Harry Benham

Harry Benham
Born February 26, 1884(1884-02-26)
Valparaiso, Indiana
Died July 17, 1969(1969-07-17) (aged 85)
Sarasota, Florida
Occupation Film actor, singer
Spouse Ethyle Cooke

Harry Benham (February 26, 1884 – July 17, 1969) was an American silent film actor.

Contents

Background

Born in Valparaiso, Indiana, as a child Benham and his family moved to Chicago, 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, Florodora, The Mayoress, and Madame Sherry.

In 1910 Benham joined the Thanhouser Company, for whom he played the leading role in many of the company's films through 1915. It was after this period that he met actress Ethyle Cooke and married her; together they had two children, Dorothy and Leland, who also became prominent Thanhouser personalities.

Benham died on July 17, 1969 in Sarasota, Florida, aged 85.

An article about his role in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912) appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland (October 1963).

Filmography

1910s

1920s

External links