Robert Benchley
(1889–1945)

By producing a vast number of humorous essays that generally focused on ordinary situations, Robert Benchley established himself as one of the most popular and most prolific humorists of the modern age.

Benchley was born in Massachusetts and educated at Harvard. Following his graduation, he went into journalism and eventually became the managing editor of the respected magazine Vanity Fair. Later in his career, he served as the drama critic for both Life and The New Yorker.

During the course of his life, Benchley produced a large number of collections of essays, including Pluck and Luck (1925); 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or David Copperfield (1928); From Bed to Worse, or How They Grew (1936); and Benchley Beside Himself (1943). Following his death, Benchley's work remained popular, and a number of posthumous collections were published. These books include Chips off the Old Benchley (1949) and The Benchley Round-Up (1954).

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z