Michael Bentine
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Michael Bentine (born Michael James Bentin; 26 January 1922General Register Office for England and Wales – Birth Register for the March Quarter of 1922, Watford Registration District, Reference 3a 1478, listed as "Michael J. Bentin", mother's maiden name as "Dawkins". – 26 November 1996)General Register Office for England and Wales – Death Register for November 1996, Sutton Registration District, Reference C6B 296, listed as "Michael James Bentine" with a date of birth of 26 January 1922. was a British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goons. His father was a Peruvian Briton.


Biography

Bentine was born in
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
, Hertfordshire, to a Peruvian father, Adam Bentin, and a British mother, Florence Dawkins, and grew up in
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
, Kent. He was educated at
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
. With the help of speech trainer, Harry Burgess, he learned to manage a stammer and subsequently developed an interest in amateur theatricals, along with the Tomlinson family, including the young David Tomlinson. He spoke fluent Spanish and French. His father was an early
aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
for the Sopwith Aviation Company during and after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and invented a tension meter for setting the tension on aircraft rigging wires. In
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 ...
, Bentine volunteered for all services when the war broke out (the RAF was his first choice owing to the influence of his father's experience), but was initially rejected because of his father's nationality. He started his acting career in 1940, in a touring company in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
playing a juvenile lead in ''Sweet Lavender''. He went on to join Robert Atkins' Shakespearean company in
Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...
, London, until he was called up for service in the RAF. He was appearing in a Shakespearean play in doublet and hose in the open-air theatre in London's Hyde Park when two RAF Police NCOs marched on stage and arrested him for desertion. Unknown to him, an RAF conscription notice had been following him for a month as his company toured. Once in the RAF he went through flying training. He was the penultimate man going through a medical line receiving inoculations for
typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
with the other flight candidates in his class (they were going to Canada to receive new aircraft) when the
vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...
ran out. They refilled the bottle to inoculate him and the other man as well. By mistake they loaded a pure culture of typhoid. The other man died immediately, and Bentine was in a coma for six weeks. When he regained consciousness his eyesight was ruined, leaving him myopic for the rest of his life. Since he was no longer physically qualified for flying, he was transferred to RAF Intelligence and seconded to MI9, a unit that was dedicated to supporting resistance movements and helping prisoners escape. His immediate superior was the Colditz escapee
Airey Neave Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, () (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During the Second World War he was the first ...
. At the end of the war, he took part in the liberation of
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...
. He said about this experience:
Millions of words have been written about these horror camps, many of them by inmates of those unbelievable places. I've tried, without success, to describe it from my own point of view, but the words won't come. To me Belsen was the ultimate blasphemy. (''The Reluctant Jester'', Chapter 17.)


Comedy career

After the war Bentine decided to become a comedian and worked in the Windmill Theatre where he met Harry Secombe. He specialised in off-the-wall humour, often involving cartoons and other types of animation. His acts included giving lectures in an invented language called Slobodian, "Imaginative Young Man with a Walking Stick" and "The Chairback", with a broken chairback having a number of uses from comb to machine gun and taking on a demoniacal life of its own.
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...
told him this was the inspiration for the prosthetic arm routine in '' Dr Strangelove''. This act led to his engagement by Val Parnell to appear in the Starlight Roof revues starring Vic Oliver, where he met and married his second wife Clementina, with whom he had four children. Also on the bill were Fred Emney and a young
Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
. Bentine co-created '' The Goon Show'' radio show with
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...
, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe, but appeared in only the first 38 shows on the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
from 1951 to 1952. The first of these shows were actually called ''Those Crazy People'' and subtitled "The Junior Crazy Gang"; the term "Goon" was used as the headline of a review of Bentine's act by ''Picture Post'' dated 5 November 1948. Only one of this first series (and very few of the following three in which he did not appear) has survived, the rest of the original disc recordings having apparently been destroyed or discarded as no longer usable, so there is almost no record of his work as a radio "Goon". He also appeared in the 1952 ''Goon Show'' film '' Down Among the Z Men''. In 1951 Bentine was invited to the United States to appear on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...
''. On his return he parted amicably from his partners and continued touring in variety, remaining close to Secombe and Sellers for the rest of his life. In 1972, Secombe and Sellers told
Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...
that Bentine was "always calling everyone a genius" and, since he was the only one of the four with a "proper education", they always believed him. His first appearances on television were as presenter on a 13-part children's series featuring remote controlled puppets, ''The Bumblies'', which he also devised, designed and wrote. These were three small creatures from outer space who slept on "Professor Bentine's" ceiling and who had come to Earth to learn the ways of Earthling children. Angelo de Calferta modelled the puppets from Bentine's designs and Richard Dendy moulded them in latex rubber. He sold the series to the BBC for less than they had cost to make. He then spent two years touring in Australia (1954–55). On his return to Britain in 1954, he worked as a scriptwriter for Peter Sellers and then on 39 episodes of his own radio show ''Round the Bend in 30 Minutes'', which has also been wiped from the BBC archive. He then teamed up with Dick Lester to devise a series of six TV programmes ''Before Midnight'' for ABC Weekend TV in Birmingham in 1958. This led to a 13-programme series called '' After Hours'' in which he appeared alongside Dick Emery, Clive Dunn, David Lodge, Joe Gibbons and Benny Lee. The show featured the "olde English sport of drats, later known as nurdling". Some of the sketches were adapted into a stage revue at the
Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, London, Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and const ...
, ''Don't Shoot, We're English''. He also appeared in the film comedy '' Raising a Riot'', starring
Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...
, which featured his five-year-old daughter "Fusty". He joked that she got better billing. From 1960 to 1964, he had a television series, '' It's a Square World'', which won a
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
award in 1962 and Grand Prix de la Presse at
Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
in 1963.screenonline
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, ...
Bentine, Michael (1922–1996)
A prominent feature of the series was the imaginary flea circus where plays were enacted on tiny sets using nothing but special effects to show the movement of things too small to see and sounds with Bentine's commentary. One, titled ''The Beast of the Black Bog Tarn'', was set in a (miniature) haunted house. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in April 1963 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre. In 1969–70 he was presenter of ''The Golden Silents'' on BBC TV, which attempted authentic showings of
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 ...
s, without the commentaries with which they were usually shown on television before then. From 1974 to 1980 he wrote, designed, narrated and presented the children's television programme '' Michael Bentine's Potty Time'' and made one-off comedy specials. From January to May 1984 Bentine put out 11 half-hour episodes, in two series, of ''The Michael Bentine Show'' on Radio 4. These have subsequently been repeated, several times, on the BBC's archive radio station BBC7 (now BBC Radio 4 Extra). He was the writer of 16 best-selling novels, comedies and non-fiction books. Four of his books, '' The Long Banana Skin'' (1975), ''The Door Marked Summer'' (1981), ''Doors of the Mind'' and ''The Reluctant Jester'' (1992) are autobiographical.


Other interests

In 1968, travelling on the British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC) SR.N6, '' GH–2012'', Bentine took part in the first hovercraft expedition up the River Amazon. In the 1995 New Year Honours, Bentine received a CBE from
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
"for services to entertainment". In 1971, Bentine received the Order of Merit of
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
following his fund-raising work for the 1970 Great Peruvian earthquake. Bentine was a crack pistol shot and helped to start the idea of a counter-terrorist wing within 22 SAS Regiment. In doing so, he became the first non-SAS person to fire a gun inside the close-quarters battle training house at
Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
. His interests included
parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...
. This was as a result of his and his family's extensive research into the paranormal, which resulted in his writing ''The Door Marked Summer'' and ''Doors of the Mind''. He was, for the final years of his life, president of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena. On 14 December 1977, he appeared with Arthur C. Clarke on
Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore's early interest in astro ...
's BBC '' The Sky at Night'' programme. The broadcast was entitled "Suns, Spaceships and Bug-Eyed Monsters" – a light-hearted look at how science fiction had become science fact, as well as how ideas of space travel had become reality through the 20th century. In the opening of the programme, Moore introduces Bentine with Bentine confirming that he was the possessor of a "Reader's Digest Degree". This remark was typical of Bentine's comic approach to most things in life that concealed his knowledge of science. Bentine appeared in a subsequent broadcast on a similar theme with Moore in 1980. Following the death of Arthur C. Clarke, '' BBC Sky at Night'' magazine released a copy of the 1977 archive programme on the cover of their May 2008 edition.


Family and health

Bentine was married twice. With his first wife Marie Barradell, married 1941–1947, he had a daughter: * Elaine (1942–1983) In 1949, he married his second wife, Clementina Stuart, a Royal Ballet dancer. They had four children. His two eldest daughters died from cancer in the 1980s. His elder son was killed with a pilot friend when a Piper PA-18 Super Cub crashed into a hillside at Ditcham Park Woods near Petersfield, Hampshire, on 28 August 1971. Their bodies and the aircraft were not found until October 1971. The AAIB after an 11-month investigation found that the aircraft went into clouds when taking action to avoid power cables while flying low in poor visibility, and subsequently, went out of control. Bentine's subsequent investigation into regulations governing private airfields resulted in his writing a report for Special Branch into the use of personal aircraft in smuggling operations. He fictionalised much of the material in his novel ''Lords of the Levels''. From 1975 until his death in 1996, he and his wife spent their winters at a second home in
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
, US. Shortly before his death from
prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
at the age of 74, he was visited in hospital by the future King Charles.


Programmes

Some of the programmes Bentine appeared in were: * '' The Goon Show'' (1951–1952) as himself * ''Goonreel'' (1952, TV movie) * ''The Bumblies'' (1954) as Prof. Michael Bentine / voices of the Bumblies * ''Yes, It's the Cathode-Ray Tube Show!'' (1957) (voice) * ''After Hours'' (1958–1959) * ''Round the Bend in Thirty Minutes'' (1959) * '' It's a Square World'' (1960–1964) * ''All Square'' (1966) * ''The Golden Silents'' (1969–1970) * '' Michael Bentine's Potty Time'' (1972) as Prof. Bentine / voices of Pottys * '' The Sky at Night'' (1977–1979, Documentary) as himself * ''Creek Crawling'' (aka ''Creek Crawler Extraordinary'') (1980) * ''The Michael Bentine Show'' (1984, BBC Radio 2) * '' Terry Teo'' (1985) as Ray Vegas * ''The Great Bong'' (1993)


Film

* ''Cookery Nook'' (1951, Short) as the friend * '' London Entertains'' (1951, documentary) as himself * '' Down Among the Z Men'' (aka ''The Goon Movie'') (1952) as Prof. Osrick Purehart * '' Forces' Sweetheart'' (1953) as Flt-Lieut. John Robinson R.A.F. * '' Raising a Riot'' (1955) as the professor * '' John and Julie'' (1955) as paper tearing entertainer (uncredited) * '' I Only Arsked!'' (1958) as Fred * ''The Do-It-Yourself Cartoon Kit'' (1961, short) (voice) * '' We Joined the Navy'' (1962) as psychologist (uncredited) * '' The Sandwich Man'' (1966) as the Sandwich Man * ''Bachelor of Arts'' (1971, short) as Miklos Durti * ''
Rentadick ''Rentadick'' is a 1972 British comedy film, directed by Jim Clark (film editor), Jim Clark and starring James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Ronald Fraser (actor), Ronald Fraser and Donald Sinden. It is a spoof spy/detective picture, the p ...
'' (1972) as Hussein


Books


Nonfiction

* ''Doors of The Mind'' – Granada – 1984 – * ''The Shy Person's Guide To Life'' – Grafton – 1984 – * ''Open Your Mind: The Quest for Creative Thinking'' – Bantam Press – 1990 –


Autobiographical

* '' The Long Banana Skin'' – New English Library – 1976 – * ''The Door Marked Summer'' – Granada – 1981 – * ''The Reluctant Jester'' – Bantam Press – 1992 –


Fiction and humour

* ''Square Games'' (1966) Wolfe SBN * ''The Potty Treasure Island'' (1973) * ''The Potty Khyber Pass'' (1974) * ''The Best of Bentine'' (1984) Panther * ''The Potty Encyclopedia'' (1985) * ''Madame's Girls and other stories'' (1980) * ''Smith & Son Removers'' – Corgi – 1981 – * ''Lords of The Levels'' – Grafton – 1986 – * ''The Condor and The Cross'' sub-title ''An Adventure Novel of the Conquistadors'' – Bantam Press – 1987 – * ''Templar'' – Bantam Press – 1988 –


With John Ennis

* ''Michael Bentine's Book of Square Holidays'' M. Bentine & J. Ennis (1968) Wolfe SBN * ''Fifty Years on the Streets'' Michael Bentine & John Ennis (1964) New English Library, A Four Square Book


References


Sources

* *


External links

*
Michael Bentine biography and credits at BFI Screenonline

The Spike Milligan Appreciation Society




Whirligig TV webpage {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentine, Michael 1922 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English comedians 20th-century English male actors Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from prostate cancer in England English comedy writers English male comedians English male radio actors English male television actors English people of Peruvian descent English television presenters The Goons members Military personnel from Hertfordshire Actors from Folkestone People educated at Eton College Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners Comedians from Hertfordshire Comedians from Kent Male actors from Watford Bergen-Belsen concentration camp