Harry Benham
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Harry Benham (February 26, 1884 – July 17, 1969) was an American
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
actor.


Background

Benham was born in
Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...
. As a child, he and his family moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where he was raised and attended school. Benham had a talent for singing and sang in his local church choir. In 1904, the production ''Peggy From Paris'' came to Chicago and, at age 20, Benham became a member of the chorus while earning a living in the wholesale paper business. Benham was soon selected to play the leading role in the production and remained in that role throughout the production's three-year run. He was subsequently able to garner more roles in other plays, such as ''The Sultan of Sulu'', ''Woodland, Marrying Mary'', ''The Gay Musician'', ''
H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...
'', ''
Florodora ''Florodora'' is an Edwardian musical comedy. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the mus ...
'', ''The Mayoress'', and ''Madame Sherry''. In 1910 Benham joined the
Thanhouser Company The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude Thanhouser, Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New Yo ...
in
New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...
, for whom he played the leading role in many of the company's
films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
through 1915. He married actress
Ethyle Cooke Ethyle Cooke (August 4, 1880 - April 20, 1949) was an American silent film actress of the 1910s. In 1915, she married another prominent silent film actor of the time, Harry Benham. Cooke starred in many popular films, such as ''A Small Town Gi ...
, and together they had two children, Dorothy and Leland, who also became prominent Thanhouser personalities. Benham died on July 17, 1969, in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
, aged 85. An article about his role in ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1912) appeared in ''Famous Monsters of Filmland'' (October 1963).


Filmography


1910s

* ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1911) * ''The Mummy'' (1911) * ''The Regimental Ball'' (1911) * ''Get Rich Quick'' (1911) .... Undetermined Role * ''The Rescue of Mr. Henpeck'' (1911) .... Mr. Henpeck * '' The Smuggler'' (1911) .... The Secret Service Man * ''David Copperfield'' (1911) * ''The Satyr and the Lady'' (1911) .... The Artist * ''Their Burglar'' (1911) .... Jack * ''The Missing Heir'' (1911) .... The Policeman * ''The Lady from the Sea'' (1911) * ''The Tomboy'' (1911) .... The Guardian * ''Cinderella'' (1911) .... The Prince * ''
She She or S.H.E. may refer to: Language * She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English Places * She County, Anhui ** She Prefecture, 589-1121 * She County, Hebei * She River, or Sheshui, Hubei * ...
'' (1911) * ''The Expert's Report'' (1911) .... The Oil Expert * ''
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series ...
'' (1912) (uncredited) .... Mr. Hyde (some scenes) * ''Her Ladyship's Page'' (1912) * ''East Lynne'' (1912) * ''The Poacher'' (1912) .... The Poacher * ''
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'', or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...
'' (1912) .... Nicholas Nickleby * ''An Easy Mark'' (1912) .... The Crook * ''The Baby Bride'' (1912) .... The Bachelor * ''Dora Thorne'' (1912) .... Lord Rowland * ''Jilted'' (1912) .... The Fiancé * ''Her Secret'' (1912) .... The Loyal Sister's Husband * ''Why Tom Signed the Pledge'' (1912) .... Tom, the Deacon's Son * ''In Blossom Time'' (1912) * ''The Professor's Son'' (1912) .... The Professor * ''Out of the Dark'' (1912) * ''Under Two Flags'' (1912/I) * ''The Finger of Scorn'' (1912) .... The Drummer * ''The Portrait of Lady Anne'' (1912) .... Lady Anne's Suitor in 1912 * ''The Merchant of Venice'' (1912) .... Bassanio * ''Big Sister'' (1912) * ''The Wrecked Taxi'' (1912) * ''When a Count Counted'' (1912) .... The Young Law Clerk, Her Sweetheart * '' The Voice of Conscience'' (1912) .... Suitor * ''Letters of a Lifetime'' (1912) .... The Brother * ''The Warning'' (1912) .... The Father * ''
Miss Robinson Crusoe ''Miss Robinson Crusoe'' is a 1917 silent American comedy-drama film, directed by Christy Cabanne William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor. Biography ...
'' (1912) .... The American * ''Dotty, the Dancer'' (1912) .... Mademoiselle Cleo * ''In a Garden'' (1912) .... The Quarrel Maker * ''The Ladder of Life'' (1912) .... The Poor Man, as an Adult * ''A Noise Like a Fortune'' (1912) .... The Young Farmer * ''In Time of Peril'' (1912) .... The Engineer * ''Miss Taku of Tokyo'' (1912) .... Jack, the Son * ''The Forest Rose'' (1912) * ''A Romance of the U.S.N.'' (1912) .... The Sailor * ''At Liberty—Good Press Agent'' (1912) .... The Press Agent * '' Aurora Floyd'' (1912) .... John Mellish, Aurora's Second Husband * ''Brains vs. Brawn'' (1912) .... Brawn/The Young Athlete * ''The Repeater'' (1912) .... Jack, the Repeater * ''The Star of Bethlehem'' (1912) .... Angel Gabriel * ''The Boomerang'' (1913/III) .... The Father * ''Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four'' (1913) .... Sherlock Holmes * ''Just a Shabby Doll'' (1913) .... The Husband * ''King René's Daughter'' (1913) * ''Little Dorrit'' (1913) * ''The Girl of the Cabaret'' (1913) * ''The Medium's Nemesis'' (1913) * ''Robin Hood'' (1913) .... Alan-a-Dale * ''Moths'' (1913) .... Correze * ''The Children's Hour'' (1913) * ''He Couldn't Lose'' (1913) * ''Baby's Joy Ride'' (1913) * ''A Clothes-Line Quarrel'' (1913) * ''What Might Have Been'' (1913) * ''A Beauty Parlor Graduate'' (1913) * ''An Orphan's Romance'' (1913) * ''Pamela Congreve'' (1914) * ''Frou Frou'' (1914) .... Henri de Sartorys * ''Their Golden Wedding'' (1914) * ''The Runaway Princess'' (1914) * ''Coals of Fire'' (1914) * ''Her Love Letters'' (1914) * ''The Elevator Man'' (1914) * ''The Success of Selfishness'' (1914) * ''The Golden Cross'' (1914) * ''The Scientist's Doll'' (1914) * ''The Miser's Reversion'' (1914) * ''When Sorrow Fades'' (1914) * ''Repentance'' (1914) * ''The Musician's Daughter'' (1914) * ''The Infant Heart Snatcher'' (1914) * ''A Woman's Loyalty'' (1914) * ''Was She Right in Forgiving Him?'' (1914) * ''Rivalry'' (1914) * ''The Girl Across the Hall'' (1914) * ''The Man Without Fear'' (1914) * ''The Harlow Handicap'' (1914) .... Harry Allen * ''Harry's Waterloo'' (1914) * '' Stronger Than Death'' (1914) * ''Gold'' (1914) * ''The Mettle of a Man'' (1914) * ''The Harvest of Regrets'' (1914) * ''The Trail of the Love-Lorn'' (1914) * ''The Rescue'' (1914/I) * ''Zudora'' (1914) .... John Storm * ''Mrs. Van Ruyter's Stratagem'' (1914) * ''Graft vs. Love'' (1915) * ''The Heart of the Princess Marsari'' (1915) * ''Daughter of Kings'' (1915) * ''The Girl of the Sea'' (1915) * ''A Freight Car Honeymoon'' (1915) * '' The Country Girl'' (1915) .... Belville, Phyllis' Lover * ''Madame Blanche, Beauty Doctor'' (1915) .... Bob; Madame Blanche * ''His Two Patients'' (1915) .... The Doctor * ''When the Fleet Sailed'' (1915) * ''When Hungry Hamlet Fled'' (1915) * ''Helen's Babies'' (1915) * ''The Scoop at Bellville'' (1915) * ''The Man Inside'' (1916) .... Hunter * ''The Path of Happiness'' (1916) .... Merrill Day, the Intruder * ''The Doll Doctor'' (1916) * ''Mignonette'' (1916) * ''Held for Damages'' (1916) * ''Through Flames to Love'' (1916) * ''The Capital Prize'' (1916) * ''Her Wonderful Secret'' (1916) * ''A College Boomerang'' (1916) * ''The Heart Wrecker'' (1916) * ''Peggy and the Law'' (1916) * ''The Clever Mrs. Carter'' (1916) * ''The Little Grey Mouse'' (1916) .... Jack Stanley * ''Love's Masquerade'' (1916) * ''The Angel of the Attic'' (1916) * ''The Girl Who Didn't Tell'' (1916) * ''
The Mischief Maker ''The Mischief Maker'' is a 1916 American silent film, silent comedy-drama film directed by John G. Adolfi and starring June Caprice, Harry Benham and John Reinhardt (actor), John Reinhardt.Solomon p.236 Cast * June Caprice as Effie Marchand * ...
'' (1916) .... Al Tourney * ''Pamela's Past'' (1916) * ''Toto of the Byways'' (1916) * ''Souls United'' (1917) * ''When Thieves Fall Out'' (1917) * '' The Dancer's Peril'' (1917) .... Richard Moraino * ''The Warfare of the Flesh'' (1917) .... Frank Gregory * ''When You and I Were Young'' (1917) .... Artist * '' The Last of the Carnabys'' (1917) .... Johnn Rand * ''Putting the Bee in Herbert'' (1917) .... Herbert Macklin * '' The Outsider'' (1917) .... Donald Lyttleton * ''The Victim'' (1917) .... Undetermined Role * ''
Convict 993 ''Convict 993'' is a lost 1918 silent film directed by William Parke and starring Irene Castle. It was distributed by the Pathé Exchange Company. Cast * Irene Castle as Roslyn Ayre *Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; Oc ...
'' (1918) .... Rodney Travers * '' Cecilia of the Pink Roses'' (1918) .... Harry Twombly * ''The Love Craze'' (1918)


1920s

* '' The Prey'' (1920) .... James Calvin * '' For Love or Money'' (1920) .... John T. Hamilton * '' The Dangerous Paradise'' (1920) .... Norman Kent * '' Polly With a Past'' (1920) .... Clay Cullum * ''
Hush Money Hush money is an arrangement in which one person or party offers another money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatized, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact about the person or party who has m ...
'' (1921) .... Bishop Deems * ''The Road to Arcady'' (1922) .... John T. Hamilton * '' Your Best Friend'' (1922) .... Robert Meyers * '' The Town That Forgot God'' (1922) .... Harry Adams


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benham, Harry 1884 births 1969 deaths Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from Indiana Male actors from Sarasota, Florida People from Valparaiso, Indiana 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers