Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor.
67 Facts About Robert Benchley
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Robert Benchley is best remembered for his contributions to The New Yorker, where his essays, whether topical or absurdist, influenced many modern humorists.
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Robert Benchley made a name for himself in Hollywood, when his short film How to Sleep was a popular success and won Best Short Subject at the 1935 Academy Awards.
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Also, Robert Benchley appeared as himself in Walt Disney's behind the scenes film, The Reluctant Dragon.
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Robert Benchley's legacy includes written work and numerous short film appearances.
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Robert Benchley was born on September 15,1889, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the second son of Maria Jane and Charles Henry Benchley.
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Robert Benchley was later known for writing elaborately misleading and fictional autobiographical statements about himself.
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Robert Benchley's father served in the Union army for two years during the Civil War and had a four-year hitch in the Navy before settling again in Worcester, marrying and working as a town clerk.
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Robert Benchley met Gertrude Darling in high school in Worcester.
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Robert Benchley was a well-respected fiction and children's book author.
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Nathaniel married and had talented sons who became writers: Peter Benchley was best known for the book Jaws, and Nat Benchley wrote and performed in an acclaimed one-man production based on their grandfather Robert's life.
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Robert Benchley grew up and attended South High School in Worcester and was involved in academic and traveling theatrical productions during high school.
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Robert Benchley reveled in the atmosphere at the academy, and he remained active in creative extracurricular activities, thereby damaging his academic credentials toward the end of his term.
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Robert Benchley enrolled at Harvard University in 1908, again with Duryea's financial help.
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Robert Benchley joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity in his first year, and continued to partake in the camaraderie that he had enjoyed at Phillips Exeter while still doing well in school.
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Robert Benchley did especially well in his English and government classes.
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Robert Benchley's performances gave him some local fame, and most entertainment programs on campus and many off-campus meetings recruited Benchley's talents.
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Robert Benchley was elected to the Lampoons board of directors in his third year.
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The election of Robert Benchley was unusual, as he was the publication's art editor and the board positions typically fell to the foremost writers on the staff.
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Robert Benchley kept these achievements in mind as he began to contemplate a career for himself after college.
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Robert Benchley took a position with Curtis shortly after he received his diploma.
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Robert Benchley did copy work for the Curtis Company during the summer following graduation, while doing other odd service jobs, such as translating French catalogs for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
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Robert Benchley continued his attempts to develop his own voice within the publication, but Benchley and Curtis were not a good match, and he eventually left, as Curtis was considering eliminating Benchley's role and he had been offered a position in Boston with a better salary.
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Robert Benchley held a number of similar jobs in the following years.
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Robert Benchley was a very poor one, unable to get statements from people quoted in other papers, and eventually had greater success covering lectures around the city.
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Robert Benchley was promised a position at the Tribunes Sunday magazine when it launched, and he was moved to the magazine's staff soon after he was hired, eventually becoming chief writer.
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Robert Benchley wrote two articles a week: the first a review of non-literary books, the other a feature-style article about whatever he wanted.
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In 1917, the Tribune shut down the magazine, and Robert Benchley was out of work again.
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Robert Benchley resigned to become a publicity director for the federal government's Aircraft Board at the beginning of 1918.
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Robert Benchley was forced to take a publicity position with the Liberty Loan program, and he continued to freelance until Collier's contacted him with an associate editor position.
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Robert Benchley took this offer to Vanity Fair to see if they would match it, as he felt Vanity Fair was the better magazine, and Vanity Fair offered him the position of managing editor.
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From Toronto Leacock closely followed the increasing body of Robert Benchley's published humor and wit, and opened correspondence between them.
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Robert Benchley admitted to occasional borrowing of a Benchley topic for his own reflection and writings.
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Some of Robert Benchley's columns, featuring a character he created, were attributed to his pseudonym Brighton Perry, but he took credit for most of them himself.
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Sherwood, Parker, and Robert Benchley became close, often having long lunches at the Algonquin Hotel.
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On one of these, Robert Benchley wrote out, in very small handwriting, an elaborate excuse involving a herd of elephants on 44th Street.
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Robert Benchley worked constantly while claiming he was intensely lazy.
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Unfortunately for Robert Benchley his writing a syndicated column for David Lawrence drew the ire of his World bosses, and "Books and Other Things" was dropped.
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Robert Benchley continued to freelance, submitting humor columns to a variety of publications, including Life.
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Robert Benchley continued meeting with his friends at the Algonquin, and the group became popularly known as the Algonquin Round Table.
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Robert Benchley's reviews were known for their flair, and he often used them as a soapbox for issues of concern to him, whether petty or more important.
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The revue was applauded by both spectators and fellow actors, with Robert Benchley's performance receiving the biggest laughs.
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The Music Box Revue opened in September 1921 and ran until September 1922, with Robert Benchley appearing in his eleven-minute turn eight times a week.
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Robert Benchley starred in a third short not written by him, The Spellbinder.
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Robert Benchley initially wrote the column under the pseudonym Guy Fawkes, and the column was well received.
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Robert Benchley tackled issues ranging from careless reporting to European fascism, and the publication flourished.
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Robert Benchley was invited to be theatre critic for The New Yorker in 1929, leaving Life, and contributions from Woollcott and Parker became regular features in the magazine.
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Robert Benchley re-entered Hollywood at the height of the Great Depression and the large-scale introduction of the talkie films he had begun working with years before.
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Robert Benchley's arrival put him on the scene of a number of productions almost instantly.
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Robert Benchley took a role in the feature film Dancing Lady, which featured Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Nelson Eddy, and the Three Stooges.
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That same year, Robert Benchley appeared in the short films Your Technocracy and Mine for Universal Pictures and How to Break 90 at Croquet for RKO.
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Robert Benchley still completed two shoots in one day, but rested for a while following the 1937 schedule.
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Robert Benchley's return yielded two more short films, and his high profile prompted negotiations for sponsorship of a Robert Benchley radio program and numerous appearances on television shows, including the first television entertainment program ever broadcast, an untitled test program using an experimental antenna on the Empire State Building.
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Besides the cancellation of his radio show, Robert Benchley learned that MGM did not plan to renew his shorts contract, and The New Yorker, frustrated with Robert Benchley's film career taking precedence over his theatre column, appointed Wolcott Gibbs to take over in his stead.
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In 1940 Robert Benchley appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent for which he is credited as one of the dialogue writers.
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Robert Benchley was cast in minor roles for various romantic comedies, some shoots going better than others.
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Robert Benchley appeared in prominent roles with Fred Astaire in You'll Never Get Rich and The Sky's the Limit.
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Robert Benchley signed with MGM with an exclusive contract to work in Hollywood.
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Robert Benchley's contract concluded with only four short films completed and no chance of signing another contract.
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Robert Benchley's funeral was private, and his body was cremated and interred in a family plot in Prospect Hill Cemetery on the island of Nantucket.
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The 1954 publication of The Benchley Roundup, a collection of favorite Robert Benchley essays edited by Nathaniel Benchley, prompted MGM to re-release Benchley's movie shorts to theaters in 1955.
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In 1960, Robert Benchley was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 1724 Vine Street.
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Robert Benchley's characters were typically exaggerated representations of the common man.
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Robert Benchley's humor inspired a number of later humorists and filmmakers.
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In 1944, Robert Benchley starred as Mitty in an adaptation of the story for the radio anthology series, This Is My Best.
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Robert Benchley produced over 600 essays, which were initially compiled in twelve volumes, during his writing career.
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Robert Benchley appeared in a number of films, including 48 short treatments that he mostly wrote or co-wrote and numerous feature films.