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George Benson
George Benson
Born	George Frederick Percy Benson; 11 January 1911; Cardiff, Wales
Died	17 June 1983 (aged 72); London, England
Alma mater	RADA
Occupation	Actor

George Frederick Percy Benson (11 January 1911 – 17 June 1983) was a British actor of both theatre and screen, whose career stretched from the 1930s to the early 1970s.^[1]^[2] He was on stage from the late 1920s, and made his film debut in 1932 in Holiday Lovers written by Leslie Arliss.^[3]^[4] His most notable work as a comic actor included supporting roles with George Formby (Keep Fit - 1937) and Ronnie Barker (A Home of Your Own - 1964).^[1]

Early life

Benson was born in Cardiff and educated at Blundell's School, the son of Leslie Bernard Gilpin Benson and his wife Isita.^[5] The family moved to Weston-super-Mare around 1920 and to Bristol around 1925. He began acting at school in the Latin plays mounted annually at the school. He trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (where he was the Silver Medallist in 1930).^[6]

Early career

Much of Benson's early work was in revue, particularly those mounted in the 1930s by Andre Charlot.^[5] In 1932-3 he toured Australia with the company of Athene Seyler and Nicholas Hannen and on the tour met Seyler's daughter, Jane Anne Sterndale Bennett, who would become his first wife. In 1936 he achieved his first real success, as Edward Gill in Herbert and Eleanor Farjeon's musical The Two Bouquets.^[7] He continued to work with Herbert Farjeon until he was called up for war service in 1940, appearing in the revues Nine Sharp and The Little Revue. He served with the Royal Artillery for six years, mostly in anti-aircraft units.

Later career

After the war, he played the part of the solicitor Desmond Curry in Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy on an extensive tour of the US (1947–1948), before returning to revue in the highly successful Lyric and Globe Revues.^[5] in 1955 he joined the Old Vic Company (with Robert Helpmann and Katharine Hepburn) on a tour of Australia, playing the clown roles in Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew.^[5] During the late 1950s he cemented his reputation as skilled comedy actor in a succession of stage roles, perhaps notably that of Arthur Groomkirby in N. F. Simpson's 'Theatre of the Absurd' play One Way Pendulum.^[7]

Although still noted as a comedy actor, during the 1960s he showed he could also excel in darker and more serious roles. In 1961 he played the murderer Dr Crippen in Wolf Mankowitz's musical Belle, or the Ballad of Dr Crippen, and Boss Mangan in Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House.^[5] In the early 1970s he appeared in several plays with Bernard Miles at the Mermaid Theatre, notably as the Inquisitor in St Joan.^[7] In 1973, while appearing as Polonius in Hamlet, he suffered a stroke which affected his speech and ended his career.

Personal life

He married, first, Jane Ann Sterndale Bennett,^[8] a granddaughter of the composer William Sterndale Bennett. They had two daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth. His second wife was Pamela Enid White, also (briefly) an actor. They had one son, Christopher. Benson took a keen interest in theatre history, and was Chairman of the Society for Theatre Research from 1968-72.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	Holiday Lovers	Oswald
1933	The Man from Toronto	Villager	Uncredited
1937	Keep Fit	Ernie Gill
	Red Peppers	Bert Bentley	Short
	Music-Hall Cavalcade: Stars of Yesterday and Today	Chairman	TV film
	Dick Whittington and His Cat		Short
1938	Rush Hour		TV film
1938	Break the News	Firing Squad Officer
1939	The Gamblers	Alexey	TV film
1939	Young Man's Fancy	Booking Clerk
1940	Convoy	Parker
1947	Here's Looking at You		TV film
	The Ugly Duckling	The King	Short
	Maria Marten or, the Murder at the Red Barn	Timothy Winterbottom	TV film
	The Merchant of Venice	Launcelot Gobbo	TV film
	Rosmersholm	Ulric Brendel	TV film
	The October Man	Mr. Pope
1948	The Light of Heart	Barty	TV film
1949	A Word in Your Eye		TV film
	Helter Skelter	Temporary Waiter
	The Lost People	Driver
1950	Madeleine	Chemist	Uncredited
	The Happiest Days of Your Life	Mr. Tripp
	Cage of Gold	Assistant Registrar
	Highly Dangerous	Sandwich Stand Customer
1951	Pool of London	George	Uncredited
	The Man in the White Suit	The Lodger
	Appointment with Venus	Senior Clerk
1952	Mother Riley Meets the Vampire	Police Sergeant
1952	The Globe Revue		TV film
1953	The Captain's Paradise	Mr. Salmon
	The Broken Horseshoe	Prescott
	The New Morality	E. Wallace Wister	TV film
	Three's Company	George Bailey
1954	Doctor in the House	Lecturer on drains
	Aunt Clara	Photographer	Uncredited
	Lilacs in the Spring	Theatre Royal manager	Uncredited
	Tons of Money	James Chesterman, a solicitor	TV film
1955	Value for Money	Trombonist
1956	Fanny's First Play	Mr. Robin Gilbey	TV film
1957	The Naked Truth	Photographer	Uncredited
1958	Charles and Mary	William Godwin	TV film
1958	Dracula	Official
1959	Model for Murder	Freddie
1959	Left Right and Centre	Egerton
1960	David and Broccoli	Headmaster	TV film
1960	The Pure Hell of St Trinian's	Defence Counsel
1964	A Jolly Bad Fellow	Inspector Butts
1965	A Home of Your Own	Gatekeeper
1966	The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery	Gore-Blackwood
1968	The Strange Affair	Uncle Bertrand
1968	Journey into Darkness	The Vicar
1970	The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes	Inspector Lestrade	Uncredited
1972	What Became of Jack and Jill?	Vicar
1972	A Warning to the Curious	Vicar	TV film
1973	The Creeping Flesh	Waterlow

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Tom Buttle	Episode: "The Happy Sunday Afternoon"
1950	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Squeen	Episode: "Miss Hargreaves"
1951	An Evening at Home with Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly	Neighbour	Series regular
1953	Rheingold Theatre	George Bailey	Episode: "Take a Number"
1953	Vice Versa	Paul Bultditude	Mini-series
1955	Theatre Royal	George Perker	Episode: "Bardell vs. Pickwick"
1956	Tracey and Me	Mr. Crudnick	Mini-series
1956	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Percy Middling	Episode: "Mrs. Moonlight"
1957		Sidney Satterthwaite	Episode: "Mayors' Nest"
		Teddy Brewster	Episode: "Arsenic and Old Lace"
		Captain Wallcott	Episode: "The Mulberry Bush"
	The Adventures of Robin Hood	Sir Cedric Hayworth	Episode: "The Secret Pool"
	Dick and the Duchess	Beasley	Episode: "The Armoured Car"
	Theatre Night	Sibilot	Episode: "Nekrassov"
	ITV Playhouse	Dr. Frank Freeman	Episode: "The Sand Castle"
	ITV Playhouse	Mr. Samuel Pepys	Episode: "And So to Bed"
1958	Television Playwright	Man on Park Bench	Episode: "Call Me a Liar"
	Fair Game	The Reverend Summers	Episode: "Saint Asaph's School for Boys"
	Armchair Theatre	Mr. Prosser	Episode: "The One Who Came Back"
	Saturday Playhouse	Edward Carter	Episode: "The Fourth Wall"
	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Medvedev, a Policeman	Episode: "The Lower Depths"
	The Adventures of William Tell	Conrad	Episode: "The Cuckoo"
	ITV Playhouse	Major Forrester	Episode: "Badger's Green"
1959	ITV Playhouse	Colonel Leonard Battersby	Episode: "Movement of Troops"
	The Life and Death of Sir John Falstaff	Bardolph	Series regular
	Theatre Night	Wellington Potts	Episode: "Caught Napping"
1960	Armchair Theatre	Arthur Hopkins	Episode: "Mr Nobody"
	Theatre 70	James Morris	Episode: "Full Circle"
	Tales from Dickens	Stiggins	Episode: "Sam Weller and his Father"
1961	Winning Widows		Episode: "New Husbands"
	No Hiding Place	Buzz Wilson	Episode: "Signals at Danger"
	ITV Play of the Week	Mr. Filby	Episode: "Ring of Truth"
1962	ITV Play of the Week	Gerardin	Episode: "Coach 7, Seat 15"
	Dixon of Dock Green	Monty Mellon	Episode: "Bells in My Ears"
	Saki	Peter Pigeoncote	Mini-series
1963	Zero One	Williams	Episode: "Deadly Angels"
	The Dickie Henderson Show		Episode: "The Stamp Collector"
	The Rag Trade		Episode: "Baby Dolls"
	Tales of Mystery	Petershin	Episode: "Petershin and Mr. Snide"
	Drama 61-67	Mr. Lott	Episode: "The Lady and the Clerk"
	No Hiding Place	Major Binns	Episode: "Deadline for Dummy"
1964	Comedy Playhouse	Mr. Wilkes	Episode: "The Siege of Sydney's Street"
	The Avengers	Reverend Whyper	Episode: "Mandrake"
	Detective	Silas Hickler	Episode: "The Case of Oscar Brodski"
1965	The Man in Room 17	Marcus Oliver	Episode: "The Bequest"
	Danger Man	Police Chief	Episode: "Have a Glass of Wine"
	The Wednesday Thriller	The Man	Episode: "The Regulator"
	Out of the Unknown	Arnold Potterley	Episode: "The Dead Past"
1966	David Copperfield	Richard 'Mr. Dick' Babley	Series regular
1966	Walter and Connie Reporting	Mr. Turner	Episode: "The New Lock"
1967	Adam Adamant Lives!	Timothy Henshaw	Episode: "Death Begins at Seventy"
	Before the Fringe		1 episode
	The Forsyte Saga	Marquess of Shropshire	Recurring role
	The Prisoner	Labour Exchange Manager	Episode: "Free for All"
1968	Half Hour Story	Shillinghurst	Episode: "Natural Justice"
	The Mock Doctor	Valere	Recurring role
	The World of Beachcomber		Recurring role
	The Root of All Evil?	Dick	Episode:"The Fireplace Firm"
	Journey to the Unknown	The Vicar	Episode: "Paper Dolls"
1969	The Canterbury Tales	Chaplain	Episode: "The Canon Yeoman's Tale/The Franklin's Tale"
1970	The Misfit	Henry	Episode: "On Being British"
	Albert and Victoria	Dr. Martin	Episode: "The Secret of the Attic"
	Here Come the Double Deckers	Caterpillar	Episode: "Scooper Strikes Out"
	The Goodies	The Vicar	Episode: "The Greenies"
1970-1971	Jackanory	Storyteller	Series regular
1971	The Last of the Baskets	Mr. Smithers	Episode: "I Gotta Horse"
	Kate	Dr. Naseby	Episode: "A Sort of Change"
	Misleading Cases	Mr. Lazenby	Episode: "A Tiger in Your Bank"
	Now Take My Wife		Episode: "Claire's Demo"
	Casanova	Uncle	Mini-series
1972	Jason King	Gym Instructor	Episode: "If It's Got to Go - It's Got to Go"
1972	Six Days of Justice	Arnold Watson	Episode: "Suddenly... You're in It"
1973	Harriet's Back in Town	William Fryer	Series regular

Sources

Obituary of Mr George Benson, The Times, 21 June 1983 (pg. 12; Issue 61564; col G)
George Benson at IMDb
Who's Who in the Theatre, 16th edition, 1977

References

^ ^a ^b "George Benson". Archived from the original on 19 March 2017.
^ League, The Broadway. "George Benson – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB".
^ "George Benson - Theatricalia". Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
^ IMDb.com/title/tt0447202
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Who's Who in the Theatre, 16th edition, 1977
^ McFarlane, Brian (16 May 2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781526111975 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Obituary in The Times, 21 June 1983
^ Mander & Mitchison Library, Bristol University