''Sam Benedict'' is an American
legal drama
A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...
that aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
from September 1962 to March 1963. The series was created and executive produced by
E. Jack Neuman. The character Sam Benedict is based on real-life lawyer
Jake Ehrlich, who served as technical consultant for the series.
Plot
Guest stars
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Inger Stevens
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Vera Miles
Vera June Miles (née Ralston, born August 23, 1929) is an American retired actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic 1960 film ''Psycho'', reprising the role in the 1983 sequel '' Psycho II''. ...
*
Fred Aldrich
*
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ann Cole, known professionally as Elizabeth Ashley (born August 30, 1939) is an American actress of theatre, film, and television. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, winning once in 1962 for ''Take Her, She's Mine''. Ashley ...
*
Phyllis Avery
Phyllis Avery (November 14, 1922-May 19, 2011) was an American actress.
Early life
Phyllis Avery was born to screenwriter Stephen Morehouse Avery and his wife Evelyn Martine Avery.
*
Larry Blyden
Ivan Lawrence Blieden (June 23, 1925 – June 6, 1975), known as Larry Blyden, was an American actor, stage producer and director, and game show host. He made his Broadway stage debut in 1948 and went on to appear in numerous productions on ...
*
Spencer Chan
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Sidney Clute
Sidney Richard Clute (April 21, 1916 – October 2, 1985) was an American film and television actor. He was notable for playing Detective Paul La Guardia on 57 episodes of the American police procedural drama ''Cagney & Lacey'' (1982–85). He a ...
*
Fred Coby
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Hazel Court
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Yvonne Craig
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Howard Duff
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also prob ...
*
Ross Elliott
Ross Elliott (born Elliott Blum, June 18, 1917 – August 12, 1999) was an American television and film character actor. He began his acting career in the Mercury Theatre, where he performed in ''The War of the Worlds (radio), The War of t ...
, four episodes as Marty Rhodes
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Stefan Gierasch
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Sam Gilman
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Gloria Grahame
Gloria Grahame Hallward (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM.
Despite a featured role in ''It's a Won ...
*
Ellen Holly
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Marsha Hunt
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Diana Hyland
Diana Hyland (born Diane Gentner; January 25, 1936 – March 27, 1977) was an American stage, film and television actress.
Early years
Hyland was born Diane Gentner to John Theodore and Mary (Gorman) Gentner in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. S ...
*
Jean Inness
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Ray Kellogg
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Nancy Kelly
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Jess Kirkpatrick
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Otto Kruger
Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's '' Saboteur''. He also appeared in CBS's '' Perry Mason'' ...
*
Elizabeth MacRae
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Joyce Meadows
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Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television.
Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...
*
Gary Merrill
Gary Fred Merrill (August 2, 1915 – March 5, 1990) was an American film and television actor whose credits included more than 50 feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances. He starr ...
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John Nolan
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Richard O'Brien
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Maria Palmer
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Michael Parks
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Joseph V. Perry
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Claude Rains
William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...
*
Ruth Roman
Ruth Roman (born Norma Roman; December 22, 1922 – September 9, 1999) was an American actress of film, stage, and television.
After playing stage roles on the east coast, Roman relocated to Hollywood to pursue a career in films. She appeare ...
*
Joseph Schildkraut
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Barbara Stuart
Barbara Stuart (born Barbara Ann McNeese; January 3, 1930 – May 15, 2011) was an American actress.
Barbara Stuart starred as Violet Ryder in the Perry Mason episode “The Guilty Clients” in 1961.
Early years
Born in Paris, Illinois, S ...
*
Kelly Thordsen
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George Tobias
Episode list
Disclaimer in end credits
"Sam Benedict is based on the real living character of
J. W. (Jake) Ehrlich but the stories are fictional."
Home media
On November 22, 2016,
Warner Bros. released ''Sam Benedict – The Complete Series'' on DVD via their
Warner Archive Collection
The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...
. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.
'The Complete Series' of the 1962 NBC Legal Drama
References and notes
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0055703
1962 American television series debuts
1963 American television series endings
American legal drama television series
Black-and-white American television shows
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television series by MGM Television
Television shows set in San Francisco