Benny was born in 1924 into a low income family. His childhood was lived during the Great Depression. I guess being careful with money became an ingrained habit. He didn't have a car and used to walk to work even when he was at the top of his popularity.
he took it to an extreme degree.
shareIt could very well be that he was cheap. But I heard that his staff loved working with him. Again, as we all do - we weren't there to see it for ourselves.
That's like the stories that have persisted through the years about Jack Benny. That he was cheap and a tightwad.
But, if you talked with his crew, they would have told a very different story.
That Jack was VERY generous, even giving the best lines to others, if he felt that it would have gotten a bigger laugh.