# Judy Tenuta has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [October 6, 2022, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857 "2022-10-06T23:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/41 "2022-10-07T16:43:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s common in show biz. Especially for women. I don’t think it’s done so much anymore but not unusual for her generation. One of the first things I read last night had this quote ([from here](https://apnews.com/article/judy-tenuta-obituary-comedian-dcc89453f6d79f27c73287045978de0d)): > Tenuta had claimed her birthdate as Nov. 7, 1965, but she was born in 1949, Neal [her publicist] said. “She was old school so she would never tell her real age, but now that she’s gone we can tell her real age,” he added. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/42 "2022-10-07T16:48:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Tenuta had claimed her birthdate as Nov. 7, 1965, but she was born in 1949, Neal [her publicist] said. “She was old school so she would never tell her real age, but now that she’s gone we can tell her real age,” he added. I wonder why she didn’t just insist she was [39](https://www.oldradioshows.org/2011/02/14/happy-39th-birthday-jack-benny/?fbclid=IwAR2IhQvWO1VAeEhB1q7sOeSfgffnMsC5SaSzKoYxf3llDJiI6LcuhRaI_Ak) for her whole career. That always works. > The “stuck on 39” running gag got started the year after [Jack Benny celebrated his “first” 39th birthday on the air](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-annual-39th-birthday-collection-p-49891.html). It was so much fun he decided to do the same thing the next year, because “There’s nothing funny about 40.” [Jack would celebrate his 39th birthday 41 times](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-annual-39th-birthday-collection-p-49891.html). Headlines just after Christmas, 1974, reported “[Jack Benny](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-p-1422.html) Dies- At Age 39?” ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/43 "2022-10-07T20:22:33Z")
Her jokes rarely work when transcribed on the page, but I loved her weird mix of hostility and daintiness on stage. And I love how she would end her set and announce, “You people mean nothing to me!” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/44 "2022-10-07T20:59:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > However, something I never noticed is how similar she seems to be to Roseanne (Barr). If you play some of those clips, but drop the accordion and the charisma, you (well, I) can absolutely hear Roseanne telling the same jokes, in the same voice with the same cadence. Goddess of Love and Domestic Goddess? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/45 "2022-10-07T21:00:27Z")
She was pretty damn entertaining. That accordion was great. > [@Nonsuch](#): > > …but I loved her weird mix of hostility and daintiness… This, however, is hilarious in print! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/46 "2022-10-07T22:25:02Z")
Also on _Dr_. _Katz_, she went toe-to-toe with the doctor’s impossibly self-centered secretary, Laura Silverman. Judy pronounced her name in that falling falsetto: “LAU-AU-au-ruh”. She accused Laura of having “a slight swelling of the attitudinal gland”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/47 "2022-10-07T22:34:51Z")
She also introduced Comedy Central when it first came on the air. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6Hdv1Q3USWI/hqdefault.jpg "Judy Tenuta introduces Comedy Central in Times Square") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hdv1Q3USWI) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/48 "2022-10-08T00:15:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > [@Sherrerd](#): > > > > She had some funny stuff; she came out of that late-80s craze for “character” comics, who had gimmicky voices and/or props and personas. … > > I saw this post and was going to say that Emo Phillips is still around. I saw him open for Weird Al just a few months ago. Had no idea he’d been married to Judy Tenuta. I hadn’t known that they were married, either. It actually increases my respect for Tenuta, because Philips, as annoying as his adopted persona may be, is a brilliant guy. (Very high IQ, I would guess.) Some good stuff in this _Cracked_ article: > **[RIP Judy Tenuta: Her 15 Jokes For The Hall Of Fame](https://www.cracked.com/article_35583_rip-judy-tenuta-her-15-jokes-for-the-hall-of-fame.html)** > > One imagines her handing it to Gilbert at this very moment. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/49 "2022-10-08T00:25:21Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I wonder why she didn’t just insist she was [39](https://www.oldradioshows.org/2011/02/14/happy-39th-birthday-jack-benny/?fbclid=IwAR2IhQvWO1VAeEhB1q7sOeSfgffnMsC5SaSzKoYxf3llDJiI6LcuhRaI_Ak) for her whole career. That always works. > > > The “stuck on 39” running gag got started the year after [Jack Benny celebrated his “first” 39th birthday on the air](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-annual-39th-birthday-collection-p-49891.html). It was so much fun he decided to do the same thing the next year, because “There’s nothing funny about 40.” [Jack would celebrate his 39th birthday 41 times](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-annual-39th-birthday-collection-p-49891.html). Headlines just after Christmas, 1974, reported “[Jack Benny](http://www.otrcat.com/jack-benny-p-1422.html) Dies- At Age 39?” There’s a Jack Benny Middle School in his home town whose sports teams are the _39ers_. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/50 "2022-10-08T00:25:28Z")
Thank you for this! After singing a minute or so of one of her annoying novelty numbers (I think it was “Mountain Girl”): “This song has nineteen verses. SUFFER!” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/51 "2022-10-08T00:28:37Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > “This song has nineteen verses. SUFFER!” That’s what made her so popular; she pleased audiences without ever seeming ‘eager to please.’ We all enjoy a good solid FU attitude in our entertainers… ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/52 "2022-10-08T07:01:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a Jack Benny Middle School in his home town whose sports teams are the _39ers_. That’s funny. How did you even know that? I wonder how many kids get the joke without an explanation. I’m almost 60 and the 39 thing and Rochester are the only things I know about him. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/53 "2022-10-08T14:50:18Z")
Some kind of trivia contest with my family when I was young; we were playing Trivial Pursuit, or watching Jeopardy, something like that. I didn’t get the answer, but I think my mom and my brother both did. That’s when I first heard of Benny’s schtick of always claiming to be 39. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/54 "2022-10-08T20:37:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a Jack Benny Middle School in his home town whose sports teams are the _39ers_. The internet being a magical place, I can confirm that this is true. [![](https://i.ibb.co/F51gfjy/15-D086-BA-8092-4150-8-CA4-02-BF371-ACC84.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/F51gfjy/15-D086-BA-8092-4150-8-CA4-02-BF371-ACC84.jpg) They also have a school song: > [@](#): > > Benny Middle School, > > we proudly sing your name. > > Our team will never yield > > as we go down the field. > > They will lead us on to fame. > > Our colors green and white, > > with our spirit of our loyalty and fight! > > We’ll defend our team so galantly > > As we go down to victory! > > Oh thirty-niners true, > > we will always be loyal to you. > > Our teams are the best, > > They will lead all the rest, > > Jack Benny Middle School! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/55 "2022-10-09T01:36:55Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > “This song has nineteen verses. SUFFER!” [Judy Tenuta is “The Mountain Girl” - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E03hZ36BcI4) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/56 "2022-10-09T05:13:51Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I wonder how many kids get the joke without an explanation. I’m almost 60 and the 39 thing and Rochester are the only things I know about him. Not many. Benny was a often on talk shows and making guest appearances. His most well known gags were the 39 and being cheap. Saying he was 39 had long been at the point of absurdity as he aged. I watched Jack Benny Show reruns in the 70s, his routine was already well known from the radio when he began on TV. I don’t think my younger brother around your age knows anything about him. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/57 "2022-10-09T20:28:55Z")
I just looked up her first Letterman appearance (around 1984?). I couldn’t get through it. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/58 "2022-10-10T04:34:29Z")
Judy and the Pope [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/91rM-HL7EGQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Dating the Pope & Pope Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91rM-HL7EGQ) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/59 "2022-10-10T16:38:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not many. Benny was a often on talk shows and making guest appearances. His most well known gags were the 39 and being cheap. Mugger: “Your money or your life!” [long pause, Jack looking pensive] Mugger: “I said ‘Your money or your life!’” Jack: "I’m thinking, I’m thinking…’ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857/60 "2022-10-10T19:02:48Z")
I am smiling at the recollection but those unfamiliar with that oft repeated joke are missing Benny’s exquisite delivery. Comedy had to be simpler back then for several reasons, requiring precision to get the punchline across. In the joke above much of the audience would already know the punchline, then Benny would deliver it, exceeding the mere memory of the words, and in his unique vocal style, and equally unique expression when in a visual medium. His post radio success was dependant on an appearance well matched to his already familiar voice. I’m sure his material would need to be more complex if he was doing now-a-days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judy-tenuta-has-died/972857.md?page=4)