Ben Blue

Biography

Ben Blue was a movie and TV comedian born on September 12, 1901, in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Emigrating to the US, he became a dance instructor and dance school owner, as well as a nightclub proprietor. He began his film career in short subjects for Warner Brothers in 1926, and later worked at the Hal Roach Studios, Paramount and MGM. He also, like his The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) co-star Bob Hope, was a radio comedian. In 1950 he had his own TV series, The Ben Blue Show (1950), and was a regular on The Frank Sinatra Show (1950). In 1951 Blue began concentrating on managing and appearing in the nightclubs he owned in Hollywood and San Francisco. He made the cover of "TV Guide"'s June 11, 1954, Special Issue along with Alan Young, headlining an edition featuring that season's summer replacement shows. He made a handful of appearances on Ed Sullivan's The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) variety series in 1956 and 1957, and appeared sporadically on other shows, including The Jack Benny Program (1950) in 1960. In 1958 he shot a pilot for a proposed CBS series, "Ben Blue's Brothers," but it was not picked up, although the pilot was later shown in 1965. Coming out of his self-imposed near-retirement with a bit part in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Blue began making cameo appearances in movie comedies. He also had a regular role on Jerry Van Dyke's short-lived TV series Accidental Family (1967). He made his last appearance on film in the Doris Day comedy Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968) and his last TV appearance on Land of the Giants (1968) in 1969. He died in 1975, and his career papers covering the years 1935 to 1955 were deposited in the Special Collections at the UCLA Library.