Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley (1889–1945) was an American humorist, actor and drama critic. A HarvardHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private research university in Massachusetts, established by the Massachusetts Bay Colony legislature in 1636 and named in 1639 for early benefactor John Harvard. Its principal campuses are in Cambridge and the Allston and Longwood neighborhoods of Boston. It includes Harvard College, graduate and professional schools, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Two governing boards share oversight. Alan M. Garber was president as of October 2026, and the endowment stood at $56.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2025.Open the full entry graduate, he was managing editor of Vanity FairVanity FairVanity Fair is a magazine and digital media brand owned by Condé Nast, covering politics, business, arts and culture, entertainment and fashion. The title traces back to Dress & Vanity Fair in 1913, ceased publication in 1936 and was relaunched in 1983; it has since built a historical digital archive and hosts events such as its Oscar party.Open the full entry in 1919 and later drama critic for Life and The New Yorker, and a member of the Algonquin Round Table; he made more than 40 short films, including How to Sleep (1935), which won the Academy Award for best live-action short.
Contents6 sections
Key facts
1889Born in Worcester
Robert Benchley was born in Worcester, MassachusettsMassachusettsMassachusetts (officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States; its capital and largest city is Boston. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on February 6, 1788, the sixth state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 7,029,917.Open the full entry, on September 15, 1889, and graduated from Harvard University.[1]
1919–1940Vanity Fair, Life and The New Yorker
In 1919 he was managing editor of Vanity Fair, working with Robert E. SherwoodRobert E. SherwoodRobert E. Sherwood (1896–1955) was an American playwright who was drama editor of Vanity Fair in 1919–20 and later editor of the humor magazine Life; his plays include The Road to Rome, The Petrified Forest, Idiot’s Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois and There Shall Be No Night. He wrote speeches for Franklin D. Roosevelt, directed the overseas branch of the Office of War Information during World War II, and wrote the Academy Award–winning film The Best Years of Our Lives.Open the full entry and Dorothy ParkerDorothy ParkerDorothy Parker (1893–1967) was an American short-story writer, poet, screenwriter and critic known for her witty and often acerbic remarks, and one of the founders of the Algonquin Round Table. She joined Vogue in 1916 and became drama critic of Vanity Fair in 1917, leaving in 1920; her verse collection Enough Rope was a best-seller, her story “Big Blonde” won the 1929 O. Henry Award, and she co-wrote the film A Star Is Born (1937).Open the full entry. After leaving Vanity Fair he was drama critic for Life from 1920 to 1929, began writing for The New Yorker in 1925 and was its drama critic from 1929 to 1940, also writing the column “The Wayward Press” under the pseudonym Guy Fawkes. He was a member of the Algonquin Round Table.[1]
From 1928Films
His monologue “The Treasurer’s Report” became one of cinema’s first all-talking short subjects. He acted in and sometimes wrote short films, including The Sex Life of a Polyp (1928), How to Sleep (1935; Academy Award for best live-action short) and The Romance of Digestion (1937), making more than 40 shorts in all and appearing in supporting roles in about 50 feature films.[1]
Writing and Reputation
His essays were collected in 15 books, including Of All Things! and Pluck and Luck; admired by fellow humorists such as E. B. White and James Thurber, he was called “the humorist’s humorist.” He died in New York City on November 21, 1945.[1]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Vanity Fair: Official website: https://www.vanityfair.com/ (opens in a new window).[2]