# John Bennett Perry

John Bennett Perry (born January 4, 1941) is an American retired actor, singer, and model. He is the father of the actor Matthew Perry.

## Early life

Perry was born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, the son of businessman, bank director and civic leader Alton L. Perry (1906–2003) and Maria (née Bennett; 1906–1971). He attended college at St. Lawrence University, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

## Career

Perry began his career focusing on singing, being part of the Serendipity Singers and with his stage credits including the 1967 musical Now Is the Time for All Good Men. He also appeared as an extra in the crowd scene in the "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" segment in the 1972 film Cabaret. Perry portrayed the clean-shaven "sailor" in the Old Spice commercials of the 1970s and 1980s.
Perry has appeared in numerous films such as Lipstick (1976), Midway (1976), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Only When I Laugh (1981), Independence Day (1996) and George of the Jungle (1997), and on such television programs as The West Wing, L.A. Law, Days of Our Lives, Little House on the Prairie, Centennial, 240-Robert, Nakia, Falcon Crest, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder and Magnum, P.I.. He played General Douglas MacArthur in the 1989 film Farewell to the King.
In the 1978–79 TV season, he and Stephanie Edwards co-hosted EveryDay, a syndicated daytime talk/variety series that also featured Murray Langston, Tom Chapin, Bob Corff and Anne Bloom. He and Edwards were both nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series, losing to Phil Donahue of The Phil Donahue Show.
He appeared alongside his son Matthew Perry in the 1997 movie Fools Rush In, and in the episode "My Unicorn" of the sitcom Scrubs, each time as the father of his real-life son's character. He also appeared in the episode of Friends with the title "The One with Rachel's New Dress", playing the father of Rachel Green's boyfriend Joshua.

## Personal life

From 1968 to 1970, he was married to Suzanne Langford, a former press secretary to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The couple had a son together, Matthew Perry (1969–2023), who also became an actor. After the couple divorced, his ex-wife returned back to Ottawa, Ontario with their son. Perry then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Matthew later moved back to the U.S to live with him when he was 15 years old. Perry married Debbie Boyle in 1981 and five years later the couple had a daughter named Maria, who goes by Mia (b. 1986).
Perry's son Matthew died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, from an apparent drowning, stemming from a ketamine overdose.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1976 | Lipstick | Martin McCormick |
| 1976 | Midway | ARM1c Walter G. Chochalousek |
| 1981 | The Legend of the Lone Ranger | Ranger Captain Dan Reid |
| 1981 | Only When I Laugh | Vincent Heller (Lou) |
| 1989 | Farewell to the King | General MacArthur |
| 1996 | Independence Day | Secret Serviceman |
| 1996 | The Evening Star | Sitcom Parent |
| 1997 | Fools Rush In | Richard Whitman |
| 1997 | George of the Jungle | Arthur Stanhope |
| 1998 | Circles | Bob Miano |
| 1998 | Ground Control | Senator Rutherford |
| 2002 | The Sweetest Thing | Judy's Father |
| 2007 | Agenda | John Linney |
| 2007 | Protecting the King | Vernon Presley |
| 2008 | Loaded | Evan Price |
| 2011 | Bob's New Suit | Buster |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1972 | Bobby Jo and the Good Time Band | Jeff | Television movie |
| 1973–1974 | Police Story | Sergeant Chick Torpi | Recurring role (5 episodes) |
| 1974 | Mannix | Steve Walker | Episode: "Walk a Double Line" |
| 1974 | Nakia | unknown role | Episode: "The Moving Target" |
| 1975 | Kung Fu | Deputy Hank Archer | Episode: "Battle Hymn" |
| 1975 | S.W.A.T. | Johnny Brewer | Episode: "The Vendetta" |
| 1975 | Barbary Coast | Commander Stark | Episode: "An Iron-Clad Plan" |
| 1977 | Little House on the Prairie | Andrew Hobbs / Frank James | Episode: "The Aftermath" |
| 1978 | Everyday | Himself (Host) | 2 episodes – "#1.1" – "#1.11" Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series |
| 1978–1979 | Centennial | Mahlon Zendt | Miniseries (2 episodes) – "The Wagon and the Elephant" (1978) – "The Storm" (1979) |
| 1979–1981 | 240-Robert | Deputy Theodore Roosevelt 'Trap' Applegate III | Series regular (16 episodes) |
| 1981 | A Matter of Life and Death | Shad Fleming | Television movie |
| 1982 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Russell Donovan | Episode: "Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang" |
| 1982 | Today's F.B.I. | Parrish | Episode: "Tapper" |
| 1982 | Money on the Side | Tom Westmore | Television movie |
| 1982 | Seven Brides for Seven Brothers | Eckworth | Episode: "Heritage" |
| 1983 | I Married Wyatt Earp | John Behan | Television movie |
| 1983 | Little House on the Prairie | Russell Matthews | Episode: "Once Upon a Time" |
| 1983 | Teachers Only | unknown role | Episode: "Rex, the Wonder Husband" |
| 1983 | Wizards and Warriors | Colter | Episode: "The Dungeon of Death" |
| 1983 | Lottery! | unknown role | Episode: "Phoenix: Blood Brothers" |
| 1983 | Emerald Point N.A.S. | Joe | Episode: "#1.6" |
| 1984 | The Duck Factory | Brett Higgens / Arnold | Episode: "It Didn't Happen One Night" |
| 1984 | The Love Boat | George Washburn | Episode: "Only the Good Die Young/Honey Beats the Odds/The Light of Another Day" |
| 1984 | Paper Dolls | Michael Caswell | Series regular (13 episodes) |
| 1985 | The Other Lover | Peter Fielding | Television movie |
| 1985 | I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later | Wes Morrison | Television movie |
| 1985 | Magnum, P.I. | Stephen Parker | Episode: "Rapture" |
| 1985–1986 | Falcon Crest | Sheriff Floyd Gilmore | Series regular (21 episodes) |
| 1986 | Hotel | Drew Haywood | Episode: "Harassed" |
| 1987 | The Last Fling | Jason Elliot | Television movie |
| 1987 | Independence | Sheriff | Television movie |
| 1987 | Throb | Bobby | Episode: "Party Games" |
| 1987 | Poker Alice | Frank Hartwell | Television movie |
| 1987 | Rags to Riches | Tom Honkerson | Episode: "Wilderness Blues" |
| 1987 | Pursuit of Happiness | Fast Phil | Episode: "Advice and Consent" |
| 1987 | Murder, She Wrote | Judge Perry Sillman | Episode: "When Thieves Fall Out" |
| 1988 | Nightingales | Roger Taylor | Television movie |
| 1988 | L.A. Law | Richard Lauderbauch | Episode: "Romancing the Drone" |
| 1988 | Hunter | Steven Stag | Episode: "Dead on Target (Part 1 & 2)" |
| 1989 | She Knows Too Much | Matthew Bream | Television movie |
| 1989 | False Witness | Dr. Stiner | Television movie |
| 1991 | Over My Dead Body | Raymond | Episode: "Naked Brunch" |
| 1992 | Secrets | Dan Adams | Television movie |
| 1992 | Coach | Arthur Blackmore | Episode: "Dateline-Bangkok" |
| 1992 | Silk Stalkings | Ronald Bunch | Episode: "Irreconcilable Differences" |
| 1993 | Civil Wars | Adam Hunter | Episode: "Dances with Sharks" |
| 1993 | Murder, She Wrote | Dan Remsen | Episode: "Lone Witness" |
| 1993 | Home Free | Judge Quentin Cavanaugh | Episode: "Front Page" |
| 1995 | Renegade | Ted Radford | Episode: "Rancho Escondido" |
| 1995 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Winston Halpern | Episode: "Kids Killing Kids" |
| 1995 | Eye of the Stalker | Duncan Emerson | Television movie |
| 1996 | Pier 66 | Senator Powers | Television movie |
| 1996 | Night Stand | Colin Hunter | Episode: "Gays in the Military" |
| 1998 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Mr. Norman Zapruder | Episode: "Safety Patrol" |
| 1998 | Friends | Mr. Burgin | Episode: "The One with Rachel's New Dress" |
| 1998 | JAG | Roland Sims | 2 episodes – "Yesterday's Heroes" – "Wedding Bell Blues" |
| 1998 | The Army Show | Nelson Caesar | Episode: "J. Paul Caesar" |
| 1998–1999 | Air America | Frank Arnett | Recurring role (6 episodes) |
| 1999 | Veronica's Closet | Byron Blair | Episode: "Veronica's from Venus/Josh's Parents Are from Mars" |
| 1999 | Nash Bridges | Frank Morgan | Episode: "Hide and Seek" |
| 1999 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Hamilton Bell | Episode: "Dick v. Strudwick" |
| 1999–2000 | Family Law | Senator Harlan Bell | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| 1999–2001 | It's Like, You Know... | Barney the Anchorman | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| 2000 | Diagnosis Murder | Robert Brantigan | Episode: "Man Overboard" |
| 2001 | The West Wing | Representative Bill. D | Episode: "Two Cathedrals" |
| 2002 | Providence | Charles Frank | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
| 2003 | 7th Heaven | Detective Terry Richardson | 2 episodes – "Stand Up" – "High Anxiety" |
| 2003 | Threat Matrix | Senator Otto | Episode: "Flipping" |
| 2004 | Scrubs | Gregory Marks | Episode: "My Unicorn" |
| 2005 | Cuts | Dennis | Episode: "Mack Daddies" |
| 2005 | Veronica Mars | Principal Alan Moorehead | 2 episodes – "Ahoy, Mateys!" – "My Mother, the Fiend" |
| 2006 | Principal Dennis | unknown role | Episode: "Heiress Bridenapped" |
| 2006 | Our House | Judge | Television movie |
| 2006 | The Closer | Walter Langer | Episode: "Heroic Measures" |
| 2008 | Dirty Sexy Money | Hal Matheson | Episode: "The Birthday Present" |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Al 'Baltimore Red' Soddenheim '09 | Episode: "November 22nd" |
| 2011 | Mr. Sunshine | Howard | Episode: "The Best Man" |