| Artie "Mr. Kitzel" Auerbach | |
| Birth name | Arthur Auerbach |
| Born | May 17, 1903 New York City, NY |
| Died | September 3, 1957 (aged 54) Van Nuys, California |
| Show | Jack Benny Show |
| Style | Comedian |
| Country | United States |
Arthur (Artie) Auerbach (May 17, 1903 - October 3,
1957), was an American comic actor and professional photographer
who became famous as “Mr. Kitzel”, first on the Al Pearce radio show in
1937 then as a regular on the Jack Benny radio show for 12 years. He also
worked with Phil Baker
before joining the Jack Benny Show.[1][2]
Artie Auerbach had a successful career as a reporter[1] and photographer for the New York tabloid Daily Mirror. Among the more famous stories he covered were the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Hall-Mills murder case.[3] However, Artie Auberach desired to get into show business. He began by telling Yiddish anecdotes for which he became very popular at private parties. He was also a master of some 30 dialects.[3] He was discovered by Phil Baker who loved his dialect humor. Baker introduced Auerbach to Lew Brown who cast him in the Broadway revue Calling All Stars as a hillbilly.[4] He was a regular on the CBS The Wonder Show (the sponsor was Wonder Bread) with Lucille Ball, Gale Gordon and Jack Haley in 1938.[3][5] By 1941, despite appearing regularly on various radio programs, Artie asked his newspaper for his seventh consequetive leave of absence.[6] In 1943 he appeared in the film Here Comes Elmer which featured the cast of the Al Pearce radio program.[7] During World War Two he performed overseas with the USO.[8] However, it was his appearances on the Jack Benny Show for which he became most famous.
Contents |
The Jack Benny Show had previously included a Jewish-accented character, “Shlepperman”, played by Sam Hearn but it was discontinued in the late 1930s. In 1946 Auerbach was hired as a permanent, although only occasional, character, Mr. Kitzel (sometimes spelled “Kitzle”). In January he made his first appearance as a hot dog vendor at the Rose Bowl game Jack was attending where he became famous for the catch phrase "Pickle in the middle and the mustard on top!". In 1946 this catch phrase was turned into a novelty song, written by Jack Benny Show writer John Tackaberry and songwriter Carl Sigman, featuring Auerbach as the singer which became popular in the late 1940s.[9][10] His other catch phrase was the exclamation “ooh ooh, hooo!” usually delivered in response to a question from Jack. Mr. Kitzel was unique among the characters on the show as being the only one not to treat Jack disparagingly.[11] His character moved with the show when it made the transition from radio to television and he continued to appear until his death.[12]
A typical Benny-Kitzel exchange:[13]
In 1938 Lucille Ball, while still a blonde RKO star, interceded to stop a marriage between Auerbach and her cousin Cleo Manning, because she was not of age. They were at the license bureau when Ball persuaded them to wait.[14]
On October 3, 1957 Artie Auerbach died of a heart attack at 54 years of age in Van Nuys, California. He had entered the West Valley Community Hospital the previous day as an emergency patient.[15] He was survived by his wife, Doris, and two sisters.[1][16][17][18]
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