Christmas on Stage

What was Jack Benny doing 50 years ago at Christmas time? Working, naturally.

He was appearing in Las Vegas.

How’d he do?

We’ll find out in just a moment. But first, a word from Irv Kupcinet’s column of January 6, 1972.

JACK BENNY, starring with Della Reese at the Sahara Hotel, was asked why he, at 78, continues working while Frank Sinatra, many years his junior, has retired.
"W-e-l-l," drawled Benny, "I can explain that. Frank is very wealthy and he has so many hobbies—all young ones."
Benny's constant companion here is former Chicago songwriter Ned Miller, who has been at the comedian's side, strictly as a friend, for almost 50 years. Benny had an explanation for that, too: "Ned has the same blood type as mine and you can't be too careful."

Del Webb must have liked Jack because his bookers hired the old vaudevillian several times. The San Francisco Examiner reported on March 19, 1972:

Jack Benny has turned 39, times two, and at 73 he is busier than when he first reached 39. Benny opened his second three-week engagement of the year at Hotel Sahara last week and has another scheduled for May.
During the 21-day stay he is doing a total of 42 shows, two each night.
Retire? Not if he can help it!
"I've known men who retired and immediately got ill," says Benny. "I enjoy keeping active, and playing benefits and nightclub engagements is what I enjoy most."

As for the holiday season stage show, here’s what Variety wrote on December 28, 1971:

SAHARA
($7.50 minimum)
Las Vegas. Dec. 27—The drolleries of Jack Benny are moving fair-sized audiences to much laughter, with the warbling expertise of Della Reese seconding the entertaining motion of this 11-day Sahara stand.
Benny tends to pace a trifle slower, although the punch jabs lose no effectiveness. His timing is still up there with the best in the funny-biz. He naturally dwells upon his vaunted parsimony as principal raison d'etre for most of the comedic thrusts. Without this w.k. [well-known] identification mark, there are some excursions into subjects of retirement (he rejects the mere idea of it), George Burns feud over the years and, of course, the fiddling around.
This trip he brings out his teacher, lissome blonde, Gloria Chappell, who keeps a close watch upon his left hand manipulation of the Stradivarius strings as both please with Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen." His taped voice of thoughts while fiddling is a solid closer.
Miss Reese moulds her songs into pleasing forms with introductory narration. Hers is a bright pattern woven all the way, from "Let Go," through a song about a frog, and medley of youth poptunes about love. Following a bit of sparring with Benny and shooting down some planned dialog for extra laughs, she closes with a brace of mod spirituals.
The Jack Eglash crew, augmented by a bank of strings (two violins), have plenty of kicks backing Miss Reese and on the receiving end of some special sotto quips directed their way from Benny. Eglash also has a couple of lines with Benny without fluffing one syllable. Johnny Mathis opens Jan. 4. Will.

“A song about a frog”!! Billboard’s Laura Deni (who focused on Reese in her review) revealed it was “It’s Not Easy Being Green” which, even not digging too deeply, is actually about something else. She also sang “I Feel Pretty,” “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” and “Proud Mary.”

Easter fell during his second stint at the Sahara and he and Reese took a break to entertain during an Easter Seals telethon. In between runs, he played a benefit for Mexico City’s blind with Vikki Carr. And about a week before his Christmas season shows, he presented old friend Rosalind Russell with an award for her work helping people with arthritis (which victimised her).
Considering all this, and his various charity concerts around North America, Jack was in the Christmas spirit of giving all year round.