June 23, 1905

105 years ago Sadie Marks was born...she would later become known to the world as Mrs. Jack Benny... As the wife of comedy legend Jack Benny she worked with him in Vaudeville and later on his radio program. Originally a character called "Mary Livingstone" was to be played by another actress but the actress did not show up for the broadcast. Jack Benny asked his wife to play the "Mary Livingstone" character, who in the script, was Jack's biggest fan. Eventually Sadie Marks became Mary Livingstone...and remained for the entire run of the radio program... In addition to the radio program she also joined "The Jack Benny Program" when it began on television in 1950... Later in life the actress began to develop stage fright and her appearances on the show became less frequent. Some times her daughter would stand in for her during radio broadcasts and other times her performance would be pre-recorded and dubbed in later. She finally ended her career in 1958... During the high days of "The Jack Benny Program" she also appeared on "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" and "Shower of Stars." In the late 1960's and early 1970's Jack Benny made appearances on Lucille Ball's weekly television shows "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy." In an episode of "Here's Lucy" entitled "Lucy and Jack Benny's Biography" Benny asks Lucy Carter (Ball) to be a confidential secretary as he dictates his autobiography. As the show goes through flashbacks Lucy plays all the parts dealing with the women Benny met during his life...and Lucy plays the part of his wife while the real life lady recorded the lines from her home and they were later dubbed in as Lucy moved her lips... On February 16, 1978 the actress made a very rare public appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." I learned from the Internet Movie Database that this lady was a relation of the famous Marx Brother... Sadie Marks A.K.A. Mrs. Jack Benny passed away on June 30, 1983... In Memoriam Remembers: Mary Livingstone