Robert Benchley

Robert Benchley (1889–1945) was an American humorist, writer, and actor whose wry, conversational style made him a leading comic voice of the early twentieth century. A prominent member of New York’s Algonquin Round Table, he became widely known for short essays and satirical sketches that gently punctured modern anxieties and social pretensions. Benchley wrote for major magazines and helped shape the tone of American light verse and humorous prose between the wars. He also appeared in numerous films, often playing the bewildered everyman. Among his best-known pieces is the essay “How to Sleep,” a classic of comic instruction.