Benjamin Huntington Wright
(5 May 1915 — 2 July 1989) was an English actor. He was best known for playing Herr Zeller in ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
''. He also played numerous roles in famous films and worked as voice actor, having roles in animated films by Disney Studios.
Early life
Ben Wright was born on 5 May 1915 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to an American father and an English mother. At the age of 16, he entered the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
. Upon graduating, he acted in several
West End stage productions. When
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out, he enlisted and served in the
Kings Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
. He came to the U.S. in 1946 to attend a cousin's wedding and settled in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
.
Radio
Wright worked as the radio incarnation of
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
(1949–1950) and Inspector Peter Black on ''Pursuit'' (1951–1952). He played
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n servant Tulku on ''
The Green Lama
The Green Lama is a fictional pulp magazine hero of the 1940s, created by American author Kendell Foster Crossen. He is commonly portrayed as a powerful Buddhist Lama, dressing in green robes with a red scarf and using his powerful skill set t ...
'',
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
bellhop
Hey Boy on the radio version of ''
Have Gun Will Travel'', various
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
roles on the U.K. radio program ''Nightbeat'', and the
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
, ''
Escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...
'', on which his roles ranged from the
Cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...
protagonist of ''The Man Who Worked Miracles'' to the famed
Arabian
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
hero of ''The Voyages of
Sinbad''. His other radio credits included ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'', ''
Crime Classics
''Crime Classics'' is a United States radio docudrama which aired as a sustaining series over CBS Radio from June 15, 1953, to June 30, 1954.
Production
Produced and directed by radio actor and director Elliott Lewis, the program was a histor ...
'',
and ''
Suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
''.
Film and television
He achieved worldwide attention when he was seen as the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Herr Zeller in ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'' (1965), and he had small roles in ''
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
'' (1961), ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' (1964), and
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...
's ''
The Fortune Cookie
''The Fortune Cookie'' (alternative UK title: ''Meet Whiplash Willie'') is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It was the first film in which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Walter Matthau. Matthau ...
'' (1966). On television, he was a guest star on such series as ''
My Three Sons
''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chronicl ...
'', ''
Hogan's Heroes
''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast ...
'' (as various Nazi officers), ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC television network. The series was filmed in black and white and originate ...
'', ''
Combat!
''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...
'', ''
Get Smart
''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...
'', ''
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...
'', ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' (in a recurring role as billiard parlor owner “Dan Binney”, later as town barber “Birger Engdohl” and as “Sgt. Pickens in “Wagon Girls”), ''
The Wild Wild West
''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...
'', ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'', ''
Mr. Adams and Eve
''Mr. Adams and Eve'' is an American situation comedy television series about a married couple who are both movie stars. It stars Howard Duff and Ida Lupino (who were actually married at the time) and aired on CBS from January 4, 1957, to July ...
'', ''
The Tab Hunter Show
''The Tab Hunter Show'' is an American situation comedy starring Tab Hunter which centers around a young comic-strip artist and his romantic adventures. Original episodes aired on NBC from September 18, 1960, until April 30, 1961.McNeil, Alex, ''T ...
'', ''
Straightaway'', ''
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' is a 1961 American science fiction disaster film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, and starring Walter Pidgeon and Robert Sterling. The supporting cast includes Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, M ...
'', ''
It Takes a Thief'', ''
Mission: Impossible'', as Mr. Rudolpho on the final episode of the 1964 series ''
The Addams Family
''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...
'', and ''
The Rockford Files
''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator ...
''. Wright made three guest appearances on ''
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'', starring
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''.
Burr's early acting career included roles ...
. 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
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
-sounding accent and he played Clarence Keller in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Guilty Clients".
Wright played Governor
José María de Echeandía
José María de Echeandía (?–1871) was twice Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833. He was the only governor of California that lived in San Diego.José Bandini, in a note to Governor Echeandía or t ...
in the 1960 episode "Forbidden Wedding" of the
syndicated anthology series ''
Death Valley Days
''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...
'', hosted by
Stanley Andrews
Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...
.
Wright made a guest appearance on the television series ''
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
,'' in the episode "The Success Story". He had appearances on
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
and
Dragnet 1967
''Dragnet'' is an American television series. It ran for four seasons, from January 12, 1967, to April 16, 1970. To differentiate it from the earlier 1950s '' Dragnet'' television series, the year in which each season ended was made part of the ...
. In 1971 Wright appeared as the desk clerk on "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name of the TV western ''
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'' as various alien voices, and he also appeared on camera. Other voice work included the narrator in ''
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
'' (1963) with
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
announcer in the film version of ''
The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
'' (1959) and featured
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
roles in several Disney films: ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also simply known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' by Dodie Smith. The ...
'' (1961) as songwriter Roger Radcliff, ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...
'' (1967) as Mowgli's wolf father, Rama, and ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' (1989) as Grimsby, which was his final role.
Death
On 2 July 1989, at the age of 74, Wright died in
Saint Joseph Medical Center in
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
, after undergoing
heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
surgery.
His body was cremated.
Selected filmography
* ''
Well Done, Henry
''Well Done, Henry'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Wilfred Noy and starring Will Fyffe, Cathleen Nesbitt and Charles Hawtrey. It was made at the Cricklewood Studios in London.Wood p.93 The film's art direction was by Duncan Suther ...
'' (1936) – (uncredited)
* ''
The Avenging Hand
''The Avenging Hand'' is a 1936 British crime film directed by Victor Hanbury and Frank Richardson and starring Noah Beery, Louis Borel and Kathleen Kelly.Wood p.93
It was made at Welwyn Studios as a quota quickie. Duncan Sutherland worked on ...
'' (1936) – Lift boy (uncredited)
* ''
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
'' (1943) – (uncredited)
* ''
The Exile
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1947) – Milbanke
* ''
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' is a 1948 American noir- thriller film directed by Norman Foster. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gerald Butler, it stars Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster and Robert Newton. The film faced minor ...
'' (1948) – Cockney Tout (uncredited)
* ''
The Fighting O'Flynn
''The Fighting O'Flynn'' is a 1949 American adventure film directed by Arthur Pierson. The film's screenplay by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is based on the novel of the same name by Justin Huntly McCarthy. Fairbanks stars, along with Helena Carter.
...
'' (1949) – Lieutenant (uncredited)
* ''
Sword in the Desert
''Sword in the Desert'' is a 1949 American war film directed by George Sherman. It was the first American film to deal with the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and marked the first significant feature film role for Jeff Chandler.
Plo ...
'' (1949) – Radio Man (uncredited)
* ''
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
'' (1952) – Deck Officer Green
* ''
The Desert Rats
The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during the Second World War, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign gained it the ''Desert Rats'' nickname.
After the Muni ...
'' (1953) – Mick
* ''
Man in the Attic
''Man in the Attic'' is a 1953 mystery film directed by Hugo Fregonese. It was released in the United States on December 23 by Twentieth Century Fox. The movie is based on the 1913 novel '' The Lodger'' by Marie Belloc Lowndes, which fictionaliz ...
'' (1953) – Detective in Theatre Box (uncredited)
* ''
Hell and High Water'' (1954) – BBC Announcer (uncredited)
* ''
Prince Valiant
''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...
'' (1954) – Seneschal (uncredited)
* ''
Prince of Players
''Prince of Players'' is a 1955 20th Century Fox biographical film about the 19th century American actor Edwin Booth. The film was directed and produced by Philip Dunne from a screenplay by Moss Hart, based on the book by Eleanor Ruggles. The mu ...
'' (1955) – Horatio in 'Hamlet' (uncredited)
* ''
The Racers
''The Racers'' is a 1955 film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Kirk Douglas and Bella Darvi. The film is based on the book by Hans Ruesch entitled ''The Racer'', based on the life of Rudolf Caracciola.Automobile Quarterly 2005 "In 1953, 2 ...
'' (1955) – Dr. Seger (uncredited)
* ''
A Man Called Peter
''A Man Called Peter'' is a 1955 American drama film directed by Henry Koster, and starring Richard Todd. The film is based on the life of preacher Peter Marshall, who served as Chaplain of the United States Senate and pastor of the New York Avenu ...
'' (1955) – Mr. Findlay (uncredited)
* ''
Jump Into Hell
''Jump into Hell'' is a 1955 war film directed by David Butler. The film stars Jacques Sernas and Kurt Kasznar. As the first Hollywood film based on the war in French Indochina, the story is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Dien Bien Ph ...
'' (1955) – Capt. Pluen (uncredited)
* ''
Moonfleet'' (1955) – Officer (uncredited)
* ''
Desert Sands
''Desert Sands'' is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Danny Arnold, George W. George and George F. Slavin. The film stars Ralph Meeker, Marla English, J. Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Ron Randell, John Smit ...
'' (1955) – Commandant Captain (uncredited)
* ''
23 Paces to Baker Street
''23 Paces to Baker Street'' is a 1956 American DeLuxe Color mystery thriller film directed by Henry Hathaway. It was released by 20th Century Fox and filmed in Cinemascope on location in London. The screenplay by Nigel Balchin was based on the 19 ...
'' (1956) – Simmons – Hotel Porter (uncredited)
* ''
D-Day the Sixth of June
''D-Day the Sixth of June'' is a DeLuxe Color 1956 CinemaScope romance war film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown, based on the 1955 novel, ...
'' (1956) – Gen. Millensbeck (uncredited)
* ''
Johnny Concho'' (1956) – Benson
* ''
The Power and the Prize
''The Power and the Prize'' is a 1956 drama film directed by Henry Koster, written by Robert Ardrey, starring Robert Taylor and Burl Ives. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1957 for costume design.
Plot
Although he is scheduled to wed hi ...
'' (1956) – Mr. Chutwell
* ''
Pharaoh's Curse'' (1957) – Walter Andrews
* ''
Until They Sail
''Until They Sail'' is a 1957 American black-and-white CinemaScope drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, and Sandra Dee. The screenplay by Robert Anderson, based on a story by ...
'' (1957) – Defense Attorney (uncredited)
* ''
Kiss Them for Me'' (1957) – Peters – RAF Pilot (uncredited)
* ''
Witness for the Prosecution
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' (1957) – Barrister Reading Charges (uncredited)
* ''
Villa!!
''Villa!!'' is a 1958 American Western film directed by James B. Clark, written by Louis Vittes, and starring Brian Keith, Cesar Romero, Margia Dean, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Carlos Múzquiz and Mario Navarro. The film was released in October 1958, ...
'' (1958) – Francisco Madero
* ''
These Thousand Hills
''These Thousand Hills'' is a 1959 American Western film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Don Murray, Richard Egan, Lee Remick, Stuart Whitman and Patricia Owens. The screenplay was written by Alfred Hayes. It is based on the novel ...
'' (1959) – Frenchy (uncredited)
* ''
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
''The Wreck of the Mary Deare'' (in the UK published as ''The Mary Deare'') is a 1956 novel written by British author Hammond Innes, which was later adapted as a film starring Gary Cooper released in 1959 by MGM. According to Jack Adrian, the ...
'' (1959) – Mike
* ''
Journey to the Center of the Earth
''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...
'' (1959) – Paisley (uncredited)
* ''
The Lost World
The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century.
The g ...
'' (1960) – BBC Field Reporter Ted Bottomley (uncredited)
* ''
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also simply known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' by Dodie Smith. The ...
'' (1961) – Roger Radcliffe (voice)
* ''
Operation Bottleneck
''Operation Bottleneck'' is a 1961 war film. During the Burma Campaign, a detachment of American paratroopers are aided by a group of local women in their mission against the Japanese.
Six paratroopers undertake an extremely dangerous mission a ...
'' (1961) – Manders the Englishman
* ''
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
'' (1961) – Herr Halbestadt, Haywood's butler
* ''
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...
'' (1962) – Graves (uncredited)
* ''
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
'' (1963) – Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* ''
A Gathering of Eagles'' (1963) – Leighton. S.A.C. Observer
* ''
The Prize'' (1963) – British Reporter (uncredited)
* ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' (1964) – Footman at Ball (uncredited)
* ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'' (1965) – Herr Zeller
* ''
My Blood Runs Cold
''My Blood Runs Cold'' is a 1965 American neo noir dark thriller film starring Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton and Barry Sullivan. It was directed by William Conrad. It was the second of three thrillers Conrad made for Warner Bros. A young woman ...
'' (1965) – Lansbury
* ''
Munster Go Home
''Munster, Go Home!'' is a 1966 American comedy film based on the 1960s family sitcom ''The Munsters''. It was directed by Earl Bellamy, who also directed a number of episodes in the series. The film was produced immediately after the television ...
'' (1966) – Hennesy
* ''
The Fortune Cookie
''The Fortune Cookie'' (alternative UK title: ''Meet Whiplash Willie'') is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It was the first film in which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Walter Matthau. Matthau ...
'' (1966) – Specialist #4
* ''
The Sand Pebbles
''The Sand Pebbles'' is a 1962 novel by American author Richard McKenna about a Yangtze River gunboat and its crew in 1926. It was the winner of the 1963 Harper Prize for fiction. The book was initially serialized in the ''Saturday Evening Po ...
'' (1966) – Englishman (uncredited)
* ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...
'' (1967) – Rama, the Wolf (voice)
* ''
The Rat Patrol
''The Rat Patrol'' is an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one British — who are part of a long-range desert p ...
'' - Season 2 - Episode 13 (1967) - Col. Jameson
* ''
Topaz
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al Si O( F, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can mak ...
'' (1969) – French Officer (uncredited)
* ''
Raid on Rommel
''Raid on Rommel'' is an American B movie in Technicolor from 1971, directed by Henry Hathaway and set in North Africa during the Second World War. It stars Richard Burton as a British commando attempting to destroy German gun emplacements in Tob ...
'' (1971) – Admiral
* ''Chandar, the Black Leopard of Ceylon'' (1972) – Narrator
* ''
Terror in the Wax Museum
''Terror in the Wax Museum'' is a 1973 American horror mystery film directed by Georg Fenady and starring Ray Milland, Elsa Lanchester, Maurice Evans, John Carradine, Broderick Crawford, Louis Hayward, Patric Knowles, and Shani Wallis. The fi ...
'' (1973) – First Constable
* ''
Arnold'' (1973) – Jonesy
* ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' (1989) – Grimsby (voice) (final film role, posthumous release)
References
External links
*
*
Ben Wright's voice credits*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ben
1915 births
1989 deaths
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
British Army personnel of World War II
British expatriate male actors in the United States
English male film actors
English male radio actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
English people of American descent
King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers
Male actors from London
20th-century British male actors