Benjamin Joseph Hall (March 18, 1899 – May 20, 1985) was an American actor who started performing as a boy and worked for three and a half decades, mainly in small parts.

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

as the eldest child of American

stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...

George E. Hall and his English wife Constance L. Fletcher, Ben Hall began making appearances in films when he was little more than ten years old. After a handful of movies, his family moved to

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

, and in 1918 Ben took work as a bank clerk in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. But by 1920, Ben and his mother had moved to Los Angeles (where they were joined later by his younger brother George Jr.). Hall worked as a property man for the studios for a time,United States Census records for 1920, Los Angeles, California, Assembly District 63, District 168, sheet 13A but eventually began to get small roles and was eking out a living as an actor again by 1926. He became a minor but fairly frequently-used member of the

John Ford Stock Company The John Ford Stock Company is the name given to the large collection of actors used repeatedly in the films of American director John Ford. Most famous among these was John Wayne, who appeared in twenty-four films and three television episodes for ...

, and did eight films for

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

between 1929 and 1946. Most memorable among these bit roles was probably that of the barber who slicks down and perfumes

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

's hair in ''

My Darling Clementine ''My Darling Clementine'' is a 1946 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp during the period leading up to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The ensemble cast also features Victor Mature (as Doc Holli ...

'' (1946). Hall left acting in 1949, though he lived for another 36 years. He died in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

in 1985.

Partial filmography

* ''

Kindling Kindling may refer to: * Kindling, material for firelighting * ''Kindling'' (album), a 1973 album by Gene Parsons * ''Kindling'' (1915 film), a film by Cecil B. DeMille * Kindling (2023 film), a British drama film * ''Kindling'' (Mick Farren no ...

'' (1915) * '' The Prairie Mystery'' (1922) * '' Sally, Irene and Mary'' (1925) * ''

For Ladies Only ''For Ladies Only'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. The album was released in November 1971, by Dunhill Records. It is a political concept album mainly about feminism, but with several more conventional so ...

'' (1927) * '' Down the Stretch'' (1928) * ''

Hot News ''International News Service v. Associated Press'', 248 U.S. 215 (1918), also known as ''INS v. AP'' or simply the ''INS'' case, is a 1918 decision of the United States Supreme Court that enunciated the misappropriation doctrine of federal intell ...

'' (1928) * ''

The Midnight Adventure ''The Midnight Adventure'' is a 1928 American silent film, silent mystery film directed by Duke Worne and starring Cullen Landis, Edna Murphy and Ernest Hilliard.Weaver p.201 Synopsis Guests a country mansion all fall under suspicion when a murd ...

'' (1928) * ''

Harold Teen ''Harold Teen'' is a discontinued, long-running American comic strip written and drawn by Carl Ed (pronounced "eed"). Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson may have suggested and certainly approved the strip's concept, loosely based on Booth Tarkin ...

'' (1928) * '' In the Headlines'' (1929) * ''

The Girl from Woolworth's ''The Girl from Woolworth's'' is a 1929 American sound ( All-Talking) pre-Code musical romance film directed by William Beaudine and starring Alice White, Gladden James and Bert Moorhouse. It was released both as a sound film and in a slightly s ...

'' (1929) * ''

Vanity Street ''Vanity Street'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code crime drama film directed by Nick Grinde and starring Charles Bickford, Helen Chandler and Mayo Methot.Scott p.42 It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Plot A New York policeman assis ...

'' (1932) *''

Gorilla Ship ''Gorilla Ship'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Strayer from an original screenplay by George Waggner. Starring Ralph Ince, Vera Reynolds, and Reed Howes, the film was produced by Ralph M. Like, Ltd. and distributed by ...

'' (1932) * ''

Alias Mary Smith ''Alias Mary Smith'' is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery crime film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Blanche Mehaffey, John Darrow, and Raymond Hatton.Langman & Finn p. 6 It was released by the independent company Mayfair Pictures. Plot ...

'' (1932) * '' The Big Bluff'' (1933) * ''

Love Past Thirty ''Love Past Thirty'' is a 1934 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Vin Moore and starring Aileen Pringle, Theodore von Eltz and Phyllis Barry.Pitts, pg. 158 Plot After she is ditched by her boyfriend for her younger niece, a woman develop ...

'' (1934) * ''

Smoke Tree Range ''Smoke Tree Range'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Frances Guihan. The film stars Buck Jones, Muriel Evans, John Elliott, Dick Jones, Donald Kirke, Ted Adams and Ben Hall. The film was released ...

'' (1937) * ''

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

'' (1938) * ''

Service de Luxe ''Service de Luxe'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Constance Bennett, Vincent Price (in his film debut) and Charles Ruggles.Kellow p.211 Plot Helen Murphy, alias Dorothy Madison number 1, runs a very succe ...

'' (1938) * ''

Tillie the Toiler ''Tillie the Toiler'' is a newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech ballo ...

'' (1941) * ''

'' (1946)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Ben 1899 births 1985 deaths Male actors from Brooklyn 20th-century American male actors