Mary Livingstone

Mary Livingstone
Livingstone, circa 1940
Born	Sadie Marcowitz June 25, 1905 Seattle, Washington
Died	June 30, 1983 (aged 78) Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California
Cause of death	Heart disease
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Style	Actress, comedian
Television	The Jack Benny Program
Spouse(s)	Jack Benny (m. 1927–74)
Children	1 (adopted)

Mary Livingstone (born Sadie Marcowitz, later known as Sadye Marks; June 25, 1905 – June 30, 1983), was an American radio comedian and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny.

Enlisted almost entirely by accident to perform on her husband's popular 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.

Livingstone was born Sadie Marcowitz in Seattle, Washington, but raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her father, David Marcowitz, was a Jewish immigrant from Romania. Her mother was Esther Wagner Marcowitz. According to the International Jack Benny Fan Club, claims that Livingstone was related to the Marx Brothers or their uncle Al Shean of Gallagher and Shean are unfounded. She first met her future husband, Jack Benny, at a Passover seder at her family home when she was 14 years old. Benny was invited by his friend Zeppo (b. Herbert) Marx while Benny and the Marx Brothers were in town together to perform.

Three years later, aged 17, Sadie visited California with her family while Jack Benny was in the same town for a show. Still nursing a small crush on the comedian, Sadie went to the theater to re-introduce herself to him. As he approached her in a hallway, she smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Benny, I'm..." But he curtly cut her off with a "hello" and continued on his way down the hall without pausing; she learned much later that when Benny was deep in thought about his work, it was nearly impossible to get his attention.

They met again a few years later — while she was said to be working as a lingerie salesgirl at a May Company department store in downtown Los Angeles — and the couple finally began dating. Invited on a double-date by a friend who had married Sadie's sister, Babe, Benny brought Sadie along to keep him company. This time, the couple clicked: Jack was finally smitten with Sadie and asked her on another date. She turned him down at first — she was seeing another young man — but Benny persisted. He visited her at the May Company almost daily and was reputed to buy so much ladies' hosiery from her that he helped her set a sales record; he also called her several times a day when on the road.