Celebrating Waukegan’s Favorite Son…
On a 1959 episode of the television game show What’s My Line?, Jack Benny quipped the following line to host John Charles Daly: “They say that I put Waukegan on the map. But it’s not true. Waukegan really put me on the map. That’s a fact.”
And so it did. For across from the colorful marquee of the Genesee Theater, in Benny’s hometown of Waukegan, Illinois, one can glimpse a quiet Jack Benny Plaza. Situated within this court, on the corner of Genesee and Clayton Street, one will find the town’s greatest tribute to its beloved son — an 8-foot-tall, bronze sculpture of Benny himself.
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Sculptor Erik Blome worked extensively with input and studio visits from the Jack Benny Sculpture Committee, formed by the City of Waukegan, to create this wonderful tribute.
The statue itself features Jack Benny clutching a violin under his arm, and boasting his exasperated pose of one hand on his cheek. The base of the sculpture includes a variety of symbols relating to The Jack Benny Program.
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One side of the statue’s base features a depiction of Benny’s fictitious vault, guarded by two menacing crocodiles. Below the safe’s intimidating guards is a tribute to Benny’s famous exchange with a man trying to rob him on his show:
Man: Your money or life!
Benny: (prolonged pause) I’m thinking!
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The next side of the statue’s base features a measure of the melody line for Benny’s theme song, “Love in Bloom.” Next to it are etchings of a thick-rimmed pair of glasses, a violin, and Benny’s faux forever age — 39.
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The adjacent side features a depiction of Benny’s butler, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, as well as the profile of one of Benny’s talented tenors — likely either Kenny Baker or Dennis Day.
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The remaining side features representations of Benny playing his violin, accompanied by a list of named donors (or “Lifetime 39ers”) who contributed to the funding of this statue.
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Dedicated on June 8th, 2002, the statue was introduced to the city of Waukegan with the following poem by Eric Brolund, Bill Powers, Maria Scarvelis, and Tom Tretheway:
Waukegan, Waukegan, we’ve come here at last
To unveil a statue and celebrate the past
We’ve come here to honor the town and the man
Jack Benny endures in the hearts of his fans
Laura worked very hard to ensure that this day
Was perfect from dawn to the close of the play
She directed the players to all give their best
She pushed as was needed and prayed for the rest
She opened the show with a talk of her club
She founded to honor this man we all love
Jack Benny, our star, was played by a pro
Eddie Carroll then began to warm up the show
Even conquering corsicans couldn’t stop Bill
As Don Wilson’s big stomach continued to fill
Next on was Maria, time for Mary to speak
She never got to say Chiss Sweeze or Grass Reek
Dennis sang “Clancy” without music – a capella
Tom sang with a flair, like a fine Irish fella
Phil laughed at his cheques with his wife, Alice Faye
Eric rehearsed and rehearsed, Dad he did it all day
Rochester Van Jones cleaned house with Jack’s clubs
Dan was a real pro, read his lines with no flubs
Charlie played Mel – did the Si/Cy routine
And ran sound effects in the time in between
On a serious note we would all like to say
Jack would be very proud of what you did for his day
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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub
Annette Bochenek is an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age and Travel Writer for Classic Movie Hub. You can read more about Annette’s Classic Movie Travels at Hometowns to Hollywood
Billy Gray with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot
is available in stores now… And I am even happier to say that CMH will be giving away SIX copies of the book in April, courtesy of Oxford University Press.
, this time via Facebook and this Blog, courtesy of Doubleday Books…
