Radio and Television
Rubin was known for his ability to imitate many dialects, as was evident when he was a panelist on the joke-telling radio series, Stop Me If You've Heard This One.
He made frequent guest appearances on both the radio and television versions of The Jack Benny Program. A popular bit included Jack asking a series of questions that Rubin would answer with an ever-increasing irritated, "I don't know!" followed by the punchline. In later years he made many bit appearances, sometimes uncredited, for instance in a number of Jerry Lewis features.
According to Jack Benny's autobiography, Sunday Nights at Seven, he once cast Rubin to portray a Pullman porter. Though Rubin could do a convincing (albeit stereotypical) African-American dialect, the producer insisted he looked "too Jewish" for the part. As a result, Benny ended up giving the part to Eddie Anderson, and the porter character soon evolved into the famous Rochester Van Jones.
Read more about this topic: Benny Rubin
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