Rick: I suspect it was Alice Faye and (her husband) Phil Harris, rather than Don Ameche, though Faye and Ameche did appear in some movies together.

Jack Benny was probably my favorite comedian. I got to know him a bit and in "real" life he wasn't funny at all though.

I love the new Larry David show, "Curb your Enthusiasm" on HBO.

I remember many of the comics you mentioned as being regular (almost) guests on the Ed Sullivan show, but I never found many of them very funny. Not "knee slappers" I mean. Just a chuckle or two during the show.

DougR