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[Editorial] |
Day dream yourself into a glamorous Hollywood life - movie stars, swimming pools. Joan Benny, Jack Benny's only daughter, is ready to tell all at the Woodstock Opera House, April 19, giving you a personal peek at what it was like to grow up in the Hollywood of starlets and poolside parties. Joan spent time acting, dancing, and appearing on her father's television show. Though she maintains she was never cut out to be an actress, she definitely carries her parents' sense of humor. Her delightful monologue recalls the golden days of radio and television comedy. Benny family life was a paradox: her world seemed ordinary but was far from what other children experienced. "My mother's friend was Aunty Barbara but was also Barbara Stanwyk. Ours was a conservative home with a strict upbringing, but our friends were movie stars-that was our circle," she explained. Bob Hope, Danny Kaye and Dean Martin were neighbors. She remembers Martin as one of the funniest men she knew - George Burns was the funniest. George Burns and Jack were joined-at-the-hip friends, according to Joan. She remembers her father trying to make George break up. "He never could, but George got Dad every time." Joan doesn't see her dad as a terribly funny man. She says, "He was a straight man. The cast was funny: Mary Livingston, Rochester, Don Wilson. Dad had a true sense of humor. He knew what was funny, how long it was funny and when it should stop. He was a great editor." Gracie Allen was, Joan says, like her stage persona. "She wasn't as ditsy, but she was cute and funny." Gracie was called Googie; George was Natty (his name was Nathaniel). George loved to make off color remarks to make ladies laugh. If he went too far, Gracie said 'Oh, Ge-orge.' the way she did on stage - otherwise, she called him Natty." She adds, "With those friends, I was afraid to say anything funny till I grew up. Can you imagine making a funny remark to Jack Benny? What if he looked at you and intoned, that's not funny?" Joan discovered her sense of humor when she did a game show with her dad. She recalls,"I saw the tape and realized I could talk and I was photogenic." She worked in the panel show circuit, honing her skills. After attending Stanford University, she did some modeling, some dancing and remedial math teaching before settling into public speaking and writing. Her engagement at Woodstock is special because Jack grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. She remembers visiting Chicago relatives. "My dad left Illinois for Vaudeville in 1912 as a pop music violinist," she said. "During World War I, he was at Great Lakes Navy base. That's where the comedy began - he never had a thought of being funny before." Jack Benny met Pat O'Brien at Great Lakes. O'Brien asked Jack to do a part in Irving Berlin's, Yip Yip Yahank. Whatever Jack said on stage brought waves of laughter. "He loved that," Joan explained. "And there he went." He got into radio from New York in the 20's. The 30's took him to Hollywood for a couple of movies - musical reviews - then back to New York. But if he wanted guest stars on his radio show he had to go west. He and Mary moved to Beverly Hills. Joan's parents would have been thrilled to see her in show business, but she was blessed with a brilliant mind, happier doing complicated math problems than doing television. The glamour was fun, but her favorite jobs were wife and mother. Now, she's completely enamored of her two young grandsons. Hollywood kids often have lonely, painful childhood memories. Was there a dark side to being Jack Benny's daughter? "Truly, I had the most wonderful father anyone could imagine - the nicest man I ever knew." ####
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