He started singing and dancing in contests as a youngster. He entertained troops during WWII. After the war, he was one-half of the comedy act Benson and Mann, teaming with straight man Jack Mann.
Fellow ex-vaudevillian Milton Berle hired him to appear as a heckler named Sidney Spritzer on his variety shows. Spritzer would be seated in the front row of the balcony overlooking the stage and give Berle comic grief.
He was one of the last living vaudeville and burlesque performers.
His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland.
Over time, he climbed to the top of the bill as the featured "first comic" or, as it was sometimes called, top banana.