Artie Auerbach: The Comic Actor Behind Mr. Kitzel

Artie Auerbach was an American comic actor in network radio and early television, best known for playing Mr. Kitzel on *The Jack Benny Program*. Mr. Kitzel was not a separate real person: he was Auerbach’s comic character, recognized by a high, nasal voice, measured delivery, and “hoo-hoo-hoo” laugh. If you know the name from a Benny recording, you are usually hearing Auerbach turn a short entrance into a memorable character moment.

Who was Artie Auerbach?

Artie Auerbach was a character comedian associated chiefly with American network radio and the first television versions of radio comedy. He worked when a familiar voice could be as recognizable to listeners as a face was to moviegoers.

His reputation rests largely on supporting roles rather than starring vehicles. That was common in radio comedy: a performer might appear for only a few minutes, yet a sharply defined voice, repeated comic rhythm, or recurring character could stay with listeners for decades.

For example, a Jack Benny listener might not have known Auerbach’s name at the time but would have recognized Mr. Kitzel’s greeting and laugh at once. The character’s fame helps explain why Auerbach is still often identified as “the man who played Mr. Kitzel.”

Why people remember him as Mr. Kitzel

Mr. Kitzel was Artie Auerbach’s signature role on The Jack Benny Program. He was one of Benny’s recurring neighbors, clerks, friends, and odd acquaintances—characters who could enter a sketch, establish themselves in a few lines, and give Benny something to react to.

Auerbach made Mr. Kitzel recognizable through sound. The voice was high and nasal, the delivery careful and slightly halting, and the laugh commonly rendered as “hoo-hoo-hoo.” The humor came not just from individual jokes, but from the character’s unmistakable tempo.

For example, Mr. Kitzel could enter with a simple greeting, add his characteristic laugh, and turn an ordinary exchange about shopping, money, or neighborhood life into a miniature routine. Benny’s on-air character often answered such interruptions with impatience or disbelief, giving Auerbach a strong comic partner even in a brief scene.

The role reflects a radio-comedy style built around ethnic and neighborhood character types. Modern listeners may hear some of those conventions differently from the original audience. What endures is the precision of Auerbach’s performance: the voice, timing, and repeatable personality made Mr. Kitzel recognizable without a visual introduction.

His work went beyond The Jack Benny Program

Although Mr. Kitzel is the role most closely tied to Auerbach, he also belonged to the wider radio-comedy business that supplied character performers to network programs, variety broadcasts, and later television adaptations. His career fits the supporting-player tradition more than the model of a performer with one neatly documented starring series.

The surviving record does not provide a complete, consistent list of Auerbach’s appearances outside the Benny program. Radio casts could be announced without full credits, listed only in trade schedules, or omitted from later episode databases. A performer might be billed by name in one source, identified only by a character name in another, and left uncredited in a recording’s spoken introduction.

For example, an episode guide may preserve a comedy broadcast’s guest star and sponsor while saying nothing about a supporting comic who appears in one sketch. That does not prove the performer was absent; it means the surviving record is thin.

No fully supported list of his other comedy-program appearances is supplied here, so it is better not to attach him to specific series without contemporary documentation. The safest description is that Auerbach worked as a radio and early-television comic actor whose best-documented public association is with The Jack Benny Program. Claims of long runs on other series should be checked against contemporary program listings, network logs, library catalogs, or recordings with cast information.

Artie Auerbach and Mr. Kitzel were not the same person

Artie Auerbach was the performer; Mr. Kitzel was the fictional character he played. Old-radio references often blur that distinction because the character became better known than the actor’s name.

For example, a program listing may identify a scene as featuring “Mr. Kitzel,” while a cast listing may say “Artie Auerbach.” A collector’s file name might call a clip “Mr. Kitzel on Jack Benny,” even though it is an Auerbach performance. Fan recollections can add to the confusion by discussing Kitzel as though he were a real Benny-program regular with an independent biography.

That shorthand is understandable, but it can lead to errors. Mr. Kitzel did not have a separate acting career, and not every appearance by Artie Auerbach was necessarily an appearance by Mr. Kitzel. When tracing a specific broadcast, search catalogs and episode notes under both names.

Why reliable details about his career can be hard to find

Radio-era research has real limits. Many broadcasts were never recorded for later preservation, surviving recordings may lack complete production paperwork, and performer credits were often less detailed than film or modern-television credits. A short appearance could disappear from the written record even when listeners remembered it clearly.

Names create another problem. Auerbach may appear in indexes with differing levels of detail, while a character listing may omit the actor altogether. Later websites sometimes copy one another’s claims, so repetition across several pages does not automatically make a claim independent evidence.

This caution matters most with fine-grained claims: exact episode counts, complete guest-appearance lists, billing order, and detailed personal or professional chronology. Unless such details can be tied to contemporary schedules, preserved scripts, studio records, reputable reference works, or a surviving recording, they should be treated as possible rather than settled.

The central identification is firmer: Artie Auerbach was the comic actor behind Mr. Kitzel. Beyond that, separate what a recording plainly shows from what a later caption, database entry, or fan recollection says about it.

Where to hear or see Artie Auerbach today

The most practical place to start is The Jack Benny Program. Mr. Kitzel appears in surviving radio episodes and in television material connected with Benny’s long-running program, though availability varies by episode and edition.

Try these sources in roughly this order:

• Officially licensed Jack Benny audio or video collections, which may offer clearer sound and more dependable episode identification.
• Public-library catalogs, especially larger city, university, and media libraries that hold radio-comedy anthologies, television collections, or historical recordings.
• Film and television archives and museum media catalogs, which may list holdings even when they do not offer online playback.
• Reputable old-time-radio collections that identify the program date, title, and source recording rather than using only a generic character label.

For example, search using both Artie Auerbach and Mr. Kitzel, along with Jack Benny. If a listing gives a broadcast date, compare it with an episode guide or a second catalog entry before treating the identification as certain. Sound quality can be uneven, but even a worn recording usually makes Auerbach’s character work easy to recognize once Mr. Kitzel begins speaking.

Conclusion

Start with a surviving *Jack Benny* episode that identifies Mr. Kitzel, then listen for Auerbach’s voice and the way Benny’s cast builds a scene around it. If you are cataloging a clip or checking a credit, record both names: Artie Auerbach for the actor and Mr. Kitzel for the character. That distinction makes later searching easier.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was Mr. Kitzel’s catchphrase?

Mr. Kitzel is especially associated with his high-pitched “hoo-hoo-hoo” laugh. His vocal rhythm and delivery were as central to the character as any single line.

Was Mr. Kitzel a real person?

No. Mr. Kitzel was a fictional comic character played by Artie Auerbach on *The Jack Benny Program*.

Did Artie Auerbach appear on television?

Yes. He is associated with the early television period as well as radio, including the television continuation of Jack Benny’s program. Surviving credits and recordings are less complete than many modern television records, so individual appearance details should be checked against reliable episode sources.