Person Detail: Robert Charles Benchley

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General Information:
Full Name: Robert Charles Benchley
Biography: (1889-1945) Writer, journalist, humorist. Robert Benchley was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, lived at the McBurney YMCA, 215 West 23rd Street, New York, New York, in 1912; he also lived at the Gramercy Court, East 22nd Street, and at 536 Madison Avenue, New York, New York. He spent his boyhood summers in Nyack, New York. He was a member of the Algonquin Hotel's Round Table. Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, where he was editor of the Lampoon, Benchley early showed his comic bent. As a writer he became famous for his inspired nonsense, and his short pieces in newspaper columns and magazines like The New Yorker, on which he was dramatic critic from 1929-1940, which were collected in book form. He first appeared on the professional stage in 1923, doing a monologue entitled "The Treasurer's Report," and "Other Aspects of Community Singing," which was an instant hit, and in 1929 he began to be seen in movie shorts and revues. His specialty was the portrayal of a confused and ordinary little man who laughed at his own misfortunes. One of his films called "How to Sleep" won an award for the best movie short of 1936. After 1937 he was a popular master of ceremonies on radio broadcasts. He lived from 1920 to 1945 at 2 Lywood Road, Scarsdale, New York. He was the father of novelist Nathaniel Benchley and grandfather of novelist Peter Benchley.
Author's Timeline:
1920		Westchester County Mr. Benchley lived from 1920 to 1945 at 2 Lywood Road, Scarsdale, New York.
1919		New York County Mr. Benchley lived in New York City and was a member of the Algonquin Hotel's Round Table.
1889		(Unknown) County Robert Charles Benchley was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1889.
1945		New York County Robert Benchley died in New York, New York, in 1945.
1921		(Unknown) County Of All Things (Pub: Henry Holt & Company ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1922		(Unknown) County Love Conquers All (Pub: Henry Holt & Company ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1927		(Unknown) County The Early Worm (Pub: Henry Holt & Company ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1934		(Unknown) County From Bed to Worse or Comforting Thoughts About the Bison (Pub: Harper and Brothers ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1936		(Unknown) County My Ten Years in a Quandary and How They Grew (Pub: Harper and Brothers ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1942		(Unknown) County Inside Benchley (Pub: Harper and Brothers ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1945		(Unknown) County One Minute, Please (Pub: Dennis Dobson ISBN: )
1943		(Unknown) County Benchley Beside Himself (Pub: Harper and Brothers ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1925		(Unknown) County Pluck And Luck (Pub: Henry Holt & Company ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1932		(Unknown) County No Poems, Or Around The World Backwards and Sideways (Pub: Harper and Brothers ISBN: ) Collection of essays.
1945		(Unknown) County Robert Charles Benchley was interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery, Nantucket, Nantucket County, Massachusetts.
?		Rockland County Mr. Benchley spent his boyhood summers in Nyack, New York.