Radio Daze: Some Classic Jack Benny For Your Old Radio Listening Enjoyment!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with another edition of Radio Daze. It’s no secret that Jack Benny is my favorite radio comedian of all time. I love every iteration of this show, but folks who know of the Jack Benny program are pretty much familiar with the Lucky Strike program that ran in the 1940s. In fact, Jack started on the air in 1932 and had a very popular run with Jello as a sponsor during the mid to late 1930s. This edition of Radio Daze features two porgrams from February of 1939. The first one features another episode of the long-running comic feud between Jack and radio comedian Fred Allen. The second episode features Benny and his sick polar bear Carmichael (voiced by the incomparable Mel Blanc) It’s a great episode featuring a fine performance by Eddie Anderson as Benny’s valet Rochester. Enjoy these two classic old radio episodes and enjoy the cool fall weather! So Sayeth The Kendog!
The Dogcast: Some Jack Benny/Rochester Old Radio Fun!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with some more old radio fun, this time in honor of Sidney Poitier who died today at the age of 94. In honor of Mr. Poitier’s accomplishments both onscreen and off, I’m including a couple of Jack Benny programs featuring Eddie Anderson as Rochester, Jack’s long-suffering valet. In reality, the African American Anderson was one of the first noteworthy black performers on mainstream radio and Benny paid him handsomely. It was extremely rare in an era in which the two most popular black characters on the radio (Amos And Andy) were played by two white actors. With Benny’s help, Eddie Anderson was one of the first pioneers in the world of integrated entertainment. Enjoy and feel free to comment either below or on my Facebook page. So Sayeth The Kendog!
