Ben Alexander was an Emmy-nominated American motion picture actor, who started out as a child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

 in 1915.

Life and career

Ben Alexander was born in Goldfield, Nevada

Goldfield, Nevada

Goldfield is an unincorporated community and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States, with a resident population of 440 at the 2000 census. It is located about southeast of Carson City, along U.S...

 and raised in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Alexander made his screen debut at age of five in Every Pearl a Tear. He went on to portray Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....

's young brother in D.W. Griffith's Hearts of the World. After a number of silent films, he retired from screen work but came back for the World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 classic, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), in which Alexander received good notices as an adult actor in the role of Kemmerick, the tragic amputation victim.

Alexander played leads and second leads in many low-budget films throughout the 1930s. He found a new career as a successful radio announcer in the late 1940s, including a stint on the Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....

 program.

In 1952, Jack Webb

Jack Webb

John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...

, actor-producer-director of Dragnet

Dragnet (series)

Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...

, needed a replacement for Barton Yarborough

Barton Yarborough

William Barton Yarborough was an American actor who worked extensively in radio drama.As a youth, Yarborough ran away from home, attracted by the vaudeville stages, and he first worked in radio during the 1920s...

, who had played detective Ben Romero opposite Webb's Sgt. Friday. Webb selected Ben Alexander but had to wait until he was available. A few actors filled in as Friday's partners until Alexander appeared in the newly created role of Officer Frank Smith, first in the radio series and then on television. The popular series ran until 1959. When Webb revived it in 1966, he wanted Alexander to rejoin him, but Alexander had just signed to star as Sgt. Dan Briggs on the weekly ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 series Felony Squad

Felony Squad

Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...

.

Other

Ben Alexander was a successful investor and businessman, and didn't depend on his acting career for income. One of his later enterprises was the ownership and operation of a Ford dealership in downtown Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Currently a BMW/Mini dealership, it is still owned by his son, Nick, and operated by his daughter, son, and nephew.

For his contribution to the entertainment industry Ben Alexander has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 for television, radio, and movies.

Filmography

• Each Pearl a Tear (1916)
• The Little American
  The Little American
  The Little American is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford as an American woman who is in love with both a German and a French soldier during World War I.-Plot:...
  
  (1917)
• Little Orphant Annie (1918)
• The One Woman (1918)
• Hearts of the World
  Hearts of the World
  Hearts of the World is a silent film directed by D.W. Griffith, a wartime propaganda classic that was filmed on location in Britain and near the Western Front, made at the request of the British Government to change the neutral mindset of the American public.-Plot:Two families live next to one...
  
  (1918)
• The Lady of the Dugout (1918)
• The Heart of Rachael (1918)
• The Turn in the Road
  The Turn in the Road
  The Turn in the Road is a 1919 silent drama film directed by King Vidor.-Cast:* George Nichols - Hamilton Perry* Lloyd Hughes - Paul Perry* Winter Hall - Reverend Matthew Barker* Helen Jerome Eddy - Jane Barker* Pauline Curley - Evelyn Barker...
  
  (1919)
• The White Heather (1919)
• Josselyn's Wife (1919)
• The Hushed Hour (1919)
• The Mayor of Filbert (1919)
• Tangled Threads (1919)
• The Better Wife (1919)
• The Triflers (1920)
• The Family Honor
  The Family Honor
  The Family Honor is a 1920 silent drama film directed by King Vidor.-Cast:* Florence Vidor - Beverly Tucker* Roscoe Karns - Dal Tucker* Ben Alexander - Little Ben Tucker* Charles Meredith - Merle Curran* George Nichols - Mayor Curran...
  
  (1920)
• The Notorious Mrs. Sands (1920)
• Through Eyes of Men (1920)
• Blue Streak McCoy
  Blue Streak McCoy
  Blue Streak McCoy is a 1920 Western film starring Harry Carey.-Cast:* Harry Carey - Job McCoy* Lila Leslie - Eileen Marlowe* Charles Arling - Howard Marlowe* B. Reeves Eason Jr. - Albert Marlowe...
  
  (1920)
• The Heart Line (1921)
• In the Name of the Law (1922)
• Penrod and Sam (1923)
• The Yankee Spirit (1923)
• Jealous Husbands (1923)
• Boy of Mine (1923)
• Barnum Junior (1924)
• Junior Partner (1924)
• A Self-Made Failure (1924)
• Dirty Hand (1924)
• Flaming Love (1925)
• Pampered Youth (1925/I)
• Wildcat Willie (1925)
• The Shining Adventure (1925)
• The Highbinders (1926)
• Scotty of the Scouts (1926)
• Fighting for Fame (1927)
• Two to One (1927)
• The Lunkhead (1929)
• All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
• A Wise Child (1931)
• Mystery Ship (1931)
• Many a Slip (1931)
• It's a Wise Child (1931)
• Are These Our Children (1931)
• Suicide Fleet (1931)
• High Pressure
  High Pressure (film)
  High Pressure is a 1932 American comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Evelyn Brent.- Cast :* William Powell as Gar Evans* Evelyn Brent as Francine Dale* George Sidney as Colonel Ginsburg* John Wray as Jimmy Moore...
  
  (1932)
• Tom Brown of Culver (1932)
• The Vanishing Frontier (1932)
• Alias the Professor (1933)
• Mister Mugg
  Mister Mugg
  Mister Mugg is a 1933 short comedy film directed by James W. Horne. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1933 for Best Short Subject .-Cast:* James Gleason* Dorothy Christy* Ben Alexander* Otis Harlan* Norman Rhodes* Jack Pennick...
  
  (1933)
• Roadhouse Queen (1933)
• Daddy Knows Best (1933)
• What Price Innocence? (1933)
• This Day and Age (1933)
• Stage Mother
  Stage Mother (film)
  Stage Mother is a 1933 American musical drama. A backstage musical, the film follows the story of Kitty Lorraine, a frustrated vaudeville performer who pushes her daughter into becoming a star dancer. Selfishness, deceit and blackmail drive mother and daughter apart until a last-reel reconciliation...
  
  (1933)
• Once to Every Woman
  Once to Every Woman
  Once to Every Woman is a 1934 film adaptation of A. J. Cronin's short story, Kaleidoscope in "K". The film was made by Columbia Pictures and stars Ralph Bellamy and Fay Wray.- Cast :*Ralph Bellamy as Dr. Jim Barclay*Fay Wray as Mary Fanshawe...
  
  (1934)
• The Most Precious Thing in Life (1934)
• The Life of Vergie Winters (1934)
• Flirtation (1934)
• Grand Old Girl (1935)
• Born to Gamble (1935)
• Reckless Roads (1935)
• Annapolis Farewell (1935)
• The Fire Trap (1935)
• Hearts in Bondage (1936)
• Red Lights Ahead (1936)
• The Legion of Missing Men
  The Legion of Missing Men
  The Legion of Missing Men is a 1937 Monogram Pictures film about the French Foreign Legion set in the French protectorate of Morocco. Directed by Hamilton MacFadden, it stars Ralph Forbes who had also served in the cinematic Foreign Legion in Beau Geste and Beau Ideal .Singer and actress Hala...
  
  (1937)
• The Outer Gate (1937)
• Western Gold (1937)
• The Spy Ring (1938)
• Russian Dressing (1938)
• Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (1938)
• Convict's Code (1939)
• Buried Alive (1939)
• Criminals Within (1943)
• Man in the Shadow
  Man in the Shadow
  Man in the Shadow is a 1957 crime film starring Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander, and John Larch.-Plot summary:...
  
  (1957)

Television

• The Joseph Cotten Show
  The Joseph Cotten Show
  The Joseph Cotten Show is an American anthology series series hosted by and occasionally starring Joseph Cotten. The series, which first aired on NBC, aired 31 episodes from September 14, 1956, to September 13, 1957...
  
  , also known as On Trial (1 episode, 1957)
• The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
  The Ford Show
  The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
  
  (January 24, 1957)
• Dragnet
  Dragnet (series)
  Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
  
  (36 episodes, 1952–1959)
• Batman
  Batman (TV series)
  Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
  
  (1 episode, 1966)
• Felony Squad
  Felony Squad
  Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966 to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.-Overview:...
  
  (Unknown episodes, 1966–1969)
• Judd, for the Defense
  Judd, for the Defense
  Judd, for the Defense is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to September 19, 1969.-Synopsis:...
  
  (1 episode, 1969)

Further reading

• Michael J. Hayde, My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet. Cumberland House, 2001.

External links

• Ben Alexander as a child with friend (Univ. of Washington/Sayre Collection)