Speak up in Class Macaulay Culkin

Language level: Pre-intermediate

Standard accent: American accent

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

 

Macaulay Culkin became a movie start when he was 10. In 1990 he starred in Home Alone. The film made $ 285 at the box office in the United States. Macaulay only received $ 100.000, but two years later, in Home Alone 2:  Lost in New York, he received $ 4,5 million. Two years later he starred in Richie Rich and his salary was & 8 million. He was “the biggest star since Shirley Temple.” But Richie Rich was a flop and, after other flops, Macaulay Culkin stopped acting. He also hadproblems with drugs. He married Rachel Miner when he was 18, but they divorced two years later. Macaulay’s career seemed finished, but today he is acting again.

MY FRIEND MICHAEL

The recent death of Michael Jackson has shown that the adult life of a child star can be tragic. Macaulay Culkin was a good friend of Michael Jackson and he is the godfather of his son. Macaulay once said: “Michael’s still a kid. I’m still a kid. We’re both going to be about eight years old forever in some place because we never had a chance to be eight.”

DAD

Like Michael Jackson, Macaulay had a difficult relationship with his father. His father, Christopher Culkin, was also a child actor. He later became Macaulay’s manager, but he wasn’t a good one: today they don’t talk. When Christopher separated from Macaulay’s mother they went to war over their son’s money. Macaulay’s mother, Patricia Brentrup, won.

COMEBACK

Macaulay didn’t work between 1994 and 2003. In 2003 he played Michael Alig in Party Monster and in 2004 he acted in the bizarre comedy, Saved! He also worked ontelevision and he has found happiness in his private life: he is a relationship with actress Mila Kunis. Today he seems happy. He has an estimated fortune of $ 17 million, so he doesn’t need to work!

Source: SPEAKUP MAGAZINE

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? MACAULAY CULKIN (A2) – Issue 280

GETTING STARTED.

TASK 1. Speaking. With your partner(s) discuss these questions.

a) Do you remember Macaulay Culkin? Who is/was he?

b) Why was he famous?

c) How old is he now?

d) Where do you think he is now and what is he doing?

e) Are there any famous “child actors” in Brazil? Give examples.

LISTENING

TASK 2. Prediction. Before you listen, discuss these questions with your partner(s). What are the correct answers? If you don’t know, guess.

1. Was Macaulay Culkin rich when he was a child?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

2. Did he have a good relationship with his family?

a. Yes

b. Only the mother

c. Only the father

3. How is Macaulay Culkin today?

a. Rich and unhappy

b. Poor and happy

c. Rich and happy

TASK 3. Listening for Specific Information. Listen (without reading) to all of the recording and answer the questions from TASK 2:

Check your answers before completing the reading TASKS.

READING

TASK 4. Prediction #2. Before you read all of the article, discuss the possible answers to these questions with your partner(s). Make some notes.

a)    How old was Macaulay when he made “Home Alone?”

b)    How was “Richie Rich” different from “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2”? (2 reasons)

c)    What does Macaulay have in common with Michael Jackson?

d)    What does Macaulay have in common with his father?

e)    What did Macaulay do between 1994 and 2003?

TASK 5: Reading for Specific and Detailed Information: Read all of the text and answer the questions to TASK 4.

K.E.T. EXAM PRACTICE

(Paper 1: Reading and Writing Paper, PART 7)

TASK 6.

Complete this letter.

Write ONE word for each space (41 to 50)

Dear Peter

I hope you are well.

I'm (41) _____ holiday in the USA.

I’m staying in (42) ____ small town by (43) ____ seaside with an American family. They are very nice.  Last week my friend and (44)  ____ went to  (45) ____  beach and we saw the famous actor, Macaulay Culkin.  Do you remember (46) ________? He  (47) ______  in the movie “Home Alone.”

Have you seen (48) _____ ?

What about you? Have you got (49) ______ plans?   (50) ____  are you doing tomorrow?

Best wishes

Michael

WRITING

TASK 7. Write a short answer to this question.

“Is it morally correct to encourage children to be actors or singers? Why (not)?”

www.manythings.org/voa/people

Jessica Tandy, 1909-1994: She Performed in More Than 100 Plays and Movies

I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Rich Kleinfeldt with the Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

Today, we tell the story of Jessica Tandy who died in nineteen ninety-four. She won many awards for her acting during the almost seventy years she performed.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy probably is best known for winning an Academy Award in nineteen eighty-nine for the movie "Driving Miss Daisy. " She was the oldest person to have won the award. But for many years, she had received praise for her great performances.

Tandy appeared in more than one hundred stage shows, twenty-five movies and on many television programs during her sixty-seven years of acting. Most of her performances were in the United States, although she did not become an American citizen until nineteen fifty-four.

Jessica Tandy was born in London, England in nineteen-oh-nine. Her father died when she was twelve years old. Her mother taught and took other jobs at night to make extra money for her three children.

Jessica's older brothers showed an interest in the theater. They would put on shows in their London home. Jessica said later that she was terrible in all of them. But she said taking part in those plays as a child created a desire in her to be someone else.

Jessica loved going to the theater. And she loved British writer William Shakespeare. Years later, she acted in many of Shakespeare's plays, with great actors like John Gielgud and Lawrence Olivier.

This love of the theater led her to attend an acting school in nineteen twenty-four. When she was eighteen years old, she performed in her first play. It was called "The Manderson Girls." She did not earn enough money to pay for the five different dresses she had to wear in the play. She solved the problem by sewing them herself.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy always thought she was plain-looking. So did most theater professionals. She said people in the theater knew she was a good actress, but did not believe she was pretty enough to be a success. She noted that they said: "She is plain but on the stage she looks all right. "

Pictures of Jessica Tandy do not suggest that this is true. She just looked different from the leading women actors of the day. Later, she said that it was good that she was not considered pretty. She said she got more interesting parts that way.

In nineteen thirty-two, critics in London recognized her great acting skill in her performance in the play "Children in Uniform." That part gave her what she said was one of the moments she loved most in the theater. She said at one performance, people watching were so moved they continued to sit quietly when the play ended.

That same year, she married actor Jack Hawkins. They had a daughter, Susan. Tandy continued to work in the theater in London. By nineteen forty, her marriage was ending. So she took her daughter and moved to the United States to escape World War Two. In New York City, she met a young actor named Hume Cronyn. Two years later they married and moved to Hollywood. By nineteen forty-five, they had two children.

In California, Hume Cronyn was getting good parts in movies. But Tandy was not. She got only small parts, when she got them at all. She said the producers in Hollywood did not take her seriously as an actress. She began to feel like a failure.

Jessica Tandy was considering not acting anymore. But then her husband did something that changed her life. He gave her the lead part in a play he was directing in Los Angeles. It was "Portrait of a Madonna" by Tennessee Williams. She played a lonely woman. Critics praised her.

Tennessee Williams came to Los Angeles from New York just to see her in the show. He said later that he knew he had found the actress to play the lead in his new play, "A Streetcar Named Desire. "

That play opened in New York in nineteen forty-seven. Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter were the stars. It won a Pulitzer Prize and many other awards. Tandy won the first of her four Tony awards for best actress in a play. One director said that she was full of surprises. He said that she always did things better than expected.

(MUSIC)

During the nineteen fifties, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn began working together in theaters in New York City. Their first appearance together in a major Broadway theater was the hit play "The Fourposter. " Through the years, they appeared together in nine other plays on Broadway, including "A Delicate Balance," "The Gin Game" and "Foxfire. " Their last Broadway appearance together was in "The Petition" in nineteen eighty-six.

Tandy also worked with her husband in local theaters across the United States. They liked doing it because they had a chance to play parts in the older well-known plays.

In nineteen sixty-three, for example, Miss Tandy played Gertrude in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Olga in Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters," and the wife of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." She also acted in plays in the Shakespeare festivals in Stratford, Connecticut and in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

Jessica Tandy said she hated seeing herself in the movies. She said she never was as satisfied making movies as she was working in the theater. But she thought it was important to accept the acting jobs that were offered. It helped pay expenses when she performed in small theaters for less pay.

Tandy played Hume Cronyn's wife in four movies during the nineteen eighties, including "Cocoon" and "Batteries not Included." In nineteen ninety-two, she played an old woman in the movie, "Fried Green Tomatoes. " But she never really thought of herself as a movie actress. Perhaps that was because of her experience earlier when she was not accepted in Hollywood.

Even after her success in the play "A Streetcar Named Desire," Hollywood producers did not choose her to be in the movie. Vivien Leigh replaced her in the part of Blanche Dubois. Tandy said she was surprised when she won the Academy Award for "Driving Miss Daisy." She said then that the wonderful part she had made up for her lack of experience in movies.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn were married for fifty-two years. During their years of acting together, they won almost every cultural award possible. In nineteen eighty-six, they won the Kennedy center lifetime achievement award. In nineteen ninety, President George Bush presented the National Medal of Art to them. A few months before she died, Tandy and Cronyn were honored with a special Tony Award for their work in the Broadway theater.

Reporters always were asking them how they were able to work so closely together for so long. Tandy said they never discussed their work at home. She said they always honored each other's ideas if they did not agree about something.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy suffered from stage fright that became worse as she grew older. It made her feel sick before a performance. Yet her husband said she was at her best when she was working. She was in great demand as she grew older. Tandy took good parts and bad ones. She always said a person is richer for doing things. If you wait for the greatest part, you will wait a long time and your skills will decrease, she said. You cannot be an actor without acting.

Tandy was an actor until the end. She had problems with her eyes and her heart. Yet they did not slow her down. In nineteen eighty-eight, she won an Emmy Award for a television movie of the play "Foxfire. "

Three years later, Jessica Tandy had a cancer operation. But she continued working. She did not let her pain lessen the effectiveness of her performance. She appeared in more television movies in the years before her death. And she made several movies that were released after she died September eleventh, nineteen ninety-four. She was eighty-five.

Jessica Tandy said as an actor her job was getting the best out of what the writer expressed in the play or movie. The critics said she did. They said she always was able to show deep meaning in the people she played. One critic wrote that she was such a good actor that only poets, not critics, should be permitted to write about her.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: Pre-intermediate

Speaker: Chuck Rolando and Jason Birminghan 

Standard accent: American

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera. The film version came out in 1973 and it is a “cult movie.” Texan actor Ted Neeley played Jesus Christ: 38 years later he is still playing Jesus in the stage version.

 THE ALBUM

The first version of Jesus Christ Superstar came out in 1970. It was an album or “LP” (Long-playing record) Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music and Tim Rice wrote the words, or lyrics. Llyord Webber has written many popular musicals and today he is one of the richest people in Britain. His official title is “Baron Llyord Webber.” Tim Rice is now “Sir Timothy Rice.” Ian Gillian sang the part of Jesus Christ on the album in 1970 he was the lead singer of the rock group Deep Purple he still is today.

THE MUSICAL

In 1971 Jesus Christ Superstar became a musical on stage. It was a show on New York’s Broadway. Critics were negative and religious groups hated it, but the public like it. It closed in 1973, after 711 performances. The show also played on London’s West End. It opened in 1972 and closed after eight years. This was a record.

THE MOVIE

Canadian Norman Jewison directed the film. He’s about to celebrate his 84^th birthday. Englishman Melvyn Bragg wrote the screenplay. In 1978 Bragg presented The South Bank Show, a new TV arts programme. It closed in 2010, after 32 years.

The cast of Jesus Christ Superstar included an American singer Carl Anderson, who played Judas Iscariot. Carl Anderson was black and some people didn’t like this: a black Judas Iscariot seemed racist. But it wasn’t a problem for Anderson: he played Judas in the stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar many years later. Unfortunately, he died of Leukemia in 2004. Originally, Ted Neeley wanted to play Judas Iscariot, but he played Jesus. Neeley is still playing Jesus. In the stage version today.  He is 67. He said in a recent interview. “in the show I say. My name is nearly through. That ‘s me in life. I don’t know how much time I’ve got. 

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Speakup in Class, Remembering Paul Newman

Before do the exercises, I posted again, just listen to the podcast and do the lesson, good luck. 

Remembering Paul Newman

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Advanced

Speaker: Chuck Rollando

Standard: American accent

As you know, Hollywood legend Paul Newman died in 2008 at the age of 83. Yet he was more than just a film star: he was also a racing driver and a political activist who said he felt proud when he learnt that he was number 19 on Richard Nixon’s enemies list. More importantly, he was philanthropist whose “Newman’s Own” food company gave more than $200 million to charity.

As a tribute to him, here are some excerpts from an interview he gave in 2006, when he was promoting one of his last films, the animated feature Cars, for which he provided the voice of Doc Hudson. Newman was asked what was the secret to making a good movie:

Paul Newman

(Standard: American accent)

Well, there are so many ingredients that go into making a film. That’s one of the reasons, incidentally, why I like racing. I mean, it’s a very simple sense of winning. It’s down to a thousandth of a second now, and electronically, and that’s a very uncomplicated conclusion. There’s so many things that go into making a film: the director, the actors that you’re working with, the time that you have to rehearse, whether you catch up with a character in time.

There are so many different ingredients that go into making a performance. It’s pretty hard to tell which performer performed the best. Somebody may have started out with a piece of junk and brought it up to past mediocrity so that it was pretty damn good. And another guy starts out with a beautiful script, a deliciously-defined character, a marvelous director, a comfortable schedule, he’s got everything going for him: I would give the credit to the guy in front of him.

THE EARLY DAYS OF TV

Newman then reminisced about his experiences in the 1950s, when he worked in television:

Paul Newman:

Live television, in those days, was really exciting because you didn’t have a hell of a lost time to work on things, and if there was a mistake made, it was not retrievable by having another take. So I think that working under that kind of pressure was a good experience for any actor; and some funny thing happened, too. Sets felt down. I can remember Walter Cronkite in a thing  called You Are There and Joana of Arc was being burned at the stake and the fire began to crackle and then they cut away to Walter Cronkite in the 20^th century setting and said, “And you were there.” And, little by little, the smoke from the set started to filter into the broadcast room and there was Walter!

GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66

Newman then talked about the time he and his wife, Joanne Woodward, drove along Route 66, the famous road which provided the setting for Cars:

Paul Newman:

Actually, we started up north and we drove to Las Vegas. And it said “All you can eat for a-buck-and-a-quarter,” I think. And we went into these casinos and the spreads were extraordinary; I mean, fresh shrimp – I’m talking 1951 –fresh shrimp and lobster, and a table laid out lie you’d never seen before. And we had a lovely meal and then Joanne put 160 bucks in the slot machine and I lost about $400 playing blackjack. So that meal was not really a-buck-and-a-quarter!

COMMITMENT

In conclusion Newman was asked what advice he had for the many people who felt disillusioned with politics:

Paul Newman:

Be engaged. I was campaigning at the University of Cincinnati and they admitted with a certain amount of shame that the students there, only 19 per cent of the eligible students had voted in the 2004 election. But they had taken polls, the polls had looked good, but the kids were on cell phones and they weren’t being polled and the figures were going to be staggering because the kids were engaged. Figures came out: 19 per cent. So, if people who have the privilege of voting don’t vote, then you have to ask if…if they’re really getting what they deserve. We have less of a percentage of eligible voters voting then vote in Iraq. I think that’s shameful.

So, if people get engaged, they can make the changes: they don’t get engaged, then we just have a chauffeurup there motoring us wherever he wants to go, instead of us, you know, giving the directions.

BEFORE YOU READ.

TASK 1. Speaking. With your partner(s) discuss these questions.

a)    Do you like movies? Why (not)?

b)    What are your favourite movies? Why?

c)    What types of movie do you hate? Why?

d)    Do you like the movies with Paul Newman? Why (not)?

e)    Do you think Paul Newman was a good actor or was he overrated? Why ?

f)    Do you think the world will ever see a movie star like Paul Newman again? Why (not)?

TASK 2. Glossary. It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the vocabulary in the glossary before you do the reading TASKS. Work with your partner(s). Try this idea:

a) Cover the Portuguese words/phrases and look at the English words/expressions only. Do you know any of these words/expressions in English? Write your ideas. Check them with other members of the class.

b) Look at the glossary and check your ideas. How many are correct?

c) Test yourself and/or your partner(s). It is not important to memorise the vocabulary, but to be familiar with it. 

READING

a)TASK 3.  Prediction. Work with your partners and answer these questions. Make notes. If you don’t know, guess!

b)

1. When did Paul Newman die:
2. How old was he:
3. What was he famous for? (4 answers?	Ph____________
	P__________ A_____________
	F___________S_____________
	R___________D____________

TASK 4.  Reading for Specific Information.

Now read the very first paragraph as quickly as you can. How many answers did you know/guess correctly?

TASK 5. Reading for Detailed information. Now read all of the article/interview with Paul Newman (2006) and answer these questions:

a)    How easy/difficult does Paul Newman think making a movie is, and why?

b)    Are Paul Newman’s memories of his early days in TV essentially positive or negative, and why?

c)    Why did a meal at Las Vegas not cost Paul Newman $1.25? What happened? 

d)    What is Paul Newman’s view on voting, particularly amongst young people?

AFTER YOU READ

TASK 6. Speaking and writing. Discuss some/all of these questions with your partner(s). If you like, you can write your opinions for homework and show them to your teacher.

a)    How much of the information in this interview/article was new to you?

b)    Has your opinion of Paul Newman changed since reading this article? Why (not)?

c)    Do you think all famous people should be philanthropists? Why (not)?

d)    Do you think everyone in a democracy should vote? Why (not)?

e)    Are famous people in your country politically active? What do you think of this?

Jack Benny, 1894-1974: He Won Hearts Mostly by Making Fun of Himself

Source: http://www.manythings.org/voa/people

I'm Sarah Long. And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

Today, we tell the story of Jack Benny. He was one of America's best-loved funnymen during the twentieth century.

(MUSIC)

Jack Benny was one of the most famous names in show business for more than fifty years. He started as a serious musician, before he discovered he could make people laugh.

Jack Benny became famous nationwide in the nineteen thirties as a result of his weekly radio program. His programs were among the most popular on American radio, and later on television.

Jack Benny won the hearts of Americans by making fun of himself. He was known not as someone who said funny things, but as someone who said things in a funny way.

Jack Benny was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February fourteenth, eighteen ninety-four. His parents, Meyer and Emma Kubelsky, were religious Jews. They had moved to the United States from eastern Europe. They named their first child Benjamin.

Benjamin Kubelsky and his family lived in Waukeegan , Illinois. Benjamin was a quiet boy. For much of the time, his parents were busy working in his father's store. As a child, Benjamin, or Benny as his friends called him, learned to play the violin. Benny was such a good violin player that, for a time, he wanted to become a musician.

While in school, Benny got a job as a violin player with the Barrison Theater, the local vaudeville house. Vaudeville was the most popular form of show business in the United States in the early nineteen hundreds. Vaudeville shows presented short plays, singers, comedians who made people laugh and other acts.

Benny worked at the Barrison Theater -- sometimes during school hours. He left high school before completing his studies. The piano player for the theater was a former vaudeville performer named Cora Salisbury. For a short time, she and Benny formed their own performing act. Later, he and another piano player had their own act.

At first, Benny changed his name to Ben K. Benny. However, that name was similar to another actor who played a violin. So, he chose the name Jack Benny.

(MUSIC)

The United States entered World War One in nineteen seventeen. Benny joined the Navy and reported to the Great Lakes Naval Station. He continued using his violin to perform for sailors at the naval station. In one show, he was chosen more for his funny jokes than for his skill with the violin. That experience made him believe that his future job was as a comedian, not in music.

After leaving the Navy, Benny returned to vaudeville. His performances won him considerable popularity during the nineteen twenties. He traveled across the country with other well-known performers, including the Marx Brothers.

In Nineteen Twenty-Seven, Benny married Sadie Marks, a sales girl from the May Company store in Los Angeles. Mrs. Benny soon became part of the traveling show. She used the name Mary Livingstone.

Jack Benny appeared in a few Hollywood films, but then left California and moved to New York. He had a leading part in the Broadway show, "Vanities."

Benny made his first appearance on radio in Nineteen Thirty-Two. He was invited to appear on a radio show presented by newspaper reporter Ed Sullivan. Benny opened with this announcement:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jack Benny talking. There will be a short break while you say, who cares?"

However, many listeners did care. Within a short period, Benny had his own radio show. It continued for twenty-three years.

ANNOUNCER: "The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Rochester, Dennis Day, and yours truly, Don Wilson ... "

(MUSIC)

Jack Benny developed a show business personality that had all the qualities people dislike. He was known for being so stingy he refused to spend any of his money, unless forced to do so. He always was concerned about money. For example, he would put on a jeweler's glass to examine the diamond on a wealthy woman he had just met.

In another example, a robber points a gun at Benny.

(JACK BENNY PROGRAM)

ROBBER: "This is a stick-up."

BENNY: "Mr. , put down that gun."

ROBBER: "Shut up. I said this is a stick-up. Now, come on. Your money or your life."

(LAUGHTER)

ROBBER: "Look, bud. I said, your money or your life!"

BENNY: "I'm thinking it over."

(LAUGHTER / MUSIC)

On his shows, Jack Benny often spoke of his appearance, especially his baby blue eyes. As he grew older, he always claimed to be thirty-nine years old.

Benny was known as a comedian with great timing. He seemed to know the perfect time to tell a joke and when to remain silent. The way he looked at other actors and his use of body movements were world famous. He also was skilled at using his violin to make people laugh.

Jack Benny was one of the first comedians who was willing to let other people share some of the laughs. He rarely made jokes that hurt other people. Instead, he would let the other actors on the show tell jokes about him.

Many of the actors in Benny's show became almost as famous as he was. They would criticize Benny's refusal to replace his ancient automobile. They made fun of the pay telephone that he added to his house.

This is a telephone discussion between Benny and his trusted employee, Rochester.

BENNY: "Hello …"

ROCHESTER: "Hello, Mr. Benny. This is Rochester …"

(APPLAUSE)

BENNY: "Rochester, I'm in the middle of the program."

ROCHESTER: "I know, boss, but this is very important. The man from the life insurance company was here about that policy you're taking out and he asked me a lot of questions."

BENNY: "Well, I hope you answered them right."

ROCHESTER: "Oh, I did. When he asked me your height, I said five-foot-ten."

BENNY: "Uh, huh."

ROCHESTER: "Your weight, one-hundred-sixty-four."

BENNY: "Uh, huh."

ROCHESTER: "Your age, thirty-nine."

BENNY: "Uh, huh."

ROCHESTER: "We had quite a roundtable discussion on that one."

(LAUGHTER)

BENNY: "Wait a minute, Rochester. Why should there be any question about my age?"

ROCHESTER: "Oh, it wasn't a question. It was the answer we had trouble with."

(LAUGHTER)

Jack Benny said: "The show itself is the important thing. As long as people think the show is funny, it does not matter who tells the jokes." He also made fun of the paid announcements broadcast during his radio show that were designed to sell products. They often provided some of the funniest moments in the show.

Most performers never would make fun of the businesses that helped pay for the show.

Over the years, Jack Benny did well financially. In nineteen forty-eight, he moved his show from the National Broadcasting Company to the Columbia Broadcasting System. As part of the agreement, CBS paid more than two million dollars to a company in which Benny had a controlling interest.

Much later, the Music Corporation of America bought Benny's production company. Benny received almost three million dollars in MCA stock shares.

In real life, he was the opposite of the person he played in his show. He was known to be very giving and someone people liked having as their employer. He also could play the violin very well.

Jack Benny entered the new medium of television in nineteen fifty. Five years later, he dropped his radio program to spend more time developing his television show. At first, his appearances on television were rare. By nineteen sixty, the Benny show was a weekly television program. It continued until nineteen sixty-five.

Benny appeared in about twenty films during his life. A few became popular. But most were not. In nineteen sixty-three, Benny returned to Broadway for the first time since nineteen thirty-one. He performed to large crowds.

Jack Benny received many awards during his lifetime. The publication "Motion Picture Daily" voted him the country's best radio comedian four times. In nineteen fifty-seven, he won a special award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the best continuing performance. He also won the Academy's television award for the best comedy series in nineteen fifty-nine.

Perhaps the one honor that pleased him most was that his hometown of Waukeegan named a school for him. This was a special honor for a man who had never finished high school.

Jack Benny continued to perform and to do a few television specials after his weekly series ended. He died of cancer on December twenty-sixth, nineteen seventy-four. His friend, comedian Bob Hope, spoke at the funeral about the loss felt by Benny's friends and fans. He said: "Jack Benny was stingy to the end. He gave us only eighty years."

(MUSIC)

This Special English program was written by and produced by George Grow. I'm Sarah Long. And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.