# Kenneth Benda

Charles Kenneth Anton Benda (3 June 1902 – 26 July 1978) was an English actor often on television. He appeared in British television series No Hiding Place, The Saint, The Avengers, Z-Cars, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, Doomwatch and films The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Ruling Class, Horror Hospital, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It, International Velvet and others. His stage appearances included small roles at The Old Vic and with Peter Hall's National Theatre company.

## Private life

Benda was the son of Charles Benda, a company director and merchant dealing in Oriental Goods. His grandparents, Anton Benda and his wife Frances Mandelbaum, both originally from the Kingdom of Bavaria, were naturalized as British subjects, and in the census of 1871 his grandfather was described as a foreign agent.
On 2 June 1932, at St Peter's, Cranley Gardens, he married Lucy Evelyn Alston, a daughter of Sir Beilby Alston. Their daughter Rosemary Evelyn was born in 1936. In 1960, she married Robert Calder-Smith and they had two daughters and three sons, Henrietta, Anthony, Victoria, Dominic and Benjamin.
Benda retired to the Old Vicarage, Crondall, near Farnham, Surrey, where he died in July 1978. His widow survived him until 1991. Both are buried at Crondall.

## Acting credits

| Production | Notes | Role |
| No Hiding Place | "Deadline for Dummy" (1963) | Gen. Barnaby |
| The Scales of Justice | "The Undesirable Neighbour" (1963) "The Invisible Asset" (1963) | Judge Club Member |
| The Plane Makers | "Loved He Not Honours More" (1963) | Indian Passenger |
| The Saint | "The Lawless Lady" (1964) | Lord Henry Wentworth |
| Call the Gun Expert | "The Teenage Murderer – 1926" (1964) | Bernard Spilsbury |
| Edgar Wallace Mysteries | "The Verdict (1964 film)" (1964) "Game for Three Losers" (1965) | Lord Chief Justice Bryce |
| The Wednesday Play | "The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne" (1965) | Sir John's Father |
| Bindle (One of Them Days) | Film (1966) | Rev. Sopley |
| Adam Adamant Lives! | 2 episodes (1966) | Sir James |
| The Avengers | "A Sense of History" (1966) "From Venus with Love" (1967) | James Broom Lord Mansford |
| Softly, Softly | "Selection" (1967) | Chief Constable Everett |
| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | "Redhanded" (1967) | Lord Mannering |
| Theatre 625 | "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" (1967) | Sir Graball D'Encloseland |
| The Prisoner | "Free for All" (1967) | Supervisor |
| The Franchise Trail | TV Film (1968) | Pharaoh Mamoulian |
| Detective | "The High Adventure" (1968) | Sir James Trevor |
| Z-Cars | "He Must Be Up to No Good: Part 2" (1968) | Sir Francis King |
| The Jazz Age | "Mister Jack Hollins Against Fate" (1968) | Sir Maurice Cope |
| BBC Play of the Month | "Maigret at Bay" (1969) | Jean-Baptiste Prieur |
| Callan | "Nice People Die at Home" (1969) | Doctor |
| A Touch of Love | Film (1969) | Mr. Stacey |
| Doctor in the House | "The War of the Mascots" (1969) | Sir William |
| Scream and Scream Again | Film (1970) | Prof. Kingsmill |
| Oh, Brother! | "By the Fleshpots" (1970) | |
| Take Three Girls | "Gloria for First Offence" (1970) | Second Assistant |
| Secrets of Sex | Film (1970) | Sacha Seremona |
| If It Moves, File It | "Walled in" (1970) | Admiral |
| The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes | Film (1970) | Minister |
| Biography | "Beethoven" (1970) | Schneller |
| The Befrienders | TV Film (1970) | Lawton |
| Doctor Who | 2 episodes: "The Claws of Axos" (1971) | The Minister |
| Paul Temple | "Ricochet" (1971) | Gunther |
| The Guardians | "Head of State" (1971) | General |
| The Search for the Nile | "Find Livingstone" (1971) | Sir Henry Rawlinson |
| Justice | "To Help an Old School Friend" (1971) | Wetherby |
| The Regiment | "A Perfect Day" (1972) | Lord Chief Justice |
| Clouds of Witness Lord Peter Wimsey (TV series) | 1st. broadcast episode (1972) | Serjeant-at-arms |
| The Ruling Class | Film (1972) | Lord Chancellor |
| Doomwatch | "Without the Bomb" (1972) | Clive Hughes |
| The Venturers | TV Film (1972) | Grumbold |
| Scoop | "A Surfeit of Boots" (1972) | Prime Minister |
| Arthur of the Britons | "The Gift of Life" (1972) | Ulrich |
| The Edwardians | "Daisy" (1973) | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Horror Hospital | Film (1973) | Carter |
| Emmerdale | 1 episode (1973) | Sir Gerald Scott |
| A Pin to See the Peepshow | 1 episode (1973) | Crown counsel |
| The Dragon's Opponent | "The Battle" (1973) | Air Vice-Marshal |
| The Pallisers | 2 episodes (1974) | Major Domo |
| Fall of Eagles | "Requiem for a Crown Prince" (1974) | Professor Widerhoffer |
| Play for Today | "The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil" (1974) | Duke of Sutherland |
| No, Honestly | 2 episodes (1974) | Royle |
| The Early Life of Stephen Hind | 1 episode (1974) | Wexford |
| The Stud | Film (1974) | Carruthers |
| Churchill's People | "The Fine Art of Bubble-Blowing" (1975) | Lord Grabble |
| The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother | Film (1975) | Butler |
| Wodehouse Playhouse | "The Code of the Mulliners" (1976) | Bagshot – Butler |
| The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It | Film (1977) | Sir Miles Messervey, 'M' |
| The Basil Brush Show | 1 episode (1977) | |
| International Velvet | Film (1978) | Presentation Official |