Benjamin Whitrow
Encyclopedia
Benjamin "Ben" Whitrow is a British actor. He attended the Dragon School
, Tonbridge School
, and RADA
. Whitrow was also part of the King's Dragoon Guards from 1956 to 1958. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company
in 1981. He played Russell in the radio version of After Henry.
In 1989, Whitrow appeared in episode four of the BBC Two
sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie
(series one), playing an irate member of the audience who claimed that Stephen Fry
and Hugh Laurie
had stolen several of their sketches from him.
Between 1990 and 1992, Whitrow appeared in the sitcom The New Statesman
as Paddy O'Rourke, a Labour
shadow minister who feigned an Irish accent when in public to attract the working-class vote.
Whitrow was nominated for a BAFTA for his portrayal of Mr Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
. He has a son, Angus, by actress Celia Imrie
.
In the year 2000, in the successful animated movie Chicken Run
, Whitrow voiced the character of Fowler; an old rooster who claims to have fought in World War II
.
Dragon School
The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...
, Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
, and RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
. Whitrow was also part of the King's Dragoon Guards from 1956 to 1958. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
in 1981. He played Russell in the radio version of After Henry.
In 1989, Whitrow appeared in episode four of the BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
A Bit of Fry & Laurie is a British sketch comedy television series starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series and totalled 26 episodes, including a 35 minute pilot episode in 1987.As in The...
(series one), playing an irate member of the audience who claimed that Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
and Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
had stolen several of their sketches from him.
Between 1990 and 1992, Whitrow appeared in the sitcom The New Statesman
The New Statesman
The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
as Paddy O'Rourke, a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
shadow minister who feigned an Irish accent when in public to attract the working-class vote.
Whitrow was nominated for a BAFTA for his portrayal of Mr Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial)
Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC...
. He has a son, Angus, by actress Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
.
In the year 2000, in the successful animated movie Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
, Whitrow voiced the character of Fowler; an old rooster who claims to have fought in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Cinema
- 2009: BomberBomber (2009 film)Bomber is a 2009 British comedy-drama film directed and written by Paul Cotter about an 83 year-old man returning to Germany for a long planned journey of atonement.-Plot:...
as Alistar - 2006: Scenes of a Sexual NatureScenes of a Sexual NatureScenes of a Sexual Nature is a 2006 British comedy-drama film directed by Ed Blum. It stars Ewan McGregor, among others.-Plot:The film is mostly based on a series of seven loosely related stories of couples on Hampstead Heath in north London, featuring an ensemble cast...
as Eddie Wright - 2000: Chicken RunChicken RunChicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
as Fowler (voice) - 1995: Restoration as Merivel's Father
- 1987: Personal ServicesPersonal ServicesPersonal Services is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland. It is the story of the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, the legendary "House of Cyn" madam. The film...
as Mr. Marsden - 1986: ClockwiseClockwise (film)Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment...
as a Headmaster - 1982: Brimstone and TreacleBrimstone and Treacle-Potter on Brimstone and Treacle:In 1978, Potter said:I had written Brimstone and Treacle in difficult personal circumstances. Years of acute psoriatic arthropathy—unpleasantly affecting skin and joints—had not only taken their toll in physical damage but had also, and perhaps inevitably, mediated...
as Businessman
Television
- The Queen's SisterThe Queen's SisterThe Queen's Sister is a 2005 British television movie directed by Simon Cellan Jones. The teleplay by Craig Warner is a semi-fictionalized account of the life of Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, from 1952 until the mid-1970s. It was produced by Touchpaper Television,...
as Cronin* - Tom JonesTom JonesTom Jones is the name of:* Tom Jones , Welsh singer* Tom Jones , Australian politician representing Collie-Wellington district...
as Squire Allworthy* - Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial)Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC...
as Mr Bennet - The New StatesmanThe New StatesmanThe New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
as Paddy O'Rourke - ChancerChancerChancer is a British television serial produced by Central Television for ITV. It tells the story of a likable conman and rogue at the end of the yuppie eighties...
as Robert Douglas - Play for TodayPlay for TodayPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
as Josh - Fireman SamFireman SamFireman Sam is a Welsh animated children's television series about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the Welsh town of Pontypandy . The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from Kent...
as Basil Steele - Troilus and CressidaTroilus and CressidaTroilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...
as UlyssesOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle.... - The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
as the Duke of Venice (opposite Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
as Sylock) - The SweeneyThe SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
as Det. Chief Supt. Braithwaite - The Brontes of Haworth as Arthur Bell Nicholls
External links
- Benjamin Whitrow at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
Drama