# George Benson (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. He was on stage from the late 1920s, and made his film debut in 1932 in Holiday Lovers written by Leslie Arliss. 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).

## Early life

Benson was born in Cardiff and educated at Blundell's School, the son of Leslie Bernard Gilpin Benson and his wife Isita. 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).

## Early career

Much of Benson's early work was in revue, particularly those mounted in the 1930s by Andre Charlot. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. In the early 1970s he appeared in several plays with Bernard Miles at the Mermaid Theatre, notably as the Inquisitor in St Joan. 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, 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.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1932 | Holiday Lovers | Oswald | |
| 1933 | The Man from Toronto | Villager | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Keep Fit | Ernie Gill | |
| 1937 | Red Peppers | Bert Bentley | Short |
| 1937 | Music-Hall Cavalcade: Stars of Yesterday and Today | Chairman | TV film |
| 1937 | 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 |
| 1947 | The Ugly Duckling | The King | Short |
| 1947 | Maria Marten or, the Murder at the Red Barn | Timothy Winterbottom | TV film |
| 1947 | The Merchant of Venice | Launcelot Gobbo | TV film |
| 1947 | Rosmersholm | Ulric Brendel | TV film |
| 1947 | The October Man | Mr. Pope | |
| 1948 | The Light of Heart | Barty | TV film |
| 1949 | A Word in Your Eye | | TV film |
| 1949 | Helter Skelter | Temporary Waiter | |
| 1949 | The Lost People | Driver | |
| 1950 | Madeleine | Chemist | Uncredited |
| 1950 | The Happiest Days of Your Life | Mr. Tripp | |
| 1950 | Cage of Gold | Assistant Registrar | |
| 1950 | Highly Dangerous | Sandwich Stand Customer | |
| 1951 | Pool of London | George | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Man in the White Suit | The Lodger | |
| 1951 | 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 | |
| 1953 | The Broken Horseshoe | Prescott | |
| 1953 | The New Morality | E. Wallace Wister | TV film |
| 1953 | Three's Company | George Bailey | |
| 1954 | Doctor in the House | Lecturer on drains | |
| 1954 | Aunt Clara | Photographer | Uncredited |
| 1954 | Lilacs in the Spring | Theatre Royal manager | Uncredited |
| 1954 | 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 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Sidney Satterthwaite | Episode: "Mayors' Nest" |
| 1957 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Teddy Brewster | Episode: "Arsenic and Old Lace" |
| 1957 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Captain Wallcott | Episode: "The Mulberry Bush" |
| 1957 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Sir Cedric Hayworth | Episode: "The Secret Pool" |
| 1957 | Dick and the Duchess | Beasley | Episode: "The Armoured Car" |
| 1957 | Theatre Night | Sibilot | Episode: "Nekrassov" |
| 1957 | ITV Playhouse | Dr. Frank Freeman | Episode: "The Sand Castle" |
| 1957 | ITV Playhouse | Mr. Samuel Pepys | Episode: "And So to Bed" |
| 1958 | Television Playwright | Man on Park Bench | Episode: "Call Me a Liar" |
| 1958 | Fair Game | The Reverend Summers | Episode: "Saint Asaph's School for Boys" |
| 1958 | Armchair Theatre | Mr. Prosser | Episode: "The One Who Came Back" |
| 1958 | Saturday Playhouse | Edward Carter | Episode: "The Fourth Wall" |
| 1958 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre | Medvedev, a Policeman | Episode: "The Lower Depths" |
| 1958 | The Adventures of William Tell | Conrad | Episode: "The Cuckoo" |
| 1958 | ITV Playhouse | Major Forrester | Episode: "Badger's Green" |
| 1959 | ITV Playhouse | Colonel Leonard Battersby | Episode: "Movement of Troops" |
| 1959 | The Life and Death of Sir John Falstaff | Bardolph | Series regular |
| 1959 | Theatre Night | Wellington Potts | Episode: "Caught Napping" |
| 1960 | Armchair Theatre | Arthur Hopkins | Episode: "Mr Nobody" |
| 1960 | Theatre 70 | James Morris | Episode: "Full Circle" |
| 1960 | Tales from Dickens | Stiggins | Episode: "Sam Weller and his Father" |
| 1961 | Winning Widows | | Episode: "New Husbands" |
| 1961 | No Hiding Place | Buzz Wilson | Episode: "Signals at Danger" |
| 1961 | ITV Play of the Week | Mr. Filby | Episode: "Ring of Truth" |
| 1962 | ITV Play of the Week | Gerardin | Episode: "Coach 7, Seat 15" |
| 1962 | Dixon of Dock Green | Monty Mellon | Episode: "Bells in My Ears" |
| 1962 | Saki | Peter Pigeoncote | Mini-series |
| 1963 | Zero One | Williams | Episode: "Deadly Angels" |
| 1963 | The Dickie Henderson Show | | Episode: "The Stamp Collector" |
| 1963 | The Rag Trade | | Episode: "Baby Dolls" |
| 1963 | Tales of Mystery | Petershin | Episode: "Petershin and Mr. Snide" |
| 1963 | Drama 61-67 | Mr. Lott | Episode: "The Lady and the Clerk" |
| 1963 | No Hiding Place | Major Binns | Episode: "Deadline for Dummy" |
| 1964 | Comedy Playhouse | Mr. Wilkes | Episode: "The Siege of Sydney's Street" |
| 1964 | The Avengers | Reverend Whyper | Episode: "Mandrake" |
| 1964 | Detective | Silas Hickler | Episode: "The Case of Oscar Brodski" |
| 1965 | The Man in Room 17 | Marcus Oliver | Episode: "The Bequest" |
| 1965 | Danger Man | Police Chief | Episode: "Have a Glass of Wine" |
| 1965 | The Wednesday Thriller | The Man | Episode: "The Regulator" |
| 1965 | 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" |
| 1967 | Before the Fringe | | 1 episode |
| 1967 | The Forsyte Saga | Marquess of Shropshire | Recurring role |
| 1967 | The Prisoner | Labour Exchange Manager | Episode: "Free for All" |
| 1968 | Half Hour Story | Shillinghurst | Episode: "Natural Justice" |
| 1968 | The Mock Doctor | Valere | Recurring role |
| 1968 | The World of Beachcomber | | Recurring role |
| 1968 | The Root of All Evil? | Dick | Episode:"The Fireplace Firm" |
| 1968 | 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" |
| 1970 | Albert and Victoria | Dr. Martin | Episode: "The Secret of the Attic" |
| 1970 | Here Come the Double Deckers | Caterpillar | Episode: "Scooper Strikes Out" |
| 1970 | 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" |
| 1971 | Kate | Dr. Naseby | Episode: "A Sort of Change" |
| 1971 | Misleading Cases | Mr. Lazenby | Episode: "A Tiger in Your Bank" |
| 1971 | Now Take My Wife | | Episode: "Claire's Demo" |
| 1971 | 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