Mary Livingstone

Mary Livingstone (born Sadya Marcowitz, later known as Sadie Marks; June 25, 1905–June 30, 1983) was an American radio comedienne and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny. Enlisted casually to perform on her husband's program, she proved a talented comedian. But she also proved one of the rare performers to experience severe stage fright years after her career was established, so much so that she retired from show business completely, after two decades in the public eye, almost three decades before her death and at the height of her husband and partner's fame. Early life Livingstone was born Sadya Marcowitz in Seattle, Washington, but raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her father, David Marcowitz (or Markowitz), was a prosperous Jewish scrap metal dealer from Romania. Her mother was Esther Wagner Marcowitz. They changed their surname to Marks several years after Sadya was born. Livingstone's brother, Hilliard Marks, was a radio and television producer who worked primarily for his future brother-in-law, Jack Benny. Livingstone first met her future husband, Jack Benny, in Vancouver at a Passover seder in her family home in 1922, when Benny was playing the Orpheum Theatre. Benny accompanied his friend Zeppo (b. Herbert) Marx.