[NEW CLASS] Benjamin Kubelsky was born in Chicago in 1894 and embarked on a career in show business initially in vaudeville as a violinist. He changed his name to Ben K. Benny because of pressure from a violinist who had a similar sounding name. Eventually he changed his name to Jack Benny because, once again, another performer had a similar name. While in the Army during WWI, he performed his violin act for his fellow soldiers who did not appreciate it. He began to add ad-libs to his act which ushered in his transition to comedy. He honed a vain, parsimonious, and tone-deaf character while developing a superb sense of timing. This class will follow the arc of his 63-year entertainment career from vaudeville, to radio, to movies and eventually to television and will reveal that his stage persona was 180 degrees different than his real life. Audio/Visual, Discussion