Christopher Benjamin


Christopher Benjamin is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the 1960s. His television roles include three appearances in Doctor Who, portraying Sir Keith Gold in Inferno, Henry Gordon Jago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang and Colonel Hugh Curbishley in "The Unicorn and the Wasp". He also provided the voice of Rowf in the animated film The Plague Dogs.

Early life

Benjamin was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.

Career

He is well known for his roles in some of the UK's biggest cult television programmes. This included playing the same character in two Patrick McGoohan dramas, Danger Man and The Prisoner, fuelling speculation that they are possibly linked. He played the Old Man in the Thames Television comedy by Peter Tilbury, It Takes a Worried Man. He was also an occasional guest star in The Avengers and Doctor Who, making three appearances in each, mostly in comedy roles.
He also played recurring roles in several period dramas. He was Sir John Glutton, the regular adversary in the period family adventure series Dick Turpin, Channing in several episodes of the third series of When The Boat Comes In, and Prosper Profound in the acclaimed 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga. He reprised the role of Henry Gordon Jago, from the Doctor Who serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang in thirteen series of Jago and Litefoot audio plays, after a well received episode of the Big Finish Productions audio C.D. series Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles entitled The Mahogany Murderers. He acted alongside Trevor Baxter who played Professor George Litefoot. He was Sir William Lucas in the acclaimed 1995 production of "Pride and Prejudice"
His few film roles include appearances in Ring of Bright Water, Brief Encounter, Hawk the Slayer, The Tichborne Claimant and Angel. His final screen appearance was in the Legend of Tarzan.
Predominantly a stage actor, after six years in repertory theatres, Manchester, Salisbury and Bristol Old Vic he has performed regularly over twenty years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has played Bottom five times.at Bristol Old Vic, Regents Park Radio 3,the RSC and finally at Glyndebourne in The Fairy Queen, before retiring from the Stage in 2012.
His West End performances include How The Other Loves at the Duke of Yorks, Voyage Round my Father at Wyndhams, The Clandestine Marriage at the Queens Theatre, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Saville. He has also appeared in several plays at the Donmar, the Kings Head, Mermaid etc.
He has played Falstaff in rep at Salisbury, at Regents Park, and at the Globe in 2008 and after touring USA and UK in 2010.
He has appeared regularly in TV and radio since 1965.

Personal life

Benjamin is now retired, and living in Hampstead, London, with his wife, the actress and writer Anna Fox.