Artie Auerbach

"[6][7] When Auerbach began to find work as a comedian, he didn't quit the newspaper, but simply took a leave of absence.

However, even by 1941, despite then appearing regularly on various radio programs, he still felt insecure about his future in show business and asked his newspaper for his seventh consecutive leave of absence.

[8] Auerbach's career in show business began when he was discovered by Phil Baker who loved his dialect humor.

[4] Baker introduced Auerbach to Lew Brown, and in 1934 he made his stage debut in the Broadway revue Calling All Stars as a hillbilly.

[10] His work included a regular role on CBS' The Wonder Show (whose sponsor was Wonder Bread) with Lucille Ball, Gale Gordon, and Jack Haley in 1938,[4][11] and appearing as Mr. Kitzel on both The Abbott and Costello Show and in the 1943 film Here Comes Elmer, which featured the cast of the Al Pearce radio program.

The Jack Benny Program had previously included a Yiddish-accented character, "Shlepperman," played by Sam Hearn, but it was discontinued in the late 1930s.

In 1946 this catch phrase was turned into a novelty song written by Jack Benny Program writer John Tackaberry and songwriter Carl Sigman, featuring Auerbach as the singer.

[20] A typical Benny-Kitzel exchange:[21] Artie Auerbach was born in New York City of Polish Jewish descent.

A young actress, Manning achieved some notoriety when she made her screen debut by being kissed by Clark Gable in the 1941 film Honky Tonk.

[5] On October 3, 1957, Artie Auerbach died of a heart attack at 54 years of age in Van Nuys, California.

[28] On the day of his death, Auerbach had been scheduled to begin rehearsals for a part on the Jack Benny television show.