August 21, 1974. This is the last Tonight Show appearance of the great Jack Benny, four months before his death. Rich Little was guest hosting that night since Johnny was taking the month off.
My Dad worked in advertising when we lived in Chicago and was a sponsor of the Jack Benny show. Jack and Rochester both treated him with great kindness. Jack gave my dad a personal violin concert. Rochester insisted that whenever he was in LA, even with no business with their show, that they get together for lunch. The entire show treated everyone around them like family.
He and Fred had a "feud" that was legendary (it was all for laughs). Jack appeared on Fred's radio show and proceeded to get de-pantsed on stage with Jack yelling "You haven't seen the end of me!" and Fred retorted "It won't be long now." The laughter was so intense announcer Kenny Delmar couldn't get through the final announcements before being cut off by the network. The show is on YT and is hilarious.
It’s ironic he mentioned visiting George Burns, because in the event, he wasn’t able to do “The Sunshine Boys”, but recommended that they have George Burns replace him.
If you listen to Jack Benny for a while, it's almost impossible to turn to the competition and enjoy it, because the quality of the writers, the cast and Benny himself was a quantum step above the rest.
Boy this takes me back. August 74; I was 16 and had just gotten my driver's license and my 1st car. Loved to stay up and watch Johnny in the summer. Thought I was "getting away with something" watching such "sofisticated" humor. Jack Benny was one of the funniest men who ever lived
This is what I miss about late night shows. Just people talking and having a good time like you're part of the family. I also miss the days when there were guest hosts while Johnny was on vacation.
I don't think there are any modern comedians who are as modest as Benny was despite his considerable success. This is one reason I really admire the man.
I'm neither white nor was I originally born in the US but I can watch/listen to Jack Benny ALL day long. English isn't even my first language but I actually stream Benny's old radio shows from a million years ago (to listen while asleep), which goes to show, funny is funny. I also have heard that Jack Benny was one of the nicest & most decent human beings in Hollywood. This, coupled with the fact that he reportedly arranged to have a single red rose delivered to his wife, after his death, for the rest of her life cemented my warm feelings for this amazing man. I'm an incurable romantic & I thought, Wow. Mary Livingston, who people said wasn't as nice (but who knows? Folks are often unfair to women), was very lucky to have such a wonderful life mate. Let me add, I also have an wonderful husband; not as romantic, but very loving, kind & caring.
His very last TV appearance was on the Dean Martin Roast of Lucille Ball, taped in late October 1974 and aired in February 1975...two months after his death.
I still LOVE Jack Benny! So good, so kind. I still listen to his radio show with Mary, Rochester, Dennis, Phil Harris and Don Wilson among others. Grateful for RU-vid so I can watch the TV shows and listen to the radio shows. Still miss him though. 😢
Jack was always my favorite - bar none. I was 13 in 1974, and can remember Jack's incredible art from even much earlier than that. I just knew, from the first time I saw him, that this was someone very special. A giant among men... let alone entertainers.
If you can find or catch any of the old Dick Cavett shows, Benny was a frequent guest, usually for an extended period of time. Groucho, too. Cavett made a point of featuring the great comedians from earlier generations, as he knew they'd be leaving us someday in the not-so-distant future, believing it was important for American cultural & entertainment history. I remember Cavett doing in-depth interviews with Hope & Lewis, also, although they didn't step off the stage permanently for a long-time yet to come.
Yes he sure was. Sure even if CBS let the Ed Sullivan Weekly Show run to the Spring 1973 instead of cancelling it in the Spring 1971 and Jack Benny continued to make NBC Specials and TV appearances after 1974 both with excellent health still had at least 10 more years of that great "it" personality factor to do TV appearances right into 1984. Even if cancer or other fatal health issues didn't stop Ed Sullivan's and Jack Benny's lives in 1974 I still believe both with good health into the 1980s had a lot more good TV program appearances they could have contributed after 1974.
@@BBQFanNo1 George Burn's "comeback" was at 80 years of age. Sadly due to the death of Jack, he got the "Sunshine Boys". He won an Oscar and was preforming almost until he died 20 years later at the age of 100.
I miss everything about the comics that I grew up with Benny, Winters, Dangerfield, Diller, Ball, Thomas, Hope, Skelton, Rickles, Youngman, Lewis, Carlin, Wilson, Foxx, and Carson.
You can tell by Jack's comments about other comedians in the business how much he valued their friendship. They were truly blessed to call him a friend. Jack Benny put the capital C in class! Rich Little really did an awesome interview here they had really good chemistry! I'm glad Rich was the guy to give him his last interview I think it was very fitting and beautiful tribute to the man!
It's funny how Jack Benny says: " I have to go away" as though he knew that this was going to be his very last appearance on the Johnny Carson show. Rip Jack Benny! ❤
@@sandraandrews9907Jack referenced this being his first Tonight Show appearance without Johnny sitting behind the desk. IIRC, shortly after Jack passed, this was played back in lieu of Johnny's regular monologue as Johnny's way of paying tribute to Jack.
Jack Benny is my all-time favorite male entertainer of the century! He started in radio & then T.V. He had a great TV program in the 50's-60's & had great writers! R.I.P. Jack Benny!
Jack Benny was one of the funniest comedians who we have been Blessed to enjoy him and his show. A very good kind man. Thank you for sharing. God Bless him and Rest In Peace.
@@RPMac Carson considered Benny his “idle” and adopted many of the mannerisms Benny made famous. Those were Carson’s own words. He references it during the Friar’s Roast Jack Benny in 1970 (which Carson MC’d), which you can watch on RU-vid.
This is a treasure for those who are familiar with the feud benny vs allen. What a tribute and impression of the nasal sounding, humor of Fred Allen by Benny. Allen died about 20 years before this show aired. So apropos Benny would revisit the golden years of his radio career.
God knows I miss this man and Elvis Presley so much. Two entertainers deaths in the 1970s that affected me the most with sadness were Jack Benny's and Elvis Presley's. I wouldn't call Ed Sullivan an entertainer but his death two months before Jack Benny's was another huge loss and end of a long running era of vaudeville presenters in the 20th century. This is one of the few last known TV appearances of Jack Benny. His last official TV show appearance on record was the Dean Martin Roast of Lucille Ball taped in late October 1974 which aired on February 7, 1975.
The feud between Benny and Allen started as an insult by Allen about Jack playing the "Bee" on his violin, then the writers just ran with it. Fred Allen died on the day of Jack Benny's first television show which came from New York...live...he almost cancelled the show but Mary talked him against it.
I'm glad I was born in time to be able to see and appreciate his final few years as a performer. When I was in high school, he was still doing TV specials (he died when I was 20). Had I been born 15 years later, I probably wouldn't even know who the great Jack Benny was.
I saw Rich Little perform in Las Vegas in the early 80's. Great talent. The sad part is many people today have no idea who the stars were that Rich Little did.
@@kb9788 Someone asked Rich if it was true that Johnny had a "little black book" listed with names that weren't to appear on the show anymore. Rich said it was true, but it's not a little book. It's a big book.
Rich seems to have a lot of Carson's mannerisms & speech & timing while hosting the show. He may not be doing it consciously or intentionally, just that he's trying to live up to the great Carsoni.
It’s just bittersweet to hear Jack discuss what would have been his last movie…had he been around for it. George Burns stepping into the role was probably the best way he could pay tribute to his dear friend. I still loved how he could crack Jack up just by saying almost anything.
This must have killed Johnny that he wasn’t there for Jack’s last appearance. Granted, we’re never promised tomorrow, but being such a big fan of Jack, it must have deep down hurt him.
That was marvelous! Jack Benny was and is so wonderful! And Rich Little is great also! Love all his invitations! Great person to substitute for Johnny!!! Carson, that is! And to think that that was Jack Benny‘s last television appearance!? Wow! And I got to see it! Oh I love Jack Benny! I love the way he talks, and all his mannerisms, and his humor, and whatever else!
His invitations to his wedding were some of the best ever. He could write just like GEORGE BURNS. You could not tell the difference in his handwriting. And his imitations were, ehhh, ok, too. He must've spent more time on his penmanship than listening to that tape recorder.
After “discovering” the Jack Benny Show on Old Time Radio, I realized that his show was the original “show about nothing”, pre-dating Seinfeld by decades.
It's a shame but he didn't make it to the end of the year. Born in Feb 14, 1894 and went to heaven on Dec 26, 1974. The nicest human being to walk on earth.
Great share! Jack is definitely one of my all time favorites. Radio, television, roasts, guest appearances, etc. And a mere 4 months before his demise in this appearance, he’s still making me laugh in 2024. Thank you Jack.
At this time of filming, Jack was over 80 years old and in very poor health…but somehow managed to appear on The Tonight Show with guest host Rich Little…sadly 4 months later, he was gone
I hear my fb friend Pete Christlieb at the beginning on tenor saxophone. Such a phenomenal band. What a job, to go to work every day w/ Johnny & many of the greatest entertainers who ever lived. Which would also include everybody in Doc's orchestra!
There were guys in that band that played with bands such as TOMMY DORSEY in the 1940's&'50's, etc..they had enormous talent.. Greatest TV TALKSHOW BAND EVER..
@@ericdreizen1463, my now late Dad worked out on the WEST COAST IN CALLY with some big and not so big bands in the late 1950's, but never made it big as a club singer or sax and clarinet guy, and exited the biz early, and brought me after he split with my bio mother, back to his TEXAS where he continued in the automobile biz. He played with if I am not mistaken, Myron Floren of LAWRENCE WELK fame, among others. He played sax on a 1958..78 RPM VINYL called "(DON'T) HASSLE IT JACK".. lol. R.I.P., DAD..
Jack Benny does look frail and underweight. He would be dead four months later from pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer oftentimes shows no symptoms (asymptomatic) and isn't diagnosed until it has progressed into the deadly stage.
And Walter Matthau was actually a replacement for George Burns, who got sidelined due to a hospitalization. The original casting was Benny and Burns. First Matthau replaced Burns, then Burns replaced Benny.
4 months a 3 days and he was dead. I heard Joanne Carson say that 1 of the only times she saw Johnny really breakdown and cry was when Jack Benny died.
Danbury, Connecticut! At he end, Benny acknowledges "Freddy", that was Freddy de Cordova Jack Benny's Producer of the Jack Benny Show, Carson wrote his Master's thesis on Jack Benny the Comedian and admits he modeled himself on Benny mannerisms,
When Leno first took over the Tonight Show, he was so annoying interviewing guests, he didn't listen to them, he was more interested in what he was going to say next. I called NBC and asked to speak to Fred, I expected to get an assistant or someone. He picked up the phone, we talked for about 20 mins and I asked for an autographed pic, since I have a pretty big collection. He said he hadn't done a head shot in so long, but he took my name and address. About a month later came the signed pic with a note that said he went and did a session so he could send me a pic.....impressive.
@@robertk617 Nice story. It's easy to forget these people are human beings who want to please others. Nice people attract nice people; you always get the feeling that Jack Benny was a real likeable person/nice, so I suspect he would have friends who are equally nice.
Johnny Carson didnt like Bob Hope. It was just the opposite with Jack Benny. On his last appearance on the Tonight Show, you can see how interested Johnny is in Jack Benny.
@@richardpape5546 Johhny Carson wrote his college Master's Thesis on Jack Benny. You can look at Benny & Hope & Carson and see how different their comedy is from Colbert, Fallon, & Kimmel. zYu wonder how Benny, Hope, and Carson would treat the likes of Trumpster, as comedy material.
It's like he felt it was coming to an end, sort of premonition..he said about The Sunshine Boys movie: "I think I'm gonna make it"..and at the end of the show he said: "I know I have to leave 'cause I have to go someplace"..chilling..
Well as they say, legends....I am not sure that today's stars are not as potentially talented, but in today's society they get so few opportunities to express it, expand....but imagine developing in vaudeville or something soon after, and going on to silent movies and then those early talkies....and then onto television...so much Americana at their finger tips....sad they are all gone.
Jack appeared on the first episode of 'Dinah!' in September of '74. I believe he also did a walk-on appearance on the Jerry Lewis telethon. And he appejared in a variety special starring Anne Bancroft, which aired during Thanksgiving week, which appears to have been the final TV appearance to air before his death. It would be interesting to know the dates that special, and the Dean Martin/Lucy special, were taped; Jack had already shown some signs of illness in mid-October, a few days after throwing out the first ball at the World Series in Dodger Stadium, and had to cancel planned concerts in Dallas. But it wasn't until December that he was diagnosed with cancer, and even this wasn't made public til his health deteriorated days before Christmas. The Dean Martin special was apparently supposed to air sometime over the holidays; NBC aired in February of '75, around the time Benny's 'Third Farewell' special was to have aired. Benny had expected that show to be written in December, and taped in January, before turning his attention to 'The Sunshine Boys', and any further public appearances; instead, he was on his deathbed when he asked George Burns to take his place. Burns likewise fulfilled a few dates when Jack had been scheduled to perform.
Back then people were more reserved about their illnesses. They went "into the night quietly". Nowadays, if they have split-ends or a callous on their foot , it becomes a social blast event !!
In Perry Como's 1974 Christmas Special, Rich Little did an entire skit dressed up as Santa Claus - pretending to be Jack Benny. I find it hard to believe that any television execs knew how sick Jack was, because if they did the would NEVER have let Little do the skit the way he did it.
@@davidfreeman4808As I understand it, word about Benny's illness only started getting around in December, as Mary allowed showbiz friends to pay their respects, and it was not until Christmas Eve, when a press release announced that Benny was in a coma, that it became obvious to all that he was dying.
I think that's the first and only time I've seen a product pushed on the Johnny Carson tonight show - much like they always did back in the Jack Benny television days!
My dad was a great fan of Jack Benny. Although my dad seemed to be intelligent (he got his Ph.D. from Harvard, and his M.D. from Yale), he was totally ignorant of popular culture, with one exception. Although my dad never mentioned Superman or Batman, and never mentioned The Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, or any other rock'n'roll group, and although he never mentioned popular singers, such as Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, or Barbra Streisand, he was a devoted fan of Jack Benny's television program.
Why would your dad know bands or singers from the hippy era? Most likely he knew the pop music of the 1930s and 40s (Tommy Dorsey, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby)
Imagine the audience of the Super Bowl. Add the viewers of the Oscars. That's how many people listened to Jack Benny every Sunday night in America for about 15 years. Everybody knew and loved Jack Benny, even intellectual over-achievers.
@@jamespfitz, no.. There were only 180 million people in the U.S. back then in the 1950's & early 60's, and about 50 million was considered an insurmountable viewership mark at the time. The SUPE today on free TV, averages over 110 million viewers.
I think his last appearance was just a few weeks before his death in the fall of 1974 on the Dinah Shore show. This is a great clip - never seen it before. thanks for posting.
I hope everyone remembers who Rich Little is doing. He's more like Stewart and Carson than they were in life. And I love Jack Benny. This is like a bit of show biz history.
@@gli7utubeo Yes, I know. I meant I hope younger people know about the people he's impersonating like Jimmy Stewart, etc...otherwise you don't understand why it's funny.
@@epaddon Neat! That's great. He's a remarkable talent and I feel like I've known him my whole life. Amazing that he's still out there. Thanks for the update.
@@epaddon, I cannot believe he can still do NIXON..because other than REAGAN, when I have heard him, he sounds like he has more than halfway lost that mimicry ability. The latter is very understandable with age. I know I have lost a few of the voices that I used to do. By the way, no one did BING CROSBY better than JOHN BYNER. Modern times..FRANK CALIENDO is I think, the best. But, he only does a few, but no one does MADDEN BETTER THAN CALIENDO...no one.
I don't exactly remember but I probably watched this episode that night......Loved Johnny, loved Jack and loved Rich Little ! Thanks for the memory 🤓....... OMG.......I lived in DANBURY, CT at the time this aired ! Jack passed away on 12/29/74. 💔
I remember watching the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson had Jack Benny as a guest, and the subject of Jack's walk came up----------Benny said that many people thought that he and Bob Hope had the same walk, and then Jack proceeded to show the difference---------They both walked and swung their arms, but Bob Hope cupped his hands, whereas Jack Benny kept his fingers straight-----Otherwise, the same walk.
For the record, I was aware of the appearance on the Lucille Ball roast but my understanding was Jack was only seen and not heard on that (I don't think it had any of his remarks if he made any). I wasn't aware of any appearances where he was interviewed or any specials where he participated after this, which was why I did perhaps overhype it as his "last TV appearance" to that degree. It is his last Tonight Show appearance which wasn't well-known since he did it with a guest host instead of Johnny (which is why the January 23, 1974 appearance is often erroneously called his last Tonight appearance. Only his last with Johnny)
@eppadon You did a nice job with this presentation. In 2021 and beyond, this 🎥 will fill us with laughter & a little tear 😢 from our memories. Just be proud that this reminds us to enjoy each moment whilst this day is called today. Tomorrow is of a very high value.
wow. So jack was going to play a part in 'Sunshine boys' , which finally morphed into Matthau and Burns playing the roles. I've seen the movie and enjoyed it. Would also loved to have seen Jack in it too. Anything to record more of his genius. RIP.
I am 34 and just getting my show started. Tonight's episode was filmed a few months ago but it's the first in my series that starts to acknowledge and incorporate the Jack Benny show as part of the background and the next dozen episodes or so pay frequent tribute to the Jack Benny program and old-time radio. Hopefully I can make 'em laugh!
Jacks finest moment was on his show when a thief burst thru the door and says I know you keep all your money in a safe in the basement and I want it!! They go down w long twisting tunnel with locking doors. They get to the safe and Jack won’t open it!! The robber aims his gun at him and says “Your money or your life!” Jack puts his hand on his cheek like he’s undecided. The thief says WEEEELL! I’m thinking I’m thinking!! I think the laugh time is in the Gennis book of records somewhere around ;3 to 4 minutes!😂😂😂😂
It was a re-enactment from a sketch on his radio show in 1947 or thereabouts. The radio laugh was the longest at the time- still??- on radio, and twas, or is(????) the GUINESS recordsetter for a laugh on radio..
Jack plugs the movie THE SUNSHINE BOYS. He had been signed to appear but died before the movie was filmed. He was replaced by Walter Matthau. The movie was released in 1975.
I'm from Waukegan, Illinois - and went to "Daniel Webster Junior High ! My Dad actually owed Jack Benny's Bath Tub from his childhood home !! No kidding !
Benny's last appearance during his lifetime was on the Anne Bancroft special "Annie and The Hoods," broadcast November 27, 1974 and likely taped a few weeks earlier. Benny died twenty-nine days after broadcast.
Johnny was gone the whole month in August as he was recovering from an accident. There is a September 2, 1974 Tonight Show episode on RU-vid somewhere where he returned with Carol Wayne as the announcer that night.
With both Ed and Doc off that night, it took two people to fill Ed's shoes - Carol for the sidekick part on the regular segments, and Pat McCormick to introduce the Tea Time Movie sketch, being as she also doubled as the Matinee Lady to Johnny's Art Fern.
Everything Jack Benny did- radio, TV, movies, have all held up well, as funny as ever. "The Horn Blows at Midnight" maybe not so much but "To Be or Not to Be" is a lot of fun.
