Background
Benchley, Robert Charles was born on September 15, 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Charles Henry and Jane (Moran) Benchley.
Benchley, Robert Charles was born on September 15, 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Charles Henry and Jane (Moran) Benchley.
Bachelor of Arts, Harvard, 1912.
After World War I he became managing editor of Vanity Fair, where he was associated with Robert E. Sherwood and Dorothy Parker. From 1920 to 1929 he was drama critic for Life, and in 1929 became drama editor for The New Yorker. Benchley was first recognized as a humorist and actor when he appeared in his skit The Treasurer's Report in a 1922 revue No, Sirree. In 1928 The Treasurer's Report was produced as a motion picture and inaugurated a long series of Benchley one-reel comedies, such as The Sex Life of the Polyp and How to Sleep. In 1936, the latter film received an award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the best short motion picture of the year. Although Benchley was known for his work in motion pictures, his writings constitute his most lasting achievement. Several collections of his pieces, which had first appeared in The New Yorker and other magazines, ranked as best-sellers. His principal books, supplemented by Gluyas Williams' caricatures, include Of All Things (1922), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: or, David Copperfield (1928), From Bed to Worse: or, Comforting Thoughts About the Bison (1934), My Ten Years in a Quandry and How They Grew (1936), Inside Benchley (1942), and a selection of favorites, Benchley Roundup (1954).
Clubs: Century, Coffee House, Harvard, Players.
Married Gertrude Darling, June 6, 1914. Children: Nathaniel Goddard and Robert, Junior.