Benchley, Robert (Charles)

Benchley, Robert [Charles] (1889–1945), writer, actor, and critic. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard, the American humorist was once described by Helen Hayes as “an enchanting toad of a man.” He served as drama critic for Life (1920–29) and The New Yorker (1929–39), where his frequently iconoclastic reviews were leavened with common sense and wit. Examining a new Eugene O'Neill play, he wrote, “Let us stop all this scowling talk about ‘the inevitability of Greek tragedy’ and ‘O'Neill's masterly grasp of the eternal verities’ and let us admit that the reason why we sat for six hours straining to hear each line through the ten‐watt acoustics of the Guild Theatre was because Mourning Becomes Electra is filled with good, old‐fashioned, spine‐curling melodrama.” Having to write weekly single‐line summaries of each Broadway show, he once summed up Abie's Irish Rose, which he hated, as “Hebrews 13:8.” A look at the Bible revealed the reference was to the line “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” He also contributed sketches to The 49ers (1922) and The Music Box Revue, 1923–24, and collaborated with Fred Thompson on the libretto to Smarty (1927), which was rewritten without him as Funny Face. In the Music Box Revue he also performed his famous skit, “The Treasurer's Report.” Biography: Robert Benchley: His Life and Good Times, Babette Rosmond, 1970.