Jack Benny & Walter Catlett

Jack Benny:

The son of a saloonkeeper, Jack Benny (born Benny Kubelsky) began to study the violin at the age six, and his "ineptness" at it later become his trademark (in reality, he was a very accomplished player). When given the opportunity to play in live theatre professionally, Benny quit school and joined vaudeville. In the same theatre that Benny was working with were the very young The Marx Brothers. Their mother, Minnie Marx, wanted Benny to go on the road with them. However, this plan was foiled by his parents who would not let their 17-year-old son on the road.

Having a successful vaudeville career, Benny also had a greater career on radio for "The Jack Benny Program". The show was one of the few successful radio programs that also became a successful television show.

Benny also starred in several movies, including The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) and George Washington Slept Here (1942), although he had much greater success on radio and on TV than he did on the big screen. He was good friends with Fred Allen, with whom he had a long-standing comic "feud".

 

Walter Catlett:

Walter Catlett carved out a career for himself playing excitable, officious blowhards, and few actors did it better. A San Francisco native, he started out in vaudeville - with a detour for a while in opera - before breaking into films in the mid-1920s. Two of his best remembered roles were as the stage manager driven to distraction by James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and the local constable who throws the entire cast in jail, and winds up there himself, in the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938). He retired after making Beau James (1957), and died of a stroke in 1960.

 

Robert Pitkin: An actor, known for Use Your Imagination (1933), Enemies of the Law (1931) and Fourteen Hours (1951). Envelope drawn by lesser know actor Robert Pitkin. He was also a very well known actor on Broadway, performed in more the 15 plays over his career.

 

 

Mat size: 16” x 31” Nice letter written in September 5, 1951 to Walter Catlett. The envelope was postmarked August 29th, 1946. Nice crisp pictures of Jack and Walter. (8” x 10”) Ready to Frame!

This is piece of Television/Radio History

Matted size 16" x 31" Ready to Frame

 

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