1. Ben Blue emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of nine, where he later won a contest for the best impersonation of Charlie Chaplin.
15 Facts About Ben Blue
1. 2.
Ben Blue later left the band to establish himself as a solo comedian, portraying a bald-headed dumb-bell with a goofy expression.
3.
Producer Hal Roach featured him in his "Taxi Boys" comedy shorts, but Ben Blue's dopey character was an acquired taste and he was replaced by other comedians.
4.
In 1950, he had a short-lived TV series, The Ben Blue Show, and was a regular on The Frank Sinatra Show.
5.
In 1951, Ben Blue began concentrating on managing and appearing in nightclubs in Hollywood and San Francisco, California.
6.
Ben Blue once appeared in a Reno, Nevada nightclub called the Dollhouse where he lost $25,000 to its owner, Bill Welch.
7.
Ben Blue closed the club three years later because of health problems.
8.
Ben Blue made appearances in TV shows such as The Jack Benny Program and The Milton Berle Show.
9.
In 1964 Ben Blue was indicted by a federal grand jury on six counts of tax evasion for the non-payment of more than $39,000 in income taxes from the nightclub he operated, the Merry-Go-Round, in Santa Monica, California.
10.
Ben Blue had a recurring role in Jerry Van Dyke's television series Accidental Family in 1967.
11.
Ben Blue made one of his last television appearances in Land of the Giants in 1969.
12.
Ben Blue was seen the following year in the Dora Hall vanity syndicated television special, "Once Upon a Tour".
13.
Ben Blue married his first wife, Mary, in New York in 1922.
14.
Ben Blue was ordered to pay $600 monthly alimony.
15.
Ben Blue was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.