The result, which played for one night April 30, 1922 at the 49th Street Theatre, was No Sirree! [39] Benchley's work was typically published twice a month. He sold it to my Aunt Helen for the price that he had paid. [88], Posthumously, Benchley's works continue to be released in books such as the 1983 Random House compilation The Best of Robert Benchley,[89] and the 2005 collection of short films Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin, which compiled many of Benchley's popular short films from his years at Paramount with other works from fellow humorists and writers Alexander Woollcott and Donald Ogden Stewart.[90]. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is a 1994 American film that depicts the Round Table from the perspective of Dorothy Parker. [2] Robert Benchley was born on September 15, 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Charles and Maria Benchley.[3]. WEDNESDAY, 5th Rodeo & Wood, chop. arged from an Army hospital, where he is convalescing from a minor operation. [20], Along with his duties at the Lampoon, Benchley acted in a number of theatrical productions, including Hasty Pudding productions of The Crystal Gazer and Below Zero. [5] Benchley reveled in the atmosphere at the academy, and he remained active in creative extracurricular activities, thereby damaging his academic credentials toward the end of his term. Robert Benchley was born on September 15, 1889, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the second son of Maria Jane (Moran) and Charles Henry Benchley. His arrival put him on the scene of a number of productions almost instantly. The Writer: Dave Barry. He also made a name for himself in Hollywood, when his short film How to Sleep was a popular success and won Best Short Subject at the 1935 Academy Awards. He was promised a position at the Tribune's Sunday magazine when it launched, and he was moved to the magazine's staff soon after he was hired, eventually becoming chief writer. [40] Sherwood, Parker, and Benchley became close, often having long lunches at the Algonquin Hotel. Charles Townsend Copeland, an English professor, recommended that Benchley go into writing, and Benchley and future Benchley illustrator Gluyas Williams from the Lampoon considered going into freelance work writing and illustrating theatrical reviews. In America there are two classes of travel - First Class, and with Benjis Boutique, a new place on Easy Street, took all of her scarves and wants more, besides. He later worked for Newsweek magazine as an assistant drama editor. WebRobert Benchley Treasurer Director Thomas Chalmers (uncredited) Writer Robert Benchley (uncredited) All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro Storyline Edit A club's formal dinner has been completed, and there is a pause in the entertainment so that the assistant treasurer can give the report of the club's finances for the year. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and served as a public relations officer and on convoy duty in the Atlantic on destroyers and patrol craft. [55] The early success of How to Sleep prompted MGM to rush two more short films featuring Benchley, How to Train a Dog, a spoof of dog-training techniques, and How to Behave, which lampooned etiquette norms. They are bothered when they cant have what they want. Nathaniel Benchley died in 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts and was interred in the family plot at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Nantucket. Where was I? The best result we found for your search is Robert Steven Benchley age 70s in Pinconning, MI. Son of Charles Henry Benchley and Maria Jane Benchley 2. Benchley began at Vanity Fair with fellow Harvard Lampoon alumnus Robert Emmet Sherwood and future friend and collaborator Dorothy Parker, who had taken over theatre criticism from P. G. Wodehouse years earlier. His humor and style began to reveal themselves during this time: Benchley was often called upon to entertain his fraternity brothers, and his impressions of classmates and professors became very popular. The Paris Review: "The Art of Fiction No. Benchley re-entered Hollywood at the height of the Great Depression and the large-scale introduction of the talkie films he had begun working with years before. Benchley tackled issues ranging from careless reporting to European fascism,[49] and the publication flourished. $(1901$) 18,301.' Dave Barry, author, onetime humor writer for the Miami Herald, and judge of the 2006 Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor,[75] has called Benchley his "idol"[76] and he "always wanted to write like [Benchley]. The Benchley family was attending a public Fourth of July picnic when a bicycle messenger brought the notification telegram. Robert grew up and attended school in Worcester and was involved in academic and traveling theatrical productions during high school. Father of Nathaniel Benchley and Robert Benchley, Jr. The Lampoon position opened a number of other doors for Benchley, and he was quickly nominated to the Signet Society meeting club as well as becoming the only undergraduate member of the Boston Papyrus Club at the time. The first Robert Benchley was the one I thought I sort of knew, as much as you can know someone who died 11 years before you were born. "; accounts conflict as to whether Robert (who was nine at the time) heard this. Although he was a great gag writer and parodist, Benchley's forte was personal essays on ''simple everyday things'' like trying to get information from telephone operators, listening to ''Turkey in the Straw'' or looking in the mirror to discover that you resembled Wimpy one day and Wallace Beery the next. In unthinking, stunned reaction, Maria ("Jenny") Benchley cried out "Why couldn't it have been Robert?! The Algonquin Round Table was a group of New York City writers and actors who met regularly between 1919 and 1929 at the Algonquin Hotel. Part of it was Benchleys. Gallery as well as at AAN. About Robert Charles Benchley He was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor who is best remembered for his Word of it was published in Time by Alexander Woollcott, who was at a lunch with Benchley, Parker, and others. [1][2] They were of Northern Irish (Protestant) and Welsh descent, respectively, both from colonial stock. He took a position with Curtis shortly after he received his diploma. Benchley showed at the Lobster Pot We never quite learn what it was about Benchley's style or subjects that made him the most admired humorist of his generation and prompted James Thurber to remark, years after Benchley's death, that ''one of the greatest fears of the humorous writer is that he has spent three weeks writing something done faster and better by Benchley in 1919.''. While some of his pieces would not have been out of place in a crackerbarrel-style presentation, Benchley's reliance on puns and wordplay resonated more with the literary humorists, as shown by his success with The New Yorker, known for the highbrow tastes of its readers. Benchley's contribution to the program, "The Treasurer's Report," featured Benchley as a nervous, disorganized man attempting to summarize an organization's yearly expenses. Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile, Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile. [60] The early success of How to Sleep prompted MGM to rush two more short films featuring Benchley, How to Train a Dog, a spoof of dog-training techniques, and How to Behave, which lampooned etiquette norms. Benchley was invited to be theatre critic for The New Yorker in 1929, leaving Life, and contributions from Woollcott and Parker became regular features in the magazine. It is Rob III and Carol, though, who have made their mark on Nantucket island as much or more so than any of the clan, and not really because Rob is an extraordinary photographer for the local papers and sometimes for the Boston Globe. Please advise, was humorist Robert Benchleys famous telegram to the New Yorker magazine after arriving in Venice. [14] The election of Benchley was unusual, as he was the publication's art editor and the board positions typically fell to the foremost writers on the staff. WebRobert Benchley. Writing career (Ironically, when younger, he had been an adamant teetotaler.) "[37], Following word of Benchley's resignation, freelance offers began piling up. Those were priceless memories. He was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor who is best remembered for his contributions to The New Yorker, where his essays, whether topical or absurdist, influenced many modern humorists. [3] His brother Edmund was thirteen years older. He did especially well in his English and government classes. Geni requires JavaScript! WebDirector Robert Benchley Robert Benchley Writer (Uncredited) Jack Chertok Producer Harry Rapf Executive Producer Film Details Genre Short Comedy Release Date 1935 Production Company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Distribution Company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Technical Specs Duration 10m This experience was a poor one, as Brady was extremely difficult to work for, and Benchley resigned to became a publicity director for the federal government's Aircraft Board at the beginning of 1918. [65] This character, labeled the "Little Man" and in some ways similar to many of Mark Twain's protagonists, was based on Benchley himself; the character did not persist in Benchley's writing past the early 1930s, but survived in his speaking and acting roles. Although Benchley was known for misleading and fictional autobiographical statements about himself (at one point asserting that he wrote A Tale of Two Cities before being buried at Westminster Abbey),[1] he actually was the great-grandchild of the founder of Benchley, Texas: Henry Wetherby Benchley who was jailed for his help with the Underground Railroad. WebAlthough by his own account Benchley was not quite a writer and not quite an actor, he managed to become one of the best-known humorists and comedians of his time. I hadnt really had any idea about the Benchley family tree. He did especially well in his English and government classes. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/20/books/exit-laughing.html. In 1931, he was persuaded to do voice work for RKO Radio Pictures for a film that would eventually be titled Sky Devils, and he acted in his first feature film, The Sport Parade (1932) with Joel McCrea. It was not well received, and it was removed from the schedule. The management sent out a memo forbidding the discussion of salaries in an attempt to rein in the staff. Benchley's humor was molded during his time at Harvard. His legacy includes written work and numerous short film appearances. When a rumored opening for an editorial position at Vanity Fair fell through, Benchley decided he would continue freelancing, having made a name for himself at the magazine. WebSo, how much is Robert Benchley worth at the age of 56 years old? Before he left he had purchased the place for about $6,200. Benchley began at Vanity Fair with fellow Harvard Lampoon and Hasty Pudding Theatricals alumnus Robert Emmet Sherwood and future friend and collaborator Dorothy Parker, who had taken over theatre criticism from P. G. Wodehouse years earlier. [11] Nathaniel also became a writer, and he published a biography of his father in 1955. Besides the cancellation of his radio show, Benchley learned that MGM did not plan to renew his contract, and The New Yorker, frustrated with Benchley's film career taking precedence over his theatre column, hired a new critic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Benchley. 10: James Thurber." Once he became well-known, therefore, people would often approach him at parties and at other social gatherings and greet him with, "Say something funny, Mr. From Toronto Leacock closely followed the increasing body of Benchley's published humor and wit, and opened correspondence between them. [54], This was followed in 1936 by How to be a Detective. When the editorial managers went on a European trip, the three took advantage of the situation, writing articles mocking the local theatre establishment and offering parodic commentary on a variety of topics, such as the effect of Canadian hockey on United States fashion. Amid accusations that both were pro-German (the United States was fighting Germany at the time), Benchley tendered his resignation in a terse letter, citing the lack of "rational proof that Dr. Gruening was guilty ofcharges made against him" and management's attempts to "smirch the character and the newspaper career of the first man in three years who has been able to make the Tribune look like a newspaper. Most of them were adapted from his old essays ("Take the Witness!," with Benchley fantasizing about conquering a tough cross-examination, was filmed as The Witness; "The Real Public Enemies," showing the criminal tendencies of sinister household objects, was filmed as Crime Control, etc.). On April 22, 1945, he guest starred on the Blue Network's (soon to be ABC) top-rated radio series The Andrews Sisters Show, sponsored by Nash motor cars & Kelvinator home appliances. [40] The column, titled "Books and Other Things," ran for one year and roved beyond literature to mundane topics such as Bricklaying in Modern Practice. He has been treated for hernia at Ashford General Hospital, ing wartime, 26,000 lives and 22,000 plantsmore than the combat toll exacted by Germans and Japanese. [41] Unfortunately for Benchley, however, his writing a syndicated column for David Lawrence drew the ire of his World bosses, and "Books and Other Things" was dropped. [32] Benchley accepted, and began work there in 1919.[33]. We should all be so lucky. [47] His reviews were known for their flair, and he often used them as a soapbox for issues of concern to him, whether petty (people who cough during plays) or more important (such as racial intolerance). The films enjoyed similar success and were critically acclaimed, and Benchley was signed to a deal to produce more films before heading back to New York to continue writing. Paramount did not renew his contract in 1943, and Benchley signed back with MGM with an exclusive contract. Benchley became recognizable because of his short films, which would play in theaters before feature films, and he was already known for his humor writing. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Upon its completion, MGM invited Benchley to write and perform in a short production inspired by a Mellon Institute study on sleep commissioned by the Simmons Mattress Company. This piqued dads curiosity, so he asked the man about the place. Benchley is best remembered for his contributions to The New Yorker, where his essays, whether topical or absurdist, influenced many modern humorists. He also made a name for himself in Hollywood, when his short film How to Sleep was a popular success and won Best Short Subject at the 1935 Academy Awards. In 1917, the Tribune shut down the magazine, and Benchley was out of work again. The work of Robert Benchley is as funny as it was 80 years ago. From his beginnings at The Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and his acclaimed [18] In September 1913 he was hired by Curtis as a full-time staff member, preparing copy for its new house publication, Obiter Dicta. In 1941 Benchley received two more feature-length roles: Walt Disney's The Reluctant Dragon, in which Benchley tours the various departments of the Disney studio, and Nice Girl? Benchley.". [59], Benchley's roles primarily came as a freelance actor, as his Paramount shorts contract didn't pay as well as feature films. Traveling with children corresponds roughly to traveling The name Robert Benchley seldom appears by itself anymore. Every boy should have a dog, for a dog teaches a boy three valuable While Benchley's pieces were bought by Vanity Fair from time to time, his consistent work dried up, and Benchley took a position with the New York Tribune. Rob is a real icon on the island.. '', See the article in its original context from. ", then standing by her side at the age of nine. Thanks to financial aid from his late brother's fiancee, Lillian Duryea, he could attend Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire for his final year of high school. The situation was not positive for Benchley, as the studio "mishandled" him and kept Benchley too busy to complete his own work. He was [51], Benchley had continued to receive positive responses from his performing, and in 1925 he accepted a standing invitation from film producer Jesse L. Lasky for a six-week term writing screenplays at $500. [13] Nathaniel married and also had talented sons who became writers: Peter Benchley was best known for the book Jaws (which was adapted as the film of the same name),[14] and Nat Benchley wrote and performed in an acclaimed one-man production based on their grandfather Robert's life. The liberty gave his work new life, and the success of his pieces in the magazine convinced his editors to give him a signed byline column in the Tribune proper. May 2003. [26] He continued his attempts to develop his own voice within the publication, but Benchley and Curtis were not a good match, and he eventually left,[27] as Curtis was considering eliminating Benchley's role and he had been offered a position in Boston with a better salary[28], Benchley held a number of similar jobs in the following years. Initially consisting of Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and Alexander Woollcott during their time at Vanity Fair, the group eventually expanded to over a dozen regular members of the New York media and entertainment, such as playwrights George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly and journalist/critic Heywood Broun, who gained prominence due to his positions during the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. Much of his time in the films was spent spoofing himself,[71] whether it was the affected nervousness of the treasurer in The Treasurer's Report or the discomfort in explaining The Sex Life of the Polyp to a women's club. Upon learning of her termination, Benchley tendered his own resignation. Amazon.com: Robert Benchley and the Knights of the Algonquin product listing. Of All Things (1921)Love Conquers All (1922)From Bed to Worse (1934)My Ten Years in a Quandary and How They Grew (1936)Inside Benchley (1941)Benchley Beside Himself (1943), Do you know something we don't? Edmund's death had a considerable effect upon Robert's life. [45], Things changed again for Benchley a number of years into the arrangement. The Benchley legend grew fast, fueled by stories constructed by him and his equally witty friends. Unfortunately, the story he tells, though not much different from the one Nathaniel Benchley gave us 40 years ago, is blander and less witty. Gallery as well as at AAN. A lot of cousins, the present day Rob said, laconically. The experience at Vanity Fair inspired Benchley's fellow staff at the Tribune magazine with creative topics for articles (such as arranging for the producers of The Thirteenth Chair to cast Benchley as a corpse), but the situation at the magazine deteriorated as the pacifist Benchley became unhappy with the Tribune's position on World War I, and the Tribune editors were unhappy with the evolving tone and irreverence of the magazine. writer of whimsical musings on the vagaries of modern life. This character was apparent in Benchley's Ivy Oration during his Harvard graduation ceremonies,[71] and would appear throughout his career, such as during "The Treasurer's Report" in the 1920s[72] and his work in feature films in the 1930s. The most comprehensive listing of Robert Benchley's books, essays, newspaper writings, and drama criticism is Robert Benchley: An Annotated Bibliography compiled by Robert Benchley Society Director Mr. Gordon Ernst, Jr. It also contains a publishing chronology, filmography, and discography. Charles Townsend Copeland, an English professor, recommended that Benchley go into writing, and Benchley and future Benchley illustrator Gluyas Williams from the Lampoon considered going into freelance work writing and illustrating theatrical reviews. with Deanna Durbin, noteworthy for a rare dramatic performance by Benchley. (from Wikipedia). [41], The situation at Vanity Fair deteriorated upon management's return. Although by his own account Benchley was not quite a writer and not ", then standing by her side at the age of nine. Besides the cancellation of his radio show, Benchley learned that MGM did not plan to renew his contract, and The New Yorker, frustrated with Benchley's film career taking precedence over his theatre column, appointed Wolcott Gibbs to take over in his stead. Husband of Gertrude Benchley [82] He also appeared in a number of films, including 48 short treatments that he mostly wrote or co-wrote and numerous feature films. They became engaged during his senior year at Harvard University, and they married in June 1914. ultimately used: "This is all above my head.". "[43]) He was offered $200 per basic subject article for The Home Sector,[44] and a weekly freelance salary from New York World to write a book review column three times per week for the same salary he received at Vanity Fair. He also made a name for himself in Hollywood, when his short film How to Sleep was a popular success and won Best Short Subject at the 1935 Academy Awards, and his many memorable appearances in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent and a dramatic turn in Nice Girl?. A painter (and writer) from a family of writers, Benchley lived on Baxter Avenue, While Benchley's books and Paramount contract were giving him financial security, he was still unhappy with the turn his career had taken. (New York City: W. W. Norton, 1997. He was not afraid to poke fun at the establishment (one piece he wrote was titled "Have You a Little German Agent in Your Home? [64], Benchley's roles primarily came as a freelance actor, as his Paramount shorts contract didn't pay as well as feature films. [37] He accepted and began work there in 1919.[38]. with Deanna Durbin, noteworthy for a rare dramatic performance by Benchley. He wrote two articles a week; the first a review of non-literary books, the other a feature-style article about whatever he wanted. The British edition of the book carried a Leacock introduction, and Benchley, for his part in a tribute to Leacock later said he read everything Leacock ever wrote. Died: Luke Lea, 66, former U. S. s Wilmington, New Hanover, North Carolina, USA, Private Family Plot, Nantucket, Nantucket, MA, United States, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 1791-1963, The MacLeay Chronicle (Kempsey, Nsw) - Nov 21 1945, The Wilmington Morning Star - Nov 25 1945. His re-entry into public speaking followed the annual HarvardYale football game in 1914, where he presented a practical joke involving "Professor Soong" giving a question-and-answer session on football in Chinese. From his beginnings at the Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and his acclaimed short films, Benchley's style of humor brought him respect and success during his life, from New York City and his peers at the Algonquin Round Table to contemporaries in the burgeoning film industry. While the two styles were, at first glance, diametrically opposed, they coexisted in magazines such as Vanity Fair and Life. Robert Benchley met Gertrude Darling in high school in Worcester. They became engaged during his senior year at Harvard University, and they married in June 1914. [10] Their first child, Nathaniel Benchley, was born a year later. A second son, Robert Benchley, Jr., was born in 1919. [11] The Washington Post, February 18, 2003. [53], During the time that Benchley was filming various short films, he also began working at The New Yorker, which had started in February 1925 under the control of Benchley's friend Harold Ross. Given that Benchley had two children at the time of his resignation, Parker referred to it as "the greatest act of friendship I'd ever seen. of editor of the Harvard Lampoon was the other highlight of his college Benchley is best remembered for his contributions to The New Yorker, where his essays, whether topical or absurdist, influenced many modern humorists. "[25] Things did not improve for Benchley and Obiter Dicta, and a failed practical joke at a company banquet further strained the relationship between Benchley and his superiors. The Blue Pencil: Interview with Horace J. Digby, January 19, 2007. Does the garage still exist? Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. He was Source notes would have helped here, at the very least by giving readers some guidance in figuring out where Mr. Altman got his stories -- and how reliable they might be. Nancy and I talked all the way home about how we, too, might live on the island perhaps wintering there, housesitting for the entitled while plying our crafts. Benchley took this offer to Vanity Fair to see if they could match it, as he felt Vanity Fair was the better magazine, and Vanity Fair offered him the position of managing editor. [72] Even the longer, plot-driven shorts, such as Lesson Number One, Furnace Trouble, and Stewed, Fried and Boiled, show a Benchley character overmatched by seemingly mundane tasks. His experience there was not much better, and when an opportunity was offered to return to the Tribune under new editorial management, Benchley took it. [75], In his films, the common man exaggerations continued. He identifies no new sources for his biography and asks no new questions of the old ones. [48] He continued meeting with his friends at the Algonquin, and the group became popularly known as the Algonquin Round Table. . Robert is related to Allison Renee Benchley and Bryan Thomas Benchley. URL accessed May 21, 2007. Helen is now 103 years old, resting comfortably in an assisted living home in Atlanta. The result was No Sirree! founded it. Among his early essays were some of his most clever: ''Opera Synopses: Some Sample Outlines of Grand Opera Plots for Home Study'' (''Immergluck has grown weary of always sitting on the same rock and with the same fishes swimming by every day, and sends for Schwul to suggest something to do'') and ''A Romance in Encyclopedia Land,'' a love story written in encyclopedia prose ('' 'Well,' he sighed, as he gazed upon the broad area of subsidence, 'if I were now an exarch, whose dignity was, at one time, intermediate between the Patriarchal and the Metropolitan and from whose name has come that of the politico-religious party, the Exarchists, I should not be here daydreaming. WebBenchley showed at the Lobster Pot. The New Yorker published an average of forty-eight Benchley columns per year during the early 1930s. This worried Sherwood, as he felt it could jeopardize his forthcoming raise. ISBN 080570048X). The prominent styles of humor were then "crackerbarrel" which relied on devices such as dialects and a disdain for formal education, in the style of humorists like Artemis Ward and David Ross Locke, through his alter-ego Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby and a more "genteel" style of humor, very literary and upper-class in nature, a style popularized by Oliver Wendell Holmes. In 1933, Benchley returned to Hollywood, completing the short films Your Technocracy and Mine for Universal Pictures, How to Break 90 at Croquet for RKO, and the lavish feature-length production China Seas for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, and Rosalind Russell; Benchley's character was slurring drunk throughout the movie. [43] He continued meeting with his friends at the Algonquin, and the group became popularly known as the Algonquin Round Table. Benchley was cast in minor roles for various romantic comedies, some shoots going better than others. New York Times, January 25, 2004. Owing to an academic failure in his senior year due to an illness,[17] Benchley would not receive his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard until the completion of his credits in 1913. The Robert Benchley Society. As a [80], Benchley produced over 600 essays,[81] which were initially compiled in twelve volumes, during his writing career. In this capacity Paramount cast him in the 1945 Bob Hope-Bing Crosby comedy Road to Utopia; Benchley interrupts the action periodically to "explain" the nonsensical storyline. And as he said this his eyes filled with tears''). Part of it was boutiques. A trip to California was discussed on a date to be decided. The two were given a good deal of freedom, but Benchley's coverage of the war and focus on African-American regiments as well as provocative pictorials about lynching in the southern United States earned him and Gruening scrutiny from management. The act made him a campus celebrity -- and remained in These films were produced more quickly than his previous efforts (while How to Sleep needed two days, the later short How to Vote needed less than twelve hours), and took their toll on Benchley. While he completed his year's work, his condition continued to deteriorate, and Benchley died in a New York hospital on November 21, 1945. 37 ] he accepted and began work there in 1919. [ 33 ] Pencil: Interview with Horace Digby! He had purchased the place ], this was followed in 1936 by how to be a Detective be. Benchley 's resignation, freelance offers began piling up the Knights of the old.. Of non-literary books, the situation at Vanity Fair and life signed with!, Jr., was humorist Robert Benchleys famous telegram to the New Yorker published an average forty-eight... Comfortably in an attempt to rein in the staff both from colonial.... About whatever he wanted in 1936 by how to be a Detective price that had... J. Digby, January 19, 2007 the Art of Fiction No Aunt Helen for the that. About this profile, submit a correction or make a comment about this profile, a. Washington Post, February 18, 2003 University, and they married in June 1914 1 ] [ 2 they... Common man exaggerations continued contract in 1943, and he published a biography his... ] he accepted and began work there in 1919. [ 33 ] in magazines such as Fair... For the price that he had paid at first glance, diametrically opposed, coexisted. $ 6,200 Fair deteriorated upon management 's return Digby, January 19, 2007 New for... Noteworthy for a rare dramatic performance by Benchley a second son, Robert Benchley met Gertrude in! Such as Vanity Fair and life California was discussed on a date to be a Detective Following of! York City: W. W. Norton, 1997 real icon on the vagaries of modern life whatever he wanted [! ] they were of Northern Irish ( Protestant ) and Welsh descent, respectively, both from colonial stock for... 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