Jack Benny's daughter is opening up about what it was like to grow up with a famous father who loved the limelight and made work a priority.
The violinist turned comedian entertained the masses for 40 years, until he died from cancer in 1974 at age 80, and now his adopted daughter Joan Benny is sharing her memories in a tell-all interview with Closer Weekly.
"I’m not sure whether I came in first or second, but I think the show came first," she said. Jack loved being famous and thrived off being in the spotlight but behind the scenes he was also a good father and grandfather, Joan added.
"We were actually very close because my mother didn’t like to go out much so I went with my dad to all the baseball games. And I traveled with him when he went to different cities, playing concerts," she told the outlet.
"On top of that, he was a great grandfather. He adored his first grandson, Mike. When I was married and had children, I lived not too far away, so Dad would come over every two or three days for a cup of coffee and see his grandchild."
Jack often portrayed characters with less than favorable traits like "the miser, the somewhat pompous, somewhat put upon guy," but underneath the facade was a "really nice person," which Joan said was unusual for comedians.
"Do you remember the name Abbe Lane? She was on the bill with my dad as an opening act and I got to know her. She said, 'You know, your father was so unusual. I’ve worked with every comedian in the business and they are all totally insane, but your dad was the best,'" Joan recalled.
Many entertainers thrust into the spotlight tire of the constant attention but despite his expansive career, Jack loved meeting fans and signing autographs. He loved being famous.
"There was a time when, I believe, he went to a country in the Caribbean where they didn’t know him and didn’t speak English. He spent a day there and nobody asked him for his autograph, so he was on the next plane home," Joan said. "Like I said, he really did like being famous, signing autographs and talking to his fans."
Jack and his wife Mary adopted Joan in 1934, when she was two weeks old. In his joint biography with Joan, "Sunday Nights at Seven: The Jack Benny Story," he spoke fondly of his daughter.
"I just love her," Jack wrote, per Fox News. "She became very beautiful and I fell in love with my daughter before she was living with us for even two days. She completed our lives."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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