Ben Lessy

He was born in New York City.^[1]

Lessy was known for a nightclub act done with Patti Moore,^[3] the long-time wife of his best friend and agent, Sammy Lewis.^{[citation needed]} They were regulars at Los Angeles nightclubs Slapsy Maxie's and Billy Gray's Band Box.^[4][5][6] Lessy appeared in over 50 films and television episodes between 1938 and 1981. His first film role was in the two reel Cafe Rendezvous (1938) and his career ended with the Billy Wilder film Buddy Buddy (1981).^[2] Other credits include Music for Millions (1944), Dark Delusion (1947) (the last entry in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Dr. Kildare series),The Pirate (1948) (Lessy's 9th, and final film during his seven years at MGM^{[citation needed]}),The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Just for You (1952), Gypsy (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Pajama Party (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965), and The Love Machine (1971).^[7] On the small screen, he was frequently seen during the 1950s on the popular sitcom Make Room for Daddy, whose creator/star Danny Thomas dubbed Lessy "one of the greatest living generators of laughter".^[3] Lessy also did a number of variety and talk show spots alongside nightclub partner Moore; these include Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town,^[8] The Frank Sinatra Show,^[9] The NBC Comedy Hour,^[10][11] Juke Box Jury,^[12] The John Conte Show,^[13] The Woody Woodbury Show,^[14] and Merv Griffin.^[15] Other TV credits include Telephone Time (1957),^[16] The Jack Benny Program (1959–64: 3 episodes),^[17][18] The Cara Williams Show (1964–1965),^[19][20] The Gypsy Rose Lee Show,^[21] That Girl (1966), Petticoat Junction (1967),^[22] The New Andy Griffith Show (1971),^[23] and McMillan & Wife (1976).^[24]

Lessy died on October 30, 1992, aged 90 from natural causes. His remains are interred at Sholom Memorial Park in Sylmar, California.^[1]