{"id":15789,"date":"2016-09-07T17:58:39","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T17:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T14:00:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T18:00:21","slug":"benchley-backdrop","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/","title":{"rendered":"Benchley backdrop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">A dispatch from the Who Knew?! Department: The former home of Worcester native and famed humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945) once stood at the very Main Street location of Clark\u2019s new Alumni and Student Engagement Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Benchley, a prominent writer for <em>The New Yorker<\/em> and <em>Vanity Fair<\/em>, and later an Oscar-winning short-film director, may be best known as a founding member of The Algonquin Round Table, the celebrated group of New York City wits and intellectuals whose often vicious wisecracks became staples of popular culture throughout the 1920s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Another Benchley, Robert\u2019s grandson Peter, found his own share of acclaim as the author of the bestselling novel <em>Jaws<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">The Benchley house was torn down in the 1970s to make way for a parking lot that served St. Peter\u2019s Church for many years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; A dispatch from the Who Knew?! Department: The former home of Worcester native and famed humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945) once stood at the very Main Street location of Clark\u2019s new Alumni and Student Engagement Center. Benchley, a prominent writer for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and later an Oscar-winning short-film director, may be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":24646,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-deeper-red)","story_headerImg":24646,"section_label":"Clarkives","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[223],"displayed_author":[],"featured":[],"topic":[234],"class_list":["post-15789","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clark-community","topic-clarkives"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benchley backdrop | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benchley backdrop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; A dispatch from the Who Knew?! Department: The former home of Worcester native and famed humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945) once stood at the very Main Street location of Clark\u2019s new Alumni and Student Engagement Center. Benchley, a prominent writer for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and later an Oscar-winning short-film director, may be [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-16T18:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/\",\"name\":\"Benchley backdrop | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-07T17:58:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-16T18:00:21+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2016\\\/09\\\/07\\\/benchley-backdrop\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg\",\"width\":1320,\"height\":976,\"caption\":\"941 Main St., Worcester, home of humorist Robert Benchley, was demomlished in the 1970s\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/15789#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/15789\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Benchley backdrop | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Benchley backdrop","og_description":"&nbsp; A dispatch from the Who Knew?! Department: The former home of Worcester native and famed humorist Robert Benchley (1889-1945) once stood at the very Main Street location of Clark\u2019s new Alumni and Student Engagement Center. Benchley, a prominent writer for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and later an Oscar-winning short-film director, may be [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2025-07-16T18:00:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1320,"height":976,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/","name":"Benchley backdrop | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-07T17:58:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-16T18:00:21+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/07\/benchley-backdrop\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home.jpg","width":1320,"height":976,"caption":"941 Main St., Worcester, home of humorist Robert Benchley, was demomlished in the 1970s"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15789#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15789"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/941-Main-Street-Benchley-home-1024x757.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/15789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15789"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=15789"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=15789"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=15789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}