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Charles Walter "Dick" Bentley (14 May 1907 – 27 August 1995) was an Australian-born comedian and actor of radio, stage and screen. He starred with
Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early lif ...
in ''
Take It From Here ''Take It from Here'' (often referred to as ''TIFH'', pronounced – and sometimes humorously spelt – "TIFE") is a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, a ...
'' for
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
. He was a staple of and pioneer of radio, having started his career in the medium in the early 1930s. He appeared on screen from the late 1940s until retiring in 1978.


Biography


Early life and radio

Bentley was born in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia. As a child, Bentley learned several musical instruments, and while still in his teens was a staple on the Melbourne cabaret circuit as a comedian and singer, his act consisting of playing a few bars of music deliberately badly, interspersed with jokes and legitimate musical numbers. He made his first appearance on ABC Radio in the early 1930s and by 1938 had become a fairly prominent personality, notably on Wilfrid Thomas's show ''Out of the Bag''. In that year he moved to London, and worked for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Newly married to Petronella "Peta" Curra, with the war raging in England, he returned to Australia, and during the years of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he spent entertaining the troops in the Pacific theatre.


Return to Britain

By 1946, he was one of Australia's highest-paid entertainers and returned to Britain to try to re-establish himself in a much larger market. He joined up with writer
Denis Norden Denis Mostyn Norden (6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the ...
and guested on many of the leading radio shows of the day. An appearance on ''Navy Mixture'' teamed him successfully with
Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early lif ...
, and indirectly led to the pairing of Denis Norden with
Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wro ...
, who was Edwards' writer. Muir and Norden together wrote ''
Take It From Here ''Take It from Here'' (often referred to as ''TIFH'', pronounced – and sometimes humorously spelt – "TIFE") is a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, a ...
'' (1948–60), with Edwards and Bentley as two of the three stars. The most memorable feature of ''Take It From Here'' was ''
The Glums ''The Glums'' is a British television sitcom which first aired on ITV in 1979. It had its origins in a segment of the 1950s radio show ''Take It from Here''.Morgan-Russell p.3 The characters were revived as part of '' Bruce Forsyth's Big Night' ...
'', with Edwards playing the slightly seedy Pa Glum and Bentley his terminally dim son, Ron. Bentley was thirteen years older than Edwards. In 1951, during the run of ''Take It From Here'', Bentley briefly returned to Australia to star in a ten-episode radio comedy series, ''Gently Bentley'', commissioned to celebrate the silver jubilee of the ABC. In 1954, he starred in '' And So to Bentley'', a sketch-format comedy show for the BBC, co-starring
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
. The show only lasted for one series, and the gently self-deprecating humour of Bentley was overshadowed by the charismatic Sellers. Both these shows were also written by Muir and Norden.


Films

After making his film debut in 1959, Bentley returned to Australia to play a sheep drover in '' The Sundowners'' (1960), starring
Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
and Deborah Kerr. In the late 1960s, he was briefly back on BBC radio in the short-run comedy series ''If You Had a Talking Picture of Me''. Bentley was featured in the movies ''
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie ''The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' is a 1972 Australian comedy film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Barry Crocker, telling the story of an Australian ' yobbo' on his travels to the United Kingdom. Barry McKenzie was originally a chara ...
'' (1972) and ''
Barry McKenzie Holds His Own ''Barry McKenzie Holds His Own'' is the 1974 sequel to the 1972 Australian comedy film '' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie''. Returning from the original film is Barry Crocker in the title role, as well as Barry Humphries in the role of Barry ...
'' (1974), derived from the Barry McKenzie comic strip in '' Private Eye''. By 1974, he had largely retired but briefly returned to the screen to appear in ''
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for two series, including two Christmas special ...
'' (1978) as Frank Spencer's grandad, fittingly since the hapless Spencer was in many ways a descendant of Bentley's Ron Glum character in ''TIFH''.


Death

His wife died in January 1991, and Bentley died from complications from Alzheimer's disease in 1995.


Filmography


References

* Frank Muir's autobiography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Dick 1907 births 1995 deaths Comedians from Melbourne Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Australian male radio actors Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Australian male comedians 20th-century Australian male actors 20th-century Australian comedians Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease