39 Times 2

On radio, Jack Benny celebrated the same birthday over and over again. In print, Benny columnists celebrated, too. There always seems to have been a Jack Benny column around February 14th of each year.

Incidentally, Jack Benny did not spend all of his life at the age of 39. He didn’t turn 39 on the radio until 1948, some 16 years after he began broadcasting. But the programmes of the late ‘40s may have been the most popular, and certainly the aspects of his personality developed in those years stuck in people’s minds as if they had always been there.

Benny would be dead less than three years after this column appeared in papers on his birthday in 1972.

By the way, I thought the Bennys owned a home in Palm Springs. Perhaps they had one built but sold it by the time this story was published.

Happy 39, Jack Benny
By VERNON SCOTT
UPI Hollywood Correspondent
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Jack Benny’s done it!
He’s 39 years old again.
Today is his birthday. Valentine’s Day.
And the remarkable comedian has started on his second 39th birthday.
The accomplishment is noteworthy because Benny was stock at age 39 for most of his adult life. It was one of his trademarks. Now he is double that age and going as strong as ever at age 78.
Appears at Benefits
Benny is hale. His blue eyes — ever a favorite topic with him, and always good for a laugh — are clear and filled with mirth. Few men have devoted as long and tireless a lifetime to making people laugh as has Jack Benny. And few have done so much for symphony orchestras. He continues to appear at benefit concerts sawing away on his Stradivarius, an instrument he plays surprisingly well.
He also appears at benefits for organizations raising money to fight diseases, for worthy causes and for friends retiring from show biz.
Retirement is the farthest thing from Benny’s own plans.
He makes regular appearances at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, starring in his own nightclub show three times a year.
“I have to keep working in Vegas because I like to be paid once in a while," Benny quipped. His phony penury also has been a staple of his comedy routines on radio, television and clubs down through the years.
Plays Lots of Golf
Benny rents a home in Palm Springs and plays golf almost every day when he is in the desert. He occasionally sees Frank Sinatra there.
“Frank really seems to enjoy being retired," Benny said. “But I have no idea of fully retiring myself. I just couldn’t do that.
“Maybe I might limit my appearances to concerts. As long as I’m doing something. But these damned benefits keep me from retiring. I can’t say no to good causes. So I do about one a week all over the country."
Then in the inimitable Benny fashion, accompanied by a sly glance, he concluded, “most of my symphony benefits are for the musicians pension fund.
“I don't like to say it." said musician Benny with the snapper, “but that’s my favorite charity."