Jack Benny — comedian with roots in the Russian Empire
Jack Benny was one of the most beloved entertainers in American history — a comedian, actor, and violinist whose radio and television programmes ran for decades and who defined the art of comic timing. His persona as the vain, stingy, perpetually 39-year-old was one of American entertainment's most enduring creations.
Tracing the roots — Poland / Russia
Born Benjamin Kubelsky in Chicago in 1894, his father Meyer Kubelsky had emigrated from Wodzisław (Poland, then Russian Empire) and his mother Emma Sachs from Waukegan. The Jewish immigrant world of the Midwest gave Benny his comedy — self-deprecating, warm, and built on the immigrant experience of never quite belonging.
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Poland / Russia. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either."