Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley (1889-1945) was an American humorist and actor. His works include Love Conquers All (1922), My Ten Years in a Quandary (1936), and Benchley Beside Himself (1943).[1] He is best remembered for a single quote:
“ | Opera is when a man gets stabbed in the back, and, instead of bleeding, sings. --Robert Benchley |
” |
Life
Benchley was born September 15, 1889, into a superficially tragic childhood in the 1890s of bee stings and cuts, though it was truly darkened by the death of his brother Edmund in the Spanish-American War.[2] He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, and later wrote several essays for the New Yorker.[3] He was their lead drama critic and wrote for the Wayward Press under the name Guy Fawkes before his monologue "The Treasurer's Report," introduced him to the revue and the cinema.[4] During the 1920s, he was a very popular humorist who wrote about daily struggles.[5] He also worked as an actor, receiving over 40 small roles in films including How to Sleep.[6] He considered himself, over all, a lazy man, and member of the Algonquin Club along with Dorothy Parker, Robert Sherwood, and Alexander Parker, a group also called the Vicious Circle.[7] Over time, his interested in writing decreased and he appeared more in films until his death on November 21, 1945.[8]
References
- ↑ The New York Public Library Student's Desk Reference. Prentice Hall, New York, 1993.
- ↑ https://users.wpi.edu/~cityofwords/benchley.html
- ↑ "Benchley, Robert." The Famous People. http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-benchley-2682.php
- ↑ "Benchley, Robert." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
- ↑ "Robert Benchley." Infoplease. https://www.infoplease.com/people/who2-biography/robert-benchley
- ↑ "Robert Benchley, Synopsis." Biography.com. http://www.biography.com/people/robert-benchley-9206715#synopsis
- ↑ Pietruza, David. "Robert Benchley: A Profile in Humor." http://www.davidpietrusza.com/benchley.html
- ↑ "Benhcley, Robert." Your Dictionary. http://biography.yourdictionary.com/robert-benchley