Benjamin Huntington Wright (5 May 1915 – 2 July 1989) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Herr Zeller in ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

''. He also played numerous roles in famous films and worked as voice actor, having roles in animated films by Disney Studios.

Early life

Ben Wright was born on 5 May 1915 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to an American father and an English mother. At the age of 16, he entered the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. Upon graduating, he acted in several West End stage productions. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, he enlisted and served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He came to the U.S. in 1946 to attend a cousin's wedding and settled in Hollywood.

Radio

Wright worked as the radio incarnation of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

(1949–1950) and Inspector Peter Black on ''Pursuit'' (1951–1952). He played

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n servant Tulku on '' The Green Lama'', Chinese bellhop Hey Boy on the radio version of '' Have Gun Will Travel'', various

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

roles on '' Night Beat'', and the

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, '' Escape'', on which his roles ranged from the

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

protagonist of ''The Man Who Worked Miracles'' to the famed

Arabian The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

hero of ''The Voyages of Sinbad''. His other radio credits included ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', '' Crime Classics'', and ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...

''.

Film and television

He achieved worldwide attention when he was seen as the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Herr Zeller in ''

'' (1965), and he had small roles in '' Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961), ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' (1964), and

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

's ''

The Fortune Cookie ''The Fortune Cookie'' (alternative United Kingdom, British title: ''Meet Whiplash Willie'') is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It is the first film in which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Wal ...

'' (1966). On television, he was a guest star on such series as ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...

'', '' Hogan's Heroes'' (as various Nazi officers), ''

McHale's Navy ''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. The series was filmed i ...

'', '' Combat!'', ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

'' (in a recurring role as billiard parlor owner “Dan Binney”, later as town barber “Birger Engdohl”, as Sgt. Pickens in “Wagon Girls”, as priest “Father Tom” in “Friend”, as storekeeper “Mr. Ross” in “Father’s Love” and finally as a dishonest land claim agent in “Two of a Kind” (S8E27), '' The Wild Wild West'', ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'', '' Mr. Adams and Eve'', '' The Tab Hunter Show'', '' Straightaway'', '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', '' It Takes a Thief'', '' Mission: Impossible'', as Mr. Rudolpho on the final episode of the 1964 series '' The Addams Family'', and '' The Rockford Files''. Wright made three guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'', starring Raymond Burr. He played Walter Lumis in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Terrified Typist", in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Bashful Burro", he played assay agent and murderer Crawford Wright, who speaks with a Welsh-sounding accent and he played Clarence Keller in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Guilty Clients". Wright played Governor José María de Echeandía in the 1960 episode "Forbidden Wedding" of the syndicated anthology series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'', hosted by Stanley Andrews. Wright made a guest appearance on the television series ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

,'' in the episode "The Success Story". He had appearances on

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

and Dragnet 1967. In 1971 Wright appeared as the desk clerk on "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name of the TV western '' The Virginian'') in the episode titled "The Town Killer." Ben Wright also appeared in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode titled, "Twenty Million Alibis" (6 May 1973). Wright also worked as a voice actor. He was often heard on '' The Outer Limits'' as various alien voices, and he also appeared on camera. Other voice work included the narrator in ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' (1963) with

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

announcer in the film version of '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and featured

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

roles in several Disney films: '' One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961) as songwriter Roger Radcliffe, '' The Jungle Book'' (1967) as Mowgli's wolf father, Rama, and '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989) as Grimsby, which was his final role.

Death

On 2 July 1989, at the age of 74, Wright died in Saint Joseph Medical Center in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, after undergoing

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

surgery.

Selected filmography

* '' Well Done, Henry'' (1936) – (uncredited) * '' The Avenging Hand'' (1936) – Lift Boy (uncredited) * ''

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

'' (1943) – (uncredited) * ''

The Exile ''The eXile'' was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting. In October 2006, co-editor Jake ...

'' (1947) – Milbanke * '' Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' (1948) – Cockney Tout (uncredited) * '' The Fighting O'Flynn'' (1949) – Lieutenant (uncredited) * '' Sword in the Desert'' (1949) – Radio Man (uncredited) * ''

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

'' (1952) – Deck Officer Green * '' The Desert Rats'' (1953) – Mick * '' Man in the Attic'' (1953) – Detective in Theatre Box (uncredited) * '' Hell and High Water'' (1954) – BBC Announcer (uncredited) * '' Prince Valiant'' (1954) – Seneschal (uncredited) * '' Prince of Players'' (1955) – Horatio in 'Hamlet' (uncredited) * '' The Racers'' (1955) – Dr. Seger (uncredited) * '' A Man Called Peter'' (1955) – Mr. Findlay (uncredited) * '' Jump Into Hell'' (1955) – Captain Pluen (uncredited) * '' Moonfleet'' (1955) – Officer (uncredited) * '' Desert Sands'' (1955) – Commandant Captain (uncredited) * '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956) – Simmons – Hotel Porter (uncredited) * '' D-Day the Sixth of June'' (1956) – General Millensbeck (uncredited) * '' Johnny Concho'' (1956) – Benson * '' The Power and the Prize'' (1956) – Mr. Chutwell * '' Pharaoh's Curse'' (1957) – Walter Andrews * '' Until They Sail'' (1957) – Defense Attorney (uncredited) * '' Kiss Them for Me'' (1957) – Peters, RAF Pilot (uncredited) * '' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957) – Barrister Reading Charges (uncredited) * '' Villa!!'' (1958) – Francisco Madero * '' These Thousand Hills'' (1959) – Frenchy (uncredited) * '' The Wreck of the Mary Deare'' (1959) – Mike * ''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

'' (1959) – Paisley (uncredited) * '' The Lost World'' (1960) – BBC Field Reporter Ted Bottomley (uncredited) * '' One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961) – Roger Radcliffe (voice) * '' Operation Bottleneck'' (1961) – Manders the Englishman * '' Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) – Herr Halbestadt, Haywood's butler * ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...

'' (1962) – Graves (uncredited) * ''

'' (1963) – Narrator (voice, uncredited) * '' A Gathering of Eagles'' (1963) – Leighton. S.A.C. Observer * '' The Prize'' (1963) – British Reporter (uncredited) * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1963) (Season 2 Episode 1: "A Home Away from Home") - Dr. Jerry Norton * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1964) (Season 2 Episode 19: "Murder Case") - Tony Niles * ''

'' (1964) – Footman at Ball (uncredited) * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1965) (Season 3 Episode 22: "Thou Still Unravished Bride") - Mr. Sutherland * ''

'' (1965) – Herr Zeller * '' My Blood Runs Cold'' (1965) – Lansbury * '' Munster Go Home'' (1966) – Hennesy * ''

'' (1966) – Specialist #4 * '' The Sand Pebbles'' (1966) – Englishman (uncredited) * '' The Jungle Book'' (1967) – Rama, the Wolf (voice) * '' The Rat Patrol'' - Season 2 - Episode 13 (1967) - Colonel Jameson * '' Topaz'' (1969) – French Officer (uncredited) * ''

Raid on Rommel ''Raid on Rommel'' is a 1971 American war film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Richard Burton, John Colicos, Clinton Greyn, Danielle De Metz and Wolfgang Preiss. The film centers on a British commando attempting to destroy German gun empl ...

'' (1971) – Admiral * ''

The Virginian (TV series) ''The Virginian'' (later renamed ''The Men from Shiloh'' in its final year) is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others. It originall ...

'' (1971) – Desk Clerk, Season 9 episode 22 (''The Town Killer'') * ''Chandar, the Black Leopard of Ceylon'' (1972) – Narrator * '' Terror in the Wax Museum'' (1973) – First Constable * '' Arnold'' (1973) – Jonesy * '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989) – Grimsby (voice) (final film role, released posthumously)

References

External links

*
Ben Wright
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Ben Wright's voice credits
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ben 1915 births 1989 deaths 20th-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British Army personnel of World War II English expatriate male actors in the United States English male film actors English male radio actors English male television actors English male voice actors English people of American descent King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers Male actors from London Military personnel from London