Mary Robbed

[Yhtapmys]

MRS. JACK BENNY ROBBED OF $12,200;
Four Hold-Up Men Enter Hotel Rooms and Bind and Gag Wife of Comedian.
- - -
TAKE HER GEMS AND FUR
- - -
She Is Made Ill by the Experience
[from the New York Times, Dec. 25, 1930]
Jewels and an ermine wrap valued at $12,200 were stolen from Mrs. Sadie Benny, wife of Jack Benny, comedian, by four hold-up men Tuesday night in her suite at the Hotel Park Central, it was said at hotel last night after the police had refused information on the reported theft. A spokesman who would identify himself only as "a friend," said Mrs. Benny was ill as the result of her experience.
The hold-up men entered the suite on the seventeenth floor of the hotel, it was said, while Mrs. Benny was waiting for friends, and bound and gagged her with adhesive tape before departing.
Included in the loot, it was said, were Mrs. Benny's diamond watch, her husband's wrist-watch, three [rings], a solitaire ring, a dinner ring, her wedding ring and a diamond brooch, valued by their owner at about $10,000, and the ermine coat, valued at $2,200. All of the missing articles, it was said, were covered by insurance.
After binding her the robbers placed Mrs. Benny in a closet from which the ermine wrap had been taken and warned her to make no outcry for half an hour, according to the friend s report. When her friends arrived, Mrs. Benny, whose feet had not been bound, made her way to the door and opened it despite the adhesive tape upon her hands. The friends then stripped off the bonds and gag and telephoned to the [police?].

Note, the .pdf scan is a bit off, so a few words are not readable.

Yhtapmys

[shimp scrampi]

Wow, good find. Hadn't heard that story before. Are there any follow-up articles? Did they recover the stuff or did Mary have to spend that insurance check?

Also, just a thought Yht, all these vintage articles are a great research resource - it might be cool to either keep posting them in the same thread, or perhaps identifying them in the subject line as "article:" so they're easier to find and browse on the forum.

[Yhtapmys]

Wow, good find. Hadn't heard that story before. Are there any follow-up articles? Did they recover the stuff or did Mary have to spend that insurance check?

Mary? Spend? She didn't do much of that, did she?

I didn't notice any follow-up. I posted this story simply because I'd never heard it before. I was actually looking for something else.

I suppose I could put an Article header; I've never really thought of it. And I don't really post these often enough to warrant a seperate section of the forum. Someone with admin powers would have to set it up and there are a bunch of things that need tweaking .. not the least of which is PHP has updated its software and doesn't provide support for this version, I understand. Every other board I'm on has switched over.

Yhtapmys

[Mister Kitzel]

I cannot remember reading anything like this in any of the biographies I have read. (I have read three of them, with Irving Fein's book sitting there waiting to be read.) This would be a significant event in one's life.

Is it possible the story could have been created for publicity? Did vaudeville stars do that?

[Yhtapmys]

Is it possible the story could have been created for publicity?

No.

Setting aside this is the NY Times and not some tabloid, they're quoting police. This isn't like some kind of gossip handout.

Yhtapmys

[LLeff]

Is it possible the story could have been created for publicity? Did vaudeville stars do that?

Nope, this was real. I knew the story, but can't remember where I originally found it...you know how it is after 30 years of research...