Martin Benson (actor)

English character actor (1918–2010)

Joan Oliver (?–?) divorced
Joy Swinson-Benson (m. 1977–2010) (his death)

Martin Benjamin Benson (10 August 1918 – 28 February 2010)^[1]^[2] was a British character actor who appeared in films, theatre and television. He appeared in both British and Hollywood productions.^[3]

Early life

Benson was born in the East End of London, into a Jewish family,^[4] the son of a Russian-Jewish grocer and his Polish-Jewish wife who had left Russia at the revolution.^[1] After attending Tottenham Grammar School on a scholarship, he served in the 2nd Searchlight, Royal Artillery, during World War II. Stationed in Cairo, Egypt, he and Arthur Lowe founded the repertory company Mercury Theatre in Alexandria.^[1]

Career

He is remembered for his role as the Kralaholme in the original London production of The King and I, a role he recreated in the Oscar-winning film version.^[5]

Appearing in films for over six decades, Benson played mostly supporting characters or villains.^[6] His films include The Blind Goddess (1948), Wheel of Fate (1953), Interpol (1957), The Strange World of Planet X (1958), Once More, with Feeling! (1959), Exodus (1960), Five Golden Hours (1961), A Shot in the Dark (1964), Pope Joan (1972), The Sea Wolves (1980) and Angela's Ashes (1999).^[7]

He also had an uncredited role in MGM's hit historical film, Ivanhoe, and in 1963 he acted in another historic film, as Ramos in Cleopatra (which also starred Elizabeth Taylor). Benson played both serious roles, such as Ali in Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) and comic roles, such as Maurice in A Shot in the Dark.^[3]

In 1964, he appeared as Mr. Solo, the gangster who is killed by Goldfinger's henchman Oddjob in the James Bond film Goldfinger.^[5]

Television

He appeared in many roles on television. He appeared as a barrister, using his own name, in the unscripted series The Verdict is Yours which ran for several years in the 1950s. Cases were shown and the previously unknown verdict was given by jury of viewers.^[2] In 1957 he made a guest appearance on The Jack Benny Show.^[8] In the same year he played the recurring character the Duke de Medici in the children's adventure series Sword of Freedom.^[9] In 1960 he appeared in the series Danger Man in the episode entitled "Position of Trust" as Fawzi. In 1981 he appeared in the television production of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, albeit unrecognisable under the heavy make-up and costume of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, leader of the Vogon fleet sent to destroy Earth.^[6] His last appearance was in the TV series Casualty in 2005.^[10]

Death

Benson died in his sleep on 28 February 2010, from natural causes.^[2]

Filmography

Suspected Person (1942) as minor role (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
The Blind Goddess (1948) as Count Stephan Mikla
But Not in Vain (1948) as Mark Meyer
Trapped by the Terror (1949) as Prison Governor^{[citation needed]}
Under Capricorn (1949) as Man Carrying Shrunken Head (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
The Adventures of PC 49: Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel (1949) as Skinny Ellis
I'll Get You for This (1951) as Frankie Sperazza
Assassin for Hire (1951) as Catesby
Night Without Stars (1951) as White Cap
The Dark Light (1951) as Luigi
Hotel Sahara (1951) as Minor Role (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
Mystery Junction (1951) as Steve Harding
Judgment Deferred (1952) as Pierre Desportes
The Frightened Man (1952) as Alec Stone
Wide Boy (1952) as Rocco
Ivanhoe (1952) as Minor Role (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
The Gambler and the Lady (1952) as Tony - Pat's Dance Partner
Top of the Form (1953) as Cliquot
Wheel of Fate (1953) as Riscoe
Recoil (1953) as Farnborough
Always a Bride (1953) as Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
Black 13 (1953) as Bruno
Escape by Night (1953) as Guillio
You Know What Sailors Are (1954) as Agrarian Officer (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
West of Zanzibar (1954) as Dhofar
Knave of Hearts (1954) as Art (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
Passage Home (1955) as Gutierres
Doctor at Sea (1955) as Head Waiter (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
Soho Incident (aka Spin a Dark Web) (1956) as Rico Francesi
23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) as Pillings
The King and I (1956) as Kralahome
Istanbul (1957) as Mr. Darius
Doctor at Large (1957) as Maharajah of Rhanda
Interpol (1957) as Captain Varolli
The Flesh Is Weak (1957) as Angelo Giani
Man from Tangier (1957) as Voss
Windom's Way (1957) as Samcar, Rebel Commander (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
The Strange World of Planet X (1958) as Smith
Sea of Sand (1958) as German Half-track Officer (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
The Two-Headed Spy (1958) as Gen. Wagner
Make Mine a Million (1959) as Chairman
Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) as Ali
Dial 999 (TV series) (Special Branch), episode 13) (1959) as Waymac (filmed 1958)
Once More, with Feeling! (1960) as Luigi Bardini
Oscar Wilde (1960) as George Alexander
Sands of the Desert (1960) as Selim
The Gentle Trap (1960) as Ricky Barnes^{[citation needed]}
The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960) as Flimnap
Exodus (1960) as Mordekai
Gorgo (1961) as Dorkin
Five Golden Hours (1961) as Enrico
A Matter of WHO (1961) as Rahman
The Silent Invasion (1962) as Borge
Satan Never Sleeps (1962) as Kuznietsky
Village of Daughters (1962) as 1st Pickpocket
Captain Clegg (1962) as Mr. Rash (innkeeper)
I tre nemic (1962) as Prof. Otto Kreutz^{[citation needed]}
The Fur Collar (1962) as Martin Benson
Cleopatra (1963) as Ramos
Mozambique (1964) as Da Silva
The Secret Door (1964) as Edmundo Vara
A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Maurice
Behold a Pale Horse (1964) as Priest
Goldfinger (1964) as Mr. Solo
The Secret of My Success (1965) as Rex Mansard
A Man Could Get Killed (1966) as Politanu
The Magnificent Two (1967) as President Diaz
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967) as Gen. Chan Lu
Pope Joan (1972) as Lothair
Tiffany Jones (1973) as Petcek
The Omen (1976) as Father Spiletto
Mohammad, Messenger of God (1976) as Abu-Jahal
Al-risâlah (1976) as Kisra^{[citation needed]}
Jesus of Nazareth (1977, TV mini-series) as Pharisee
Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979) as Dr. Ivanov
The Human Factor (1979) as Boris
The Sea Wolves (1980) as Mr. Montero
Sphinx (1981) as Muhammed
Young Toscanini (1988) as Comparsa (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}
Campion (1989 TV Series) as Isaac Melchizadek
Capstick's Law (1989) as maitre d'hotel^[11]
The Camomile Lawn (1992) as Pauli Erstweiler
Angela's Ashes (1999) as Christian Brother

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Martin Benson". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 29 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Martin Benson obituary". The Times. UK. 4 March 2010. Martin Benson passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday 28th February 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Martin Benson". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
^ William D. Rubinstein, Michael Jolles, Hilary L. Rubinstein, The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, Palgrave Macmillan (2011), p. 75
^ ^a ^b Gaughan, Gavin (6 May 2010). "Martin Benson obituary". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Martin Benson". www.aveleyman.com.
^ "Martin Benson - Movies and Filmography". AllMovie.
^ III, Harris M. Lentz (21 March 2016). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2010. McFarland. ISBN 9780786486496 – via Google Books.
^ "Martin Benson - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos". AllMovie.
^ "Actor Martin Benson dies". The Stage.
^ "Capstick's Law Episode 6 (1989)". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2020.