Ben Wright (English actor)

{{Short description|British actor (1915–1989)}} {{Use British English|date=December 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox person | name = Ben Wright | image = Ben Wright in One Step Beyond (The Devil's Laughter).jpg | alt =  | caption = Wright in an episode of ''[[:en:Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond|One Step Beyond]]'' (1959) | birth_name = Benjamin Huntington Wright | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1915|05|05}} | birth_place = [[London]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1989|07|02|1915|05|05}} | death_place = [[Burbank, California]], U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1936–1989 | spouse = {{marriage|[[Joan Kemp-Welch]]|1936|1950|reason=divorced}}<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/07/guardianobituaries1 | title=Joan Kemp-Welch | newspaper=The Guardian | date=7 July 1999 | last1=Purser | first1=Philip }}</ref><br>{{marriage|Muriel Louise Roberts|1951}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-03-mn-2252-story.html | title=Ben Wright, 74; Veteran Radio, Movie and TV Character Actor | website=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=3 July 1989 }}</ref> | children = 2 }} '''Benjamin Huntington Wright'''<ref name="tcm">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/209640%7C18937/Ben-Wright/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211031724/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/209640%7C18937/Ben-Wright/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 December 2011|title=Ben Wright|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref> (5 May 1915 – 2 July 1989) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Herr Zeller in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]''. He also played numerous roles in famous films and worked as voice actor, having roles in animated films by [[Disney Studios]] such as ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'', ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' and ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]''.

==Early life== Ben Wright was born on 5 May 1915 in [[London]] to an American father and an English mother. At the age of 16, he entered the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]. Upon graduating, he acted in several [[West End theatre|West End]] stage productions. When [[World War II]] broke out, he enlisted and served in the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]]. He came to the U.S. in 1946 to attend a cousin's wedding and settled in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].<ref name="lat"></ref>

==Radio== Wright worked as [[The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes|the radio incarnation]] of [[Sherlock Holmes]]{{r|rp|page1=302}} (1949–1950) and Inspector Peter Black on ''Pursuit'' (1951–1952).{{r|rp|page1=277–78}} He played [[India]]n servant Tulku on ''[[Green Lama|The Green Lama]]'',{{r|rp|page1=139}} [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] bellhop [[Hey Boy (character)|Hey Boy]] on the radio version of ''[[Have Gun Will Travel]]'',{{r|rp|page1=146}} various [[dialect]] roles on ''[[Night Beat (radio program)|Night Beat]]'', and the [[anthology series]], ''[[Escape (radio program)|Escape]]'',{{r|rp|page1=110}} on which his roles ranged from the [[Cockney]] protagonist of ''The Man Who Worked Miracles'' to the famed [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] hero of ''The Voyages of [[Sinbad]]''. His other radio credits included ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Crime Classics]]'',<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|page=86}}</ref> and ''[[Suspense (radio program)|Suspense]]''.

==Film and television== He achieved worldwide attention when he was seen as the [[Nazism|Nazi]] Herr Zeller in ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]'' (1965), and he had small roles in ''[[Judgment at Nuremberg]]'' (1961), ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]'' (1964), and [[Billy Wilder]]'s ''[[The Fortune Cookie]]'' (1966). On television, he was a guest star on such series as ''[[My Three Sons]]'', ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' (as various Nazi officers), ''[[McHale's Navy]]'', ''[[Combat!]]'', ''[[Get Smart]]'', ''[[Bonanza]]'', ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' (in a recurring role as billiard parlor owner “Dan Binney”, later as town barber “Birger Engdohl”, as Sgt. Pickens in “Wagon Girls”, as priest “Father Tom” in “Friend”, as storekeeper “Mr. Ross” in “Father’s Love” and finally as a dishonest land claim agent in “Two of a Kind” (S8E27), ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'', ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', ''[[Mr. Adams and Eve]]'', ''[[The Tab Hunter Show]]'', ''[[Straightaway (TV series)|Straightaway]]'', ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'', ''[[It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series)|It Takes a Thief]]'', ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', as Mr. Rudolpho on the final episode of the 1964 series ''[[The Addams Family]]'', and ''[[The Rockford Files]]''. Wright made three guest appearances on ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'', starring [[Raymond Burr]]. He played Walter Lumis in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Terrified Typist", in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Bashful Burro", he played assay agent and murderer Crawford Wright, who speaks with a [[Wales|Welsh]]-sounding accent and he played Clarence Keller in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Guilty Clients".

Wright played Governor [[José María de Echeandía]] in the 1960 episode "Forbidden Wedding" of the [[Television syndication|syndicated]] anthology series ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', hosted by [[Stanley Andrews]].

Wright made a guest appearance on the television series ''[[The Monkees (TV series)|The Monkees]],'' in the episode "The Success Story". He had appearances on [[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]] and [[Dragnet 1967]]. In 1971 Wright appeared as the desk clerk on "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name of the TV western ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]'') in the episode titled "The Town Killer." Ben Wright also appeared in the first season of Barnaby Jones; episode titled, "Twenty Million Alibis" (6 May 1973).

Wright also worked as a voice actor. He was often heard on ''[[The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'' as various alien voices, and he also appeared on camera. Other voice work included the narrator in ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963) with [[Elizabeth Taylor]], the [[BBC]] announcer in the film version of ''[[The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film)|The Diary of Anne Frank]]'' (1959) and featured [[animation]] roles in several Disney films: ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' (1961) as songwriter Roger Radcliffe, ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967) as Mowgli's wolf father, Rama, and ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1989) as Grimsby, which was his final role.<ref name="lat" />

==Death== On 2 July 1989, at the age of 74, Wright died in [[Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center|Saint Joseph Medical Center]] in [[Burbank, California]], after undergoing [[heart]] surgery.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|title=Ben Wright, 74; Veteran Radio, Movie and TV Character Actor|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-03-mn-2252-story.html|access-date=26 January 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=3 July 1989|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126024639/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-03/news/mn-2252_1_ben-wright|archive-date=26 January 2018}}</ref>

==Selected filmography== {{Div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''[[Well Done, Henry]]'' (1936) – Himself (uncredited) * ''[[The Avenging Hand]]'' (1936) – Lift Boy (uncredited) * ''[[Sahara (1943 American film)|Sahara]]'' (1943) – (uncredited) * ''[[The Exile (1947 film)|The Exile]]'' (1947) – Milbanke * ''[[Kiss the Blood Off My Hands]]'' (1948) – Cockney Tout (uncredited) * ''[[The Fighting O'Flynn]]'' (1949) – Lieutenant (uncredited) * ''[[Sword in the Desert]]'' (1949) – Radio Man (uncredited) * ''[[Botany Bay (film)|Botany Bay]]'' (1952) – Deck Officer Green * ''[[The Desert Rats (film)|The Desert Rats]]'' (1953) – Mick * ''[[Man in the Attic]]'' (1953) – Detective in Theatre Box (uncredited) * ''[[Hell and High Water (1954 film)|Hell and High Water]]'' (1954) – BBC Announcer (uncredited) * ''[[Prince Valiant (1954 film)|Prince Valiant]]'' (1954) – Seneschal (uncredited) * ''[[Prince of Players]]'' (1955) – Horatio in 'Hamlet' (uncredited) * ''[[The Racers]]'' (1955) – Dr. Seger (uncredited) * ''[[A Man Called Peter]]'' (1955) – Mr. Findlay (uncredited) * ''[[Jump Into Hell]]'' (1955) – Captain Pluen (uncredited) * ''[[Moonfleet (1955 film)|Moonfleet]]'' (1955) – Officer (uncredited) * ''[[Desert Sands]]'' (1955) – Commandant Captain (uncredited) * ''[[23 Paces to Baker Street]]'' (1956) – Simmons – Hotel Porter (uncredited) * ''[[D-Day the Sixth of June]]'' (1956) – General Millensbeck (uncredited) * ''[[Johnny Concho]]'' (1956) – Benson * ''[[The Power and the Prize]]'' (1956) – Mr. Chutwell * ''[[Pharaoh's Curse (film)|Pharaoh's Curse]]'' (1957) – Walter Andrews * ''[[Until They Sail]]'' (1957) – Defense Attorney (uncredited) * ''[[Kiss Them for Me (film)|Kiss Them for Me]]'' (1957) – Peters, RAF Pilot (uncredited) * ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957) – Barrister Reading Charges (uncredited) * ''[[Villa!!]]'' (1958) – Francisco Madero * ''[[These Thousand Hills]]'' (1959) – Frenchy (uncredited) * ''[[The Wreck of the Mary Deare (film)|The Wreck of the Mary Deare]]'' (1959) – Mike * ''[[Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959 film)|Journey to the Center of the Earth]]'' (1959) – Paisley (uncredited) * ''[[The Lost World (1960 film)|The Lost World]]'' (1960) – BBC Field Reporter Ted Bottomley (uncredited) * ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' (1961) – Roger Radcliffe (voice) * ''[[Operation Bottleneck]]'' (1961) – Manders the Englishman * ''[[Judgment at Nuremberg]]'' (1961) – Herr Halbestadt, Haywood's butler * ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1962) – Graves (uncredited) * ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963) – Narrator (voice, uncredited) * ''[[A Gathering of Eagles]]'' (1963) – Leighton. S.A.C. Observer * ''[[The Prize (1963 film)|The Prize]]'' (1963) – British Reporter (uncredited) * ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1963) (Season 2 Episode 1: "A Home Away from Home") - Dr. Jerry Norton * ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1964) (Season 2 Episode 19: "Murder Case") - Tony Niles * ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]'' (1964) – Footman at Ball (uncredited) * ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1965) (Season 3 Episode 22: "Thou Still Unravished Bride") - Mr. Sutherland * ''[[The Sound of Music (film)|The Sound of Music]]'' (1965) – Herr Zeller * ''[[My Blood Runs Cold]]'' (1965) – Lansbury * ''[[Munster Go Home]]'' (1966) – Hennesy * ''[[The Fortune Cookie]]'' (1966) – Specialist #4 * ''[[The Sand Pebbles (film)|The Sand Pebbles]]'' (1966) – Englishman (uncredited) * ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' (1967) – Rama, the Wolf (voice) * ''[[The Rat Patrol]]'' - Season 2 - Episode 13 (1967) - Colonel Jameson * ''[[Topaz (1969 film)|Topaz]]'' (1969) – French Officer (uncredited) * ''[[Raid on Rommel]]'' (1971) – Admiral * ''[[The Virginian (TV series)]]'' (1971) – Desk Clerk, Season 9 episode 22 (''The Town Killer'') * ''Chandar, the Black Leopard of Ceylon'' (1972) – Narrator * ''[[Terror in the Wax Museum]]'' (1973) – First Constable * ''[[Arnold (film)|Arnold]]'' (1973) – Jonesy * ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1989) – Grimsby (voice) (final film role, released posthumously) {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{IMDb name}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20180327003943/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba79bb866 Ben Wright] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} *[http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1520 Ben Wright's voice credits] *{{TCMDb name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ben}} [[Category:1915 births]] [[Category:1989 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century English male actors]] [[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]] [[Category:English expatriate male actors in the United States]] [[Category:English male film actors]] [[Category:English male radio actors]] [[Category:English male television actors]] [[Category:English male voice actors]] [[Category:English people of American descent]] [[Category:King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers]] [[Category:Male actors from London]] [[Category:Military personnel from London]]