Jack Benny: Drawing a Blanc

"Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-amonga!" A woebegone old car, a harried department store clerk, a monosyllabic man in a sombrero, and a train announcer whose line ran somewhere between Orange County and the Twilight Zone are all memorable characters from The Jack Benny Program, and all the products of a single talented throat: Mel Blanc.

"The Man of a Thousand Voices" was Carmichael the Polar Bear, who lived improbably in Jack's cellar. He was Professor LeBlanc, Jac...