It sounds like Jack didn't have a chance to test out the "money/life" routine, as the story leaves the impression the crooks were caught before it happened.
This story is from March 2, 1940
Plot to Rob Jack Benny Frustrated
BEVERLY HILLS, Cal.—(AP)—Two youths arrested in a parked car near the home of Radio Comedian Jack Benny and his wife, Mary Livingston, were quoted yesterday by Police Chief W.W. White as confessing a plot to hold up the radio stars.
White identified the youths as Thomas Anthony Adams, 20, and Paul Lawrence McCarthy, both of Chicago.
The officer said he found guns, handkerchief masks and adhesive tape in their car Friday night. A guide map on which the homes of the Bennys, former Actress Marion Davies and Screen Star Tyrone Power had been circled in pencil was discovered in the youths' apartment, he added. He booked them on suspicion of robbery.
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