Peter Benson (actor)

{{Infobox person

| name = Peter Benson

| image = Peter Benson as Bernie Scripps in Heartbeat.jpg

| caption = Peter Benson as Bernie Scripps in Heartbeat

| birth_name = Peter Henry Benson

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|4|3|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Wallasey, Cheshire, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|9|6|1943|6|13|df=yes}}

| death_place = Liverpool

| restingplace =

| restingplacecoordinates =

| othername =

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1961–2013

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

}}

Peter Henry Benson (3 April 1943 – 6 September 2018){{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45459664 |title=Heartbeat and Blackadder actor Peter Benson dies |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=8 September 2018 |accessdate=8 September 2018 |archive-date=8 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908181335/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45459664 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/24/peter-benson-obituary |title=Peter Benson obituary |first=Anthony |last=Hayward |work=The Guardian |date=24 September 2018 |accessdate=24 September 2018 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180925072354/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/24/peter-benson-obituary |url-status=live }} was a British actor, best known for his role as Bernie Scripps in the popular ITV television series Heartbeat, a police drama set in the fictional Yorkshire village of Aidensfield during the 1960s. He also had a number of other film and television roles, often playing weak or vacillating characters.

Television and theatre

Born in Wallasey in Cheshire,[https://web.archive.org/web/20170425134432/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba1125336 Benson] on the British Film Institute database the son of schoolmaster Herbert George Benson (1888–1972), who served as a Special Constable during World War II, and Mabel Dorothy ({{née|Lord}}, 1902–1979),{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Peter Benson was a talented singer and dancer and an accomplished theatre actor.[https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/08/heartbeat-actor-peter-benson-dies-aged-75 Heartbeat actor Peter Benson dies aged 75] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909000437/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/08/heartbeat-actor-peter-benson-dies-aged-75 |date=9 September 2018 }} – The Guardian 8 September 2018 His other television and theatre work included the regional premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. On television his credits include the Dauphin in Shaw's Saint Joan, Henry VI in all three parts of Henry VI, and Richard III for the BBC Television Shakespeare Series, Reuben with Bill Maynard in Alan Plater's Trinity Tales, Henry VII in The Black Adder, Bernard in All Creatures Great and Small, and Bor in the Doctor Who serial Terminus. Later roles included the made-for-TV film Merlin{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130414/fullcredits|title=Merlin (TV Mini-Series 1998)|accessdate=8 September 2018|website=IMDb.com|archive-date=8 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008235817/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130414/fullcredits?|url-status=live}} and A Touch of Frost.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0072611/|title=Peter Benson|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=8 September 2018|archive-date=30 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230171727/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0072611/|url-status=live}}

He also had parts in Coronation Street, The Royal, Rumpole of the Bailey, Jeeves and Wooster, The Bill, Peak Practice, Casualty, Tenko, and Lovejoy, among others.

Benson played the part of Larry Rigg in Granada's short lived market soap, Albion Market, from 1985 to 1986.

He played Bernie Scripps in Heartbeat between 1995 and 2010. In the series, Bernard 'Bernie' Scripps ran Aidensfield Garage and the local funeral service. He was often involved helping Claude Greengrass (Bill Maynard), his half-brother Vernon Scripps (Geoffrey Hughes), and later Peggy Armstrong (Gwen Taylor) with disastrous money-making schemes.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101114/|title=Heartbeat|accessdate=8 September 2018|website=IMDb.com|archive-date=26 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126112134/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101114/|url-status=live}}

Film roles

His film work included roles in Cry of the Banshee (1970),[https://web.archive.org/web/20200328191051/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a838693 Cast of Cry of the Banshee] – British Film Institute database Michael Crichton's The First Great Train Robbery (1978),{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079240/|title=The Great Train Robbery|accessdate=8 September 2018|website=IMDb.com|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221051952/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079240/|url-status=live}} Roman Polanski's Tess (1979),{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/peter-benson/person/29280/biography.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205003047/http://www.tv.com/peter-benson/person/29280/biography.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2013|title=Benson|website=Tv.com|accessdate=8 September 2018}} and Christian Cantamessa's Air (2015).

Death

Benson died on 6 September 2018 aged 75, following a relatively short illness. He was surrounded by family and close friends.

Filmography

Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
class="wikitable"
1969	Putney Swope	Mr. Jingle
1970	Cry of the Banshee	Brander
1978	The Shout	Harry the Shepherd
1978	The Sailor's Return	Charlie Nye
1978	The First Great Train Robbery	Station Despatcher
1979	Tess	Religious Fanatic
1980	Hawk the Slayer	Black Wizard

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=0072611|name=Peter Benson}}
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/people/peter_benson.shtml Benson and Doctor Who]

Category:1943 births

Category:2018 deaths

Category:Male actors from Wallasey

Category:English male television actors

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:21st-century English male actors

Category:English expatriate male actors in the United States