Benchley, Robert, 1889-1945

Known for as the humorist's humorist, Robert Charles Benchley was bron in Worcester, Massachusets on September 15, 1889 to Maria Jane Moran and Charles Henry Benchley. Benchley attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusets starting in 1908 and completed his degree in 1913. He earned his first notable position at Vanity Fair in 1919 as the managing editor. After quiting to protest the firing of Dorothy Parker, Benchley joined Life magazine as a drama critic from 1920 to 1929. During this period, he began writing and publishing his essays, which earned him a position as a regular contributor to The New Yorker in 1925. He is known for his work on film screenplays, as an actor, as a radio personality, but most of all, as an essayist.

Benchley married Gertrude Darling in Worcester on June 6, 1914. The couple met in high school and were engaged by their senior year at Harvard. They had two sons, Nathaniel Goddard (1915-1981) and Robert Charles Benchley Jr. (1919-1988). Benchley died in Manhattan, New York City, New York of cirrhosis of the liver on November 21, 1945.

Sources:

Genealogy files about "Robert Charles Benchley." Accessed on November 30, 2021 on FamilySearch.org.

"Robert Benchley." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 17, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Benchley.