Jack Benny was a pioneer of the radio comedian era. After being a star on Vaudeville, he made a tremendous mark on radio variety shows during the 1930's through the 1950's. Later he continued that success, moving into television and films. He has been called one of the great American entertainers of the 20th century. As a promising violinist, he got his break by playing the instrument in Vaudeville performances and frequently accompanying the Marx brothers during their skits. He was invited to become a permanent accompaniment to the Marx Brothers, but being only 17, his parents refused. However, that did not stop him from realizing his dream as an entertainer.

After a short stint in the Navy and a lackluster start as a violinist, Jack decided to go with a combination musical comedy act. Gradually the violin became more of a prop to his expanding comedy acts. After being a guest performer on Ed Sullivan's radio show, Benny was offered his own show in 1932.

The Jack Benny Program ran from 1932 to 1948 on the NBC radio network and from 1949 to 1955 on the CBS radio network. Benny's character was mainly opposite of his real self. On his show, Benny was vain, petty, self-serving and cheap. Benny used his character brilliantly, setting up his co-performers to draw the laughs at the expense of his unappealing character. Benny used this approach to turn what should have been a despised character into a loved version of Joe Anyone. Benny had been quoted as saying "I don't care who gets the laughs on my show, as long as people are laughing". Benny, like many other Vaudeville veterans, used his wife Mary as a supporting actress on the show.

In the show, Benny had on stage girlfriends, and would sometimes include guest actresses appearing on the show, as woman he was trying to date. Way before the time of the Equal Rights Movement, Benny used a black actor (Eddie Anderson) as a chauffeur on the show. Black actors were not unusual at the time, but the treatment of the character Rochester was well ahead of its time. Benny's show allowed the black character to one-up, his white boss (Benny) on many different levels.

Rochester was also treated as an equal in the fictional Benny household. This was not the only equality that Benny tried to promote on his show. During World War II, Benny would often mention and pay tribute to the large diversity in the American and allied armies fighting the Germans, especially after the true hatred and evil of Hitler's armies were revealed. In addition Louis Armstrong was a frequent guest and musician on Benny's show.

Jack Benny was a determined man, set on a goal of becoming a great entertainer. He was continually ahead of his time in many ways, from equality, to comedy bits, to leading the way in American entertainment. He revolutionized the comedy show into the variety show, and later into the situational comedy show. A man of many gifts, and maybe best of all, was his ability to make most people laugh.