!" Rochester, laughing a bit..."Yeah, around here the best part of waking up only happens about every 2 weeks when I can finally put in a fresh pod!" While there may have been a precise distinction in the performer Jack Benny and the real person, with my aunt, she was truly a wonderful combination...generous at the right times and for the right reasons, but she could truly pinch a penny! ••• Mike Baker is a local author.