Benny, Jack


A twentieth-century American comedian best known for his weekly radio and television programs. Benny was admired for his sense of timing and for his deliberately slow delivery. His shows contained many “running gags” — jokes continuing from one show to another — often concerning his age, his stinginess, and his inability to play the violin.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.