Having determined to give radio a try after his Vaudeville years, Jack Benny appeared on a 15-minute spot during the Spring of 1932 on a radio news program hosted by Columnist Ed Sullivan. Canada Dry heard Jack's performance and signed Jack to emcee The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program on CBS at 8:00PM on Mondays and Thursdays. His good friend George Burns recommended that Jack use comedy writer Harry Conn to provide some new jokes for each program.
The formula worked. By the end of 1932, radio editors voted him "Most Popular Comedian on the Air" against competition from Eddie Cantor, Ed Wynn, Fred Allen, Burns and Allen, Al Jolson, and the Marx Brothers.
A key Harry Conn recommendation was using 'a girl from Plainville, New Jersey' as an on-air foil for Benny's material. Sadie Marks having shown her comedic timing in Vaudeville with Benny, was given an audition on-air and she was an instant hit. Thus was created the personna of Mary Livingstone. Her off-air and on-air personalities became so identified with the Mary Livingstone personna that she eventually changed her name to Mary Livingstone legally.
Jack with wife, Mary Livingston
Jack ran afoul of his first sponsor, Canada Dry, by poking a little fun at their Ginger Ale. It was not received well by Canada Dry. They ended their relationship with Jack Benny in January 1933. But riding on a wave of popularity, he was quickly picked up by General Motors, and by March 1933, Chevrolet was sponsoring Jack's new radio show, Friday nights at 10:00pm, on NBC's Red Network. Later that year, Jack was officially 39 yrs. old for the first time in his timeless career.
By the Spring of 1934, William Knudsen, Chairman of General Motors felt that Jack Benny was 'no longer funny' and let G.M.'s sponsorship lapse. General Tire scooped him up within 5 days, and sponsored him on April 6, 1934. This show introduced announcer Don Wilson to the Jack Benny family.
A couple of months later, yet another key member was added to the Jack Benny family: Jack and Mary's adoption of two-week old Joan Naomi, their lovely, blonde, blue-eyed daughter.
General Foods' Knox gelatin product, 'Jell-O' was waning in the marketplace and the food processing giant saw Jack Benny as their means of getting Jell-O back in the minds of American consumers. Thus began a ten-year relationship with 'Jello' and by the end of that year Jack's NBC Blue Network show for Jello was rated the third highest in the country.
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Having acquired Harry Conn as a writer, Jack kept looking for new writing talent, and due to a contract dispute with Harry Conn, fired Harry and was left without a writing staff until he teamed up with Sam Perrin, who began writing on and off for Jack for the next 40 years.
Thanks to the recommendation of Fred Allen, Ed Beloin and and then Bill Morrow joined the team as head writers, serving in that capacity for seven years. Al Boasberg continued to provide more jokes until his untimely death in 1937.
Harry Conn, Al Boasberg, Howard Snyder, Hugh Wedlock, Jr., Ed Beloin, Bill Morrow, Sam Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, John Tackaberry, George Balzer, Al Gordon and Hal Goldman built a legendary legacy of unprecendented success for Benny, and catapulted The Jack Benny Show into the highest rated, long-running comedy show in history.
Phil Harris and Andy Devine were added to the team at the start of the 1936-37 season as well. Jack Benny's formula comedy ensemble was taking shape. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson first appeared as a train porter on March 28, 1937. Audience reaction to Rochester was so positive that Jack eventually "hired him away from the railroad to be his butler."
1937 also saw the design and ground-breaking for Jack and Mary's legendary home at 1002 North Roxbury, in Beverly Hills. The home itself became yet another member of the Show's ensemble once it was built, fitted out as it was with Benny's legendary, moat-protected 'vault' in the basement.
The Jack Benny Show's regular cast now included Jack, Mary, Rochester, Kenny Baker, Phil Harris, and Don Wilson. Kenny Baker (the tenor) left the show at the end of the 1939 season. Mary had heard an air check of a young tenor from New York, and suggested that he audition. "The young man sang a few songs, and then was told to take a break. After a bit, Jack took the studio microphone and said, "Oh Dennis," to which the young man responded, "Yes, please?" With these words, Dennis Day broke up Jack, the cast and crew, and began a career with Jack that would last for almost 35 years."
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Life Magazine Lucky Strike ad for The Jack Benny Program from December 11, 1950
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