Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
Author of Chips off the Old Benchley
About the Author
Robert Benchley, 1899 - 1945 Writer and actor Robert Benchley was born on September 15, 1899 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Benchley was best known for being a humorist and comedian. While an undergraduate at Harvard University, he gave his first comedic performance impersonating a befuddled show more after-dinner speaker. He became a campus celebrity and he landed the position of editor of the Harvard Lampoon. Benchley worked as a drama critic at Life magazine in 1920. Under the pseudonym Guy Fawkes, he wrote The Wayward Press column for The New Yorker. He also briefly served as managing editor for Vanity Fair where his lieutenants were Dorothy Parker and Robert E. Sherwood. He quit in protest to the firing of Parker. The three of them were among the regulars of the Algonquin Round Table, which was a social circle of New York wits that included Harpo Marx and George Kaufman. As a member of the Algonquin Round Table, he became a poplular radio personality, film actor and screenwriter. Several of Benchley's humorous monologues were performed in short films, which include "The Treasurer's Report" (1928). His comic sketches were collected in fifteen volumes, including "My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew" (1936) and "Benchley Beside Himself" (1943). His son Nathaniel edited a collection of his essays, "The Benchley Roundup" (1954) and published a biography of his father in 1955. Robert Benchley died in 1945. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by Robert Benchley
The Benchley Roundup: A Selection by Nathaniel Benchley of his Favorites (1933) — Author — 228 copies
Robert Benchley's Wayward Press: The Complete Collection of His the New Yorker Columns Written as Guy Fawkes (2008) 3 copies
The Sunday Menace 2 copies
My Ten Years in a Quandary 1 copy
Do Insects Think? 1 copy
An Hour for lunch 1 copy
Associated Works
The Vicious Circle: Mystery and Crime Stories by Members of the Algonquin Round Table (2007) — Contributor — 87 copies
The world of law; a treasury of great writing about and in the law, short stories, plays, essays, accounts, letters,… (1960) — Contributor — 54 copies
1935 Essay Annual — Contributor — 4 copies
Baby Weems [1941 short film] — Introduction, some editions — 2 copies
14 American Masterpieces Vol.1 — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Benchley, Robert
- Legal name
- Benchley, Robert Charles
- Birthdate
- 1889-09-15
- Date of death
- 1945-11-21
- Burial location
- Prospect Hill Cemetery, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Cause of death
- cerebral hemorrhage
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Education
- Harvard University (BA|1913)
- Occupations
- columnist
actor
screenwriter
drama critic - Relationships
- Benchley, Nathaniel (son)
Benchley, Peter (grandson) - Organizations
- Algonquin Round Table
New York Tribune
Vanity Fair
Life
The New Yorker
King Features Syndicate (show all 9)
RKO Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Paramount Pictures - Awards and honors
- Hollywood Walk of Fame (1960)
Academy Award for Best Short Subject (1935) - Short biography
- Robert Benchley, humorist, critic, actor, writer and director was born in 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His writing career began as early as his college days as president of the LAMPOON, in which he wrote many articles. His reputation as a humorist grew when he became editor of the New York Tribune's Sunday Magazine. During the 1920's he was the dramatic editor for both Life Magazine and the New Yorker. His career also included writing, acting and directing for MGM.
Members
Reviews
I don't appreciate much of the old New Yorker humor, but there's a lot of James Thurber I love, and I'll read anything by Bob Benchley that I can find, too.
A collection of essays and columns printed in 1922 covering everything from Baseball to opera plots to (then) current political situations. Sure some of it is now dated, but some is still quite funny. When it isn't quite funny anymore, you can still admire the quality of the writing.
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 56
- Also by
- 49
- Members
- 1,569
- Popularity
- #16,450
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 24
- ISBNs
- 85
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 11
I think I was aware of Benchley via the 90's biopic of Dorothy Parker. He was her colleague & friend (& maybe lover? can't remember) and also a dry wit humorist member of Algonquin Round Table and writer for New Yorker (one of the first I think.)