Martin Benjamin Benson (10 August 1918 – 28 February 2010) was an English actor who appeared in films, theatre and television. He appeared in both British and Hollywood productions.

Early life

Benson was born in the East End of London, into a Jewish family, the son of a Russian-Jewish grocer and his Polish-Jewish wife who had left Russia at the revolution. After attending Tottenham Grammar School on a scholarship, he served in the 2nd Searchlight, Royal Artillery, during

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 ...

. Stationed in Cairo, Egypt, he and Arthur Lowe founded the repertory company Mercury Theatre in Alexandria.

Career

Benson is remembered for his role as the Kralaholme in the original London production of '' The King and I'', a role he recreated in the Oscar-winning film version. Appearing in films for over six decades, Benson played mostly supporting characters or villains. His films include ''The Blind Goddess'' (1948), ''Wheel of Fate'' (1953), ''Interpol'' (1957), '' The Strange World of Planet X'' (1958), '' Once More, with Feeling!'' (1959), '' Exodus'' (1960), '' Five Golden Hours'' (1961), '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964), '' Pope Joan'' (1972), '' The Sea Wolves'' (1980) and '' Angela's Ashes'' (1999). Benson also had an uncredited role in MGM's hit historical film, ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', and in 1963 he acted in another historic film, as Ramos 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 ...

'' (which also starred Elizabeth Taylor). Benson played both serious roles, such as Ali in '' Killers of Kilimanjaro'' (1959) and comic roles, such as Maurice in '' A Shot in the Dark''. In 1964, Benson appeared as Mr. Solo, the gangster who is killed by Goldfinger's henchman Oddjob in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Goldfinger''.

Television

Benson appeared in many roles on television. He played a barrister, using his own name, in the unscripted series ''The Verdict is Yours'' which ran for several years in the 1950s. Cases were shown and the previously unknown verdict was given by jury of viewers. In 1957 he made a guest appearance on '' The Jack Benny Show''. In the same year he played the recurring character the Duke de Medici in the children's adventure series '' Sword of Freedom''. In 1960 he appeared in the series '' Danger Man'' in the episode entitled "Position of Trust" as Fawzi. In 1981 he appeared in the television production of '' The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', albeit unrecognisable under the heavy make-up and costume of Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz, leader of the Vogon fleet sent to destroy Earth. His last appearance was in the TV series '' Casualty'' in 2005.

Death

Benson died in his sleep on 28 February 2010, from natural causes.

Filmography

* '' Suspected Person'' (1942) as minor role (uncredited) * '' The Blind Goddess'' (1948) as Count Stephan Mikla * '' But Not in Vain'' (1948) as Mark Meyer * ''Trapped by the Terror'' (1949) as Prison Governor * '' Under Capricorn'' (1949) as Man Carrying Shrunken Head (uncredited) * '' The Adventures of PC 49'': Investigating the Case of the Guardian Angel (1949) as Skinny Ellis * '' I'll Get You for This'' (1951) as Frankie Sperazza * '' Assassin for Hire'' (1951) as Catesby * '' Night Without Stars'' (1951) as White Cap * '' The Dark Light'' (1951) as Luigi * '' Hotel Sahara'' (1951) as Minor Role (uncredited) * '' Mystery Junction'' (1951) as Steve Harding * '' Judgment Deferred'' (1952) as Pierre Desportes * '' The Frightened Man'' (1952) as Alec Stone * '' Wide Boy'' (1952) as Rocco * ''

'' (1952) as Minor Role (uncredited) * '' The Gambler and the Lady'' (1952) as Tony – Pat's Dance Partner * '' Top of the Form'' (1953) as Cliquot * '' Wheel of Fate'' (1953) as Riscoe * '' Recoil'' (1953) as Farnborough * '' Always a Bride'' (1953) as Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited) * '' Black 13'' (1953) as Bruno * '' Escape by Night'' (1953) as Guillio * '' You Know What Sailors Are'' (1954) as Agrarian Officer (uncredited) * '' West of Zanzibar'' (1954) as Dhofar * '' Knave of Hearts'' (1954) as Art (uncredited) * '' Passage Home'' (1955) as Gutierres * '' Doctor at Sea'' (1955) as Head Waiter (uncredited) * '' Soho Incident'' (aka ''Spin a Dark Web'') (1956) as Rico Francesi * '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956) as Pillings * '' The King and I'' (1956) as Kralahome * ''

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

'' (1957) as Mr. Darius * '' Doctor at Large'' (1957) as Maharajah of Rhanda * ''

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

'' (1957) as Captain Varolli * '' The Flesh Is Weak'' (1957) as Angelo Giani * '' Man from Tangier'' (1957) as Voss * '' Windom's Way'' (1957) as Samcar, Rebel Commander (uncredited) * '' The Strange World of Planet X'' (1958) as Smith * '' Sea of Sand'' (1958) as German Half-track Officer (uncredited) * '' The Two-Headed Spy'' (1958) as Gen. Wagner * '' Make Mine a Million'' (1959) as Chairman * '' Killers of Kilimanjaro'' (1959) as Ali * '' Dial 999 (TV series)'' ('' Special Branch''), episode 13) (1959) as Waymac (filmed 1958) * '' Once More, with Feeling!'' (1960) as Luigi Bardini * ''

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

'' (1960) as George Alexander * '' Sands of the Desert'' (1960) as Selim * '' The Gentle Trap'' (1960) as Ricky Barnes * '' The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) as Flimnap * '' Exodus'' (1960) as Mordekai * '' Gorgo'' (1961) as Dorkin * '' Five Golden Hours'' (1961) as Enrico * '' A Matter of WHO'' (1961) as Rahman * '' The Silent Invasion'' (1962) as Borge * '' Satan Never Sleeps'' (1962) as Kuznietsky * '' Village of Daughters'' (1962) as 1st Pickpocket * '' Captain Clegg'' (1962) as Mr. Rash (innkeeper) * ''I tre nemic'' (1962) as Prof. Otto Kreutz * '' The Fur Collar'' (1962) as Martin Benson * ''

'' (1963) as Ramos * ''

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

'' (1964) as Da Silva * ''The Secret Door'' (1964) as Edmundo Vara * '' A Shot in the Dark'' (1964) as Maurice * '' Behold a Pale Horse'' (1964) as Priest * '' Goldfinger'' (1964) as Mr. Solo * '' The Secret of My Success'' (1965) as Rex Mansard * '' A Man Could Get Killed'' (1966) as Politanu * '' The Magnificent Two'' (1967) as President Diaz * '' Battle Beneath the Earth'' (1967) as Gen. Chan Lu * '' Pope Joan'' (1972) as Lothair * '' Tiffany Jones'' (1973) as Petcek * ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Sp ...

'' (1976) as Father Spiletto * '' Mohammad, Messenger of God'' (1976) as Abu-Jahal * ''Al-risâlah'' (1976) as Kisra * '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977, TV mini-series) as Pharisee * ''

Meetings with Remarkable Men ''Meetings with Remarkable Men'', autobiographical in nature, is the second volume of the ''All and Everything'' trilogy written by the Greeks, Greek-Armenians, Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff started working on the Russia ...

'' (1979) as Dr. Ivanov * '' The Human Factor'' (1979) as Boris * '' The Sea Wolves'' (1980) as Mr. Montero * ''

Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

'' (1981) as Muhammed * '' Young Toscanini'' (1988) as Comparsa (uncredited) * '' Campion'' (1989 TV Series) as Isaac Melchizadek * '' Capstick's Law'' (1989) as maitre d'hotel * '' The Camomile Lawn'' (1992) as Pauli Erstweiler * '' Angela's Ashes'' (1999) as Christian Brother

References

External links

*
Obituary in ''The Times''
– Daily Telegraph obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Martin 1918 births 2010 deaths British Army personnel of World War II English Ashkenazi Jews English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English people of Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish English male actors Male actors from Buckinghamshire Male actors from London Military personnel from London People from Markyate Royal Artillery officers