BEN BERNIE . . . the Old Maestro was Bernard Ancel May 32,
1893, the day he became one of the eleven little Ancels back in Bayonne, N. J.
When it was decided that Ben was too frail ever to follow the family trade as a
smith, his father decided he should be an engineer. His mother decided he’d
become a violinist. So violinist he became. He gave a concert in Carnegie Hall
at 14, and a year afterwards was teaching violin in a school. There’s a wife
and son.
While doing research for an article I came across an unexpected search result: "Was Jack Benny Gay?" There was no more than the question as previously stated from the original poster, but the replies made for interesting reading, ranging from: Jack Benny Celebrating his 39th Birthday "Of course not, he was a well known skirt-chaser in his youth, and he was married to Mary Livingston for many years" "Sure he was, everyone in Hollywood with the possible exception of John Wayne was and is homosexual!" "Part of Benny's "schtick" was his limp-wristed hand-to-face gestures. He was not gay, but emphasized what his fans observed as "acting like a girl" for humor. While heterosexual Benny tried to gay it up, many really gay actors or comedians in those days tried to act as "straight" as they could muster." "... the idea behind his character was to have him a little on the ambiguous side. His charact...
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