Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
Author of Chips off the Old Benchley
About the Author
Robert Benchley, 1899 - 1945 Writer and actor Robert Benchley was born on September 15, 1899 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Benchley was best known for being a humorist and comedian. While an undergraduate at Harvard University, he gave his first comedic performance impersonating a befuddled show more after-dinner speaker. He became a campus celebrity and he landed the position of editor of the Harvard Lampoon. Benchley worked as a drama critic at Life magazine in 1920. Under the pseudonym Guy Fawkes, he wrote The Wayward Press column for The New Yorker. He also briefly served as managing editor for Vanity Fair where his lieutenants were Dorothy Parker and Robert E. Sherwood. He quit in protest to the firing of Parker. The three of them were among the regulars of the Algonquin Round Table, which was a social circle of New York wits that included Harpo Marx and George Kaufman. As a member of the Algonquin Round Table, he became a poplular radio personality, film actor and screenwriter. Several of Benchley's humorous monologues were performed in short films, which include "The Treasurer's Report" (1928). His comic sketches were collected in fifteen volumes, including "My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew" (1936) and "Benchley Beside Himself" (1943). His son Nathaniel edited a collection of his essays, "The Benchley Roundup" (1954) and published a biography of his father in 1955. Robert Benchley died in 1945. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by Robert Benchley
The Benchley Roundup: A Selection by Nathaniel Benchley of his Favorites (1954) — Author — 240 copies, 2 reviews
Robert Benchley's Wayward Press: The Complete Collection of His the New Yorker Columns Written as Guy Fawkes (2008) 3 copies
Robert C. Benchley Complete Humorous Essays Anthologies (Illustrated), Love Conquers All Of All Things (2015) 2 copies
My Ten Years in a Quandary 2 copies
The Sunday Menace 2 copies
Aspects of Community Singing 1 copy
An Hour for lunch 1 copy
Do Insects Think? 1 copy
My Ten Years in a Quandary 1 copy
Threescore and Seventeen 1 copy
How to be a detective 1 copy
Associated Works
Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker (2001) — Contributor — 789 copies, 5 reviews
This is My Best: American Greatest Living Authors Present and Give Their Reasons Why (1942) — Contributor — 214 copies
The Vicious Circle: Mystery and Crime Stories by Members of the Algonquin Round Table (2007) — Contributor — 99 copies, 1 review
The World of Law, Volumes I-II: The Law in Literature, The Law as Literature (1960) — Contributor — 54 copies
Food Tales: A Literary Menu of Mouthwatering Masterpieces (1992) — Contributor — 41 copies, 1 review
Through the Alimentary Canal with Gun and Camera (1963) — Introduction, some editions — 39 copies, 2 reviews
1935 Essay Annual — Contributor — 4 copies
How to Sleep [1930 Short film] — Actor — 2 copies
Baby Weems [1941 short film] — Introduction, some editions — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Benchley, Robert
- Legal name
- Benchley, Robert Charles
- Birthdate
- 1889-09-15
- Date of death
- 1945-11-21
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Harvard University (BA|1913)
- Occupations
- columnist
actor
screenwriter
drama critic - Organizations
- Algonquin Round Table
New York Tribune
Vanity Fair
Life
The New Yorker
King Features Syndicate (show all 9)
RKO Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Paramount Pictures - Awards and honors
- Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960)
Academy Award for Best Short Subject (1935) - Relationships
- Benchley, Nathaniel (son)
Benchley, Peter (grandson) - Short biography
- Robert Benchley, humorist, critic, actor, writer and director was born in 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His writing career began as early as his college days as president of the LAMPOON, in which he wrote many articles. His reputation as a humorist grew when he became editor of the New York Tribune's Sunday Magazine. During the 1920's he was the dramatic editor for both Life Magazine and the New Yorker. His career also included writing, acting and directing for MGM.
- Cause of death
- cerebral hemorrhage
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Burial location
- Prospect Hill Cemetery, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Robert Benchley is so underrated with the uninformed. This delightful book collects some his wittiest pieces done between the late 1910s and the late 1930s. Printed after his death, put together with the help of his widow, the book is full of intriguing thought from the early 20th Century's best man of wit and wry humor. Benchley takes a jab at everything from banks to heaters, businesses and travel. And of course, he skewers himself almost non-stop! The hardest part about reading this, was show more getting his voice stuck on the brain, and not enough of the amusing artwork of Gluyas Williams. show less
Of the three most prominent popular humorists of the middle of the last century (Benchley, Thurber and Perelman) I have always enjoyed Benchley the most. Less intellectual and less wide-ranging than Perelman, yes, and not considered as great as Thurber, yes, still, his short pieces on the foibles of his slightly bumbling everyman persona are always genial and often terrifically funny. I fear that my own generation (I was born in the mid 50s) will be last with just enough cultural memory show more (through our parents and grandparents) of Benchley's world of telegrams, dress collars, and dining cars to enjoy his topical humor. Pity. His short pieces, of course, have a certain predictable structure and no aggregate overall shape in an anthology, and are therefore best read in fairly small doses. The present selection has several very funny pieces, but a number that are more routine, It is called a "Best of" yet contains no items that I remember, and none that appear in the four Benchley books on my shelf. the editing is sloppy with numerous typos show less
the cover art is very benchley, very new yorker, very friggin theatre. great collection of benchley overnight criticism and pieces published iin the weekly New Yorker .. his style of observant wit and love for performers and depth of experience and ... giving you the sense of being there with your butt in the seat .... well, he inspires me today.
let us sample, shall we? the first sentences of the piece "The Children's Hour" ... "I don't want to be an alarmist, but I think that the Younger Generation is up to something. I think that there is a plot a foot. I base my apprehension on nothing more definite than the fact that they are always coming in and going out of the house, without any apparent reason. .." If you are not already smiling to yourself with these words, without a punchline reached ... smiling in anticipation of his show more gentle pacing and subtle reflections ... well .. he just might not be your cup of tea. But if you do find yourself with a suddenly lighter heart and wanting to see what might happen next ... he really is your man. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 61
- Also by
- 60
- Members
- 1,733
- Popularity
- #14,830
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 24
- ISBNs
- 87
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 11