Derek Benfield (11 March 1926 – 10 March 2009) was a British playwright and actor. He was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

''Running Riot'' and played Patricia Routledge's character's husband in '' Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'' (1996–1998). Arguably, Benfield's best known character portrayal was as transport company foreman Bill Riley in the UK television series '' The Brothers'' in the early 1970s. Before this, he starred as Frank Skinner in the 1970 cult sci-fi series broadcast on UK ITV, ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's television series, children's science fiction television series made by Associated TeleVision, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network, and broadcast in 1970 and 1971. It was first shown on Monday evenings ...

''. Some of his other television roles included Walter Greenhalgh in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' (1961–1969), Albert the Clerk in ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...

'' (1978–80), and characters in ''Breakaway'' (1980) and '' First of the Summer Wine'' (1988). His film credits include small roles in '' Crossplot'' (1969), '' I Don't Want to Be Born'' (1975) and '' Lifeforce'' (1985). His plays included the farces ''Post Horn Gallop'' and ''Wild Goose Chase'', both about the fictional exploits of the eccentric Lord and Lady Elrood and visitors to their castle. He also appeared with

Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

as John Hallam in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' audio play '' Catch-1782'' produced by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

Plays

*The Young in Heart, 1953 *The Way the Wind Blows, 1954 *Champagne for Breakfast, 1954 *Wild Goose Chase, 1955 *Running Riot, 1958 *Out of Thin Air, 1961 *Fish out of Water, 1963 *Down to Brass Tacks, 1964 *Third Party Risk, 1964 *The Party, 1964 *Post Horn Gallop, 1965 *Murder for the Asking, 1967 *Off the Hook, 1970 *A Bird in the hand, 1973 *Panic Stations, 1975 *Caught on the Hop, 1979 *Beyond a Joke, 1980 *In for the Kill, 1981 *Look Who's Talking, 1984 *Touch and Go, 1984 *Flying Feathers, 1987 *Bedside Manners, 1990 *Toe in the Water, 1991 *Don't Lose the Place, 1992 *Anyone for Breakfast?, 1994 *Up and Running, 1995 *A Fly in the Ointment, 1996 *Two and Two Together, 1999 *Second Time Around, 2000? *Funny Business, 2005 *In At the Deep End, 2005 *Over My Dead Body, 2005? *First Things First, 2007

Personal life

Benfield was married to actress Susan Lyle Grant from 1953 until his death in 2009. They had two children together and two grandchildren.

Death

Benfield died of

Stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

on 10 March in 2009 at the age of 82 the day before his 83rd birthday.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Derek Benfield
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, ...

*
Obituary in ''The Times''

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

* http://www.timeslip.org.uk/whoswho/derekbenfield.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Benfield, Derek 1926 births 2009 deaths English male television actors Male actors from Bradford People educated at Bingley Grammar School English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English male writers Writers from Bradford