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Richard Bennett

From Wikipedia Richard Bennett (May 21, 1870 – October 22, 1944) was an American actor who became a stage and silent screen matinee idol over the early decades of the twentieth century. He was born in Deacon's Mills, Indiana in 1870 (some sources state 1872), the son of George Washington Bennett and Eliza Huffman. His younger sister was Ina Blanche Bennett. For a time, he was a sailor on Great Lakes steamer, a professional boxer, medicine showman, troubadour and night clerk in a hotel in Chicago. His silent movie debut was a reprisal of his stage role in Damaged Goods (1914), which co-starred his wife, Adrienne Morrison. He helped adapt the screenplay and direct the drama. In the drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he wrote, Bennett appeared on the screen with his wife, Morrison, and his three daughters. In 1922, Bennett starred in Broadway's English-language version of Leonid Andreyev's melodrama He Who Gets Slapped, playing the title role as He. The success of the play led to its being filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with the production starring Lon Chaney in Bennett's role. With the advent of the talkies the middleaged actor found a niche as a character actor. In 1931 he appeared with Constance Bennett in Bought! On November 8, 1903, Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison were married in Jersey City. They had three daughters, Constance Bennett (1904–1965); Barbara Bennett (1906–1958); and Joan Bennett (1910–1990). He and Morrison were divorced in April 1925. Their first and third daughters, Constance and Joan, became successful movie stars. Their second daughter, Barbara, was also briefly an actress, but with less success. The two appeared together on stage in the 1923 play The Dancers Barbara married the popular singer Morton Downey. The controversial television talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr., was Richard Bennett's grandson. In 1925, he became acquainted with Aimee Raisch in San Francisco, during the production of Creoles, in which she played a minor role. She was a young socialite and aspiring actress who was divorcing her millionaire clubman and polo player husband, Harry G. Hastings. Bennett and Raisch were married July 11, 1927, in Chicago. He and Aimee, who later went by Angela, separated April 3, 1934, and were divorced in 1937. His daughter Joan made her stage debut acting with him in Jarnegan (1928). This play, in which he played Jack Jarnegan, provided one of his favourite roles—that of a belligerent, drunken movie director given to acidulous and profane comments on Hollywood. Richard Bennett died at age 74 from a heart attack at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Episcopal funeral services were conducted on October 24, 1944, in Beverly Hills. He is interred in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut, beside his second wife and mother of his daughters. Bennett was fond of saying that the movie industry was not a business, but a madhouse.


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Born:
May 21, 1870
Movie/TV Credits:
32
First Appeared:
In the movie Damaged Goods 1914-08-31
Latest Project:
Movie Neil Diamond - The Thank You Australia Concert 2008-07-01
Known For
Poster of 18 Minutes
Poster of Strange Justice
Poster of The End of the Road
Poster of Damaged Goods
Filmography
Movie Neil Diamond - The Thank You Australia Concert Himself - Lead Guitar 2008-07-01
Series Mike Bassett: Manager Wrighty 2005-09-29
Movie Mark Knopfler: A Night in London Himself - Guitar 1996-01-01
Movie The Battlers Warder 1994-07-14
Movie Neil Diamond: Greatest Hits Live Himself 1988-06-30
Movie Neil Diamond: I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight 1977-11-17
Movie The Pirates of Blood River Seymour (uncredited) 1962-05-09
Movie The Court Martial of Major Keller Captain Phillips 1961-12-01
Movie The Man Who Was Nobody Bobby 1960-09-15
Movie Watch Your Stern Officer of the Day 1960-10-14
Movie The Tell-Tale Heart Mike 1960-12-14
Movie Happy Is the Bride Denys Royd 1958-03-04
Movie High Flight Cadet Phillips 1957-09-17
Movie Oh... Rosalinda!! Gentleman 1955-11-21
Movie Richard III George Stanley 1955-12-13
Movie Journey into Fear Ship's Captain 1943-01-07
Movie The Magnificent Ambersons Major Amberson 1942-07-10
Movie 18 Minutes Korn 1935-04-07
Movie Nana Gaston Greiner 1934-02-01
Movie This Reckless Age Donald Ingals 1932-01-09
Movie Madame Racketeer Elmer Hicks 1932-07-23
Movie If I Had a Million John Glidden 1932-11-18
Movie Strange Justice Kearney 1932-10-07
Movie Five and Ten John Rarick 1931-06-13
Movie Arrowsmith Gustav Sondelius 1931-12-07
Movie Bought! David Meyer 1931-08-22
Movie The Home Towners Vic Arnold 1928-11-03
Movie Youth for Sale Montgomery Breck 1924-04-01
Movie The Eternal City Bruno 1923-12-17
Movie The End of the Road Doctor 1919-02-16
Movie The Gilded Youth John Slocum 1917-01-01
Movie Damaged Goods 1914-08-31