David Benson
Encyclopedia
David Benson is an English
character actor
, writer
and comedian
, most famous for his one-man show entitled 'Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams
' about the life and career of the late comedian, for which he won the Scotsman's Fringe First award in 1996, and for his television role as Noel Coward
in the BBC comedy series Goodnight Sweetheart
. His theatrical repertoire includes a wide range of Coward's best known songs, performed in-character as Coward. When not touring in the theatre he can be found on BBC radio, playing all the character parts in the science fiction comedy series The Scarifyers.
He was born in Oxford
, England
, and has a twin sister Miranda and an older brother Jonathan. He changed his surname in 1996 on joining Equity, the actors' trade union. He was educated at Park Hall Secondary Modern in Castle Bromwich
, Warwickshire
, and at Sutton Coldfield College of Further Education. He went on to gain a Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. He lived in Edinburgh
from 1985, and in New York from 1993 on-and-off for four years. In 2001 he moved permanently to London
, where he now resides.
Presently represented by Seabright Productions, David Benson appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe during August 2010 in two new shows, previewed in Eastbourne, Highgate, London and Oxford during July. For Lockerbie: Unfinished Business he won the Scotsman's Fringe First Award 2010, and received notices in the New York Times and Hollywood trade press.
He has a dozen one-man shows in his current theatrical repertoire, with which he tours (see current showdates), and writes and directs professional stage productions for other performers. He also sings: performing a wide range of the songs of Noel Coward, amongst others, in a flamboyant cabaret style, performed in-character as Coward.
His theatrical, television and radio work has mainly revolved around comedy; and his most famous roles, impersonating comic actor Kenneth Williams
, comedian Frankie Howerd
, and playwright and composer Noel Coward
, have featured his uncanny mimicry of well-known stars who share a common camp theme.
David Benson is currently appearing in the National Theatre
production of One Man, Two Guvnors
, a comedy starring James Corden
, adapted from Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters
, which was presented at the Lyttelton Theatre on London's South Bank from May 17th to July 26th 2011, and which garnered glowing reviews. He is currently on tour with the production, which is touring the UK throughout October.
Project Theatre Company, performing in a series of award winning semi-documentary dramas, often improvised, ranging from homeless men (Glad, 1990–92) to pensioners (One Moment, 1993), and a young lady whose brother was killed in police custody (20/52, 1995). These productions gave him his first taste of theatrical success, when One Moment, an improvised drama devised by Jeremy Weller, won a Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993.
It was at the Edinburgh Fringe
in 1996 that he premiered his first one-man show, Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams, a semi-autobiographical production based around the life and career of comedy actor Kenneth Williams
, performed mainly in character as Williams; and which, as with his subsequent Edinburgh shows (with the exception of Star Struck), was entirely written by himself. The show was an instant hit with audiences, and won a Scotsman Fringe First award. It then went on national tour, culminating in a short West End
run during 1998. It was revived in 2001 and still tours today: Benson claims he will continue touring the show "'till I drop".
In 1998 he premiered his second one-man show, at the Assembly Rooms
, during the Edinburgh Fringe. Entitled Nothing But Pleasure, it was timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
, and consisted mainly of a detailed description of the events at her funeral. Nothing But Pleasure was subsequently invited to the Sydney Festival
, where Benson and pianist/arranger David Paul Jones performed it in The Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House
in January 1999. The show then ran at the Jermyn Street Theatre
London during 2000, under the new title Mourning Glory.
After a period of theatrical inactivity David Benson returned to the Fringe and to touring in 2001, writing and performing a sequel to Think No Evil Of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams, and in the process breaking a vow he had made in 1998 never to play another dead, camp comic ("As if I intended to spend the rest of my life impersonating dead, camp comedians!"), turning his attention to the late Frankie Howerd
. To Be Frank played The Pleasance, Edinburgh at the 2001 Festival. As well as being an examination of the life and career of Howerd, the show, like all of Benson's work, has a strong autobiographical element: he gives an uncompromising account of his "period of theatrical inactivity" in a sequence which culminates in the uproarious "slaughter" of a collection of "irritating television personalities". This production is one which he still tours today, subtitled Frankie Howerd and the Secret of Happiness (an ironic comment on the fact that Frankie never seemed to find that secret).
In January 2002 Benson appeared, for the first time, in a play. He stepped into the breach to take a role in the Peepolykus production of Eugene Ionesco
's absurdist classic Rhinoceros
, which toured the UK for the first half of the year, before returning for a sell-out season at the Lyric Hammersmith
and a sell-out date at the Battersea Arts Centre
. It was during the long drives to and from these shows that Benson and Peepolykus founder David Sant first discussed the possibility of working on a new show together. The result, in 2003, was Star Struck, his fourth one-man show, in which he appeared in character as, amongst others, Fred Astaire
, Frank Sinatra
, Noel Coward
, and even Judy Garland
- a show which he premiered at that year's Edinburgh Fringe. During 2003 he also appeared in a production of Joe Orton
's Loot directed by Cal McCrystal
, at the Derby Playhouse, in which he took the role which Kenneth Williams had played in the original 1966 West End production.
Benson has also directed for the stage. In 2003 he directed (and co-created) All The Rage, the first solo stage show by the media personality Janet Street-Porter
, which premiered at that year's Fringe. In pantomime, he starred in Jack and The Beanstalk at the Newbury Corn Exchange, once again directed by Cal McCrystal, for Christmas 2004. He subsequently wrote two pantomimes, Cinderella and Dick Whittington, both of which were directed by McCrystal at Newbury.
Between 2005 and 2007 he developed three further one-man shows, all of which were written by himself, premiering each in turn at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
. These were, respectively, David Benson's Haunted Stage ; It's A Plot: David Benson's Conspiracy Cabaret ; and Why Pay More. He continued touring in his earlier shows, as well as making Christmas appearances in pantomime. In 2006 his appearance at the Fringe also included the 10th anniversary production of Think No Evil Of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams. Additionally in 2006, during a busy year he appeared in a play at the Theatre Royal Winchester directed by James Barry, starring in the comedy Same Time Next Year, in which he took the Alan Alda
role from the film.
In August 2008 he again premiered a one-man show at the Fringe, turning his attention to Noel Coward
once more, with David Benson Sings Noel Coward. This show originated as a cameo impression of Coward in Benson's original 1996 stage production of Think No Evil Of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, a cameo which led to his being offered a continuing role as Noel Coward in the BBC television series Goodnight Sweetheart
. This in turn led to his performing a number of Coward's monologues and songs on stage, as part of the Hollywood Party sequence in his one-man show Star Struck, which he premiered at the Fringe in 2003, built around the quintessential Coward monologue Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Benson continues to direct. At the 2008 Fringe he directed - as well as writing - the First World War drama My Grandfather's Great War, starring Cameron Stewart, based upon the experiences of Stewart's Grandfather in the 1914-18 War as recorded in his war diaries. After premiering at the Fringe, the production toured in the Spring of 2009 and enjoyed a London run in November 2010.
In his on-line blog Benson talks about his role in the London production of the revival of the black comedy Future Me by Stephen Brown, originally produced in 2007, in which he toured during February and March 2009 and then played London's Only Connect until April 26. As ever, in 2009 he appeared throughout August at the Edinburgh Fringe, in a new one-man show written by himself, premiering Dr Whom? My Search for Samuel Johnson, giving the definitive account of the life of Dr Johnson, the man who, in the 18th Century, wrote the world's first ever Dictionary of the English language.
During 2009 he also appeared in a play with author Clayton Littlewood and singer Alexis Gerred, playing a number of character roles in an adaptation of Littlewood's best-selling book Dirty White Boy (a book which became a favourite of no less than Elton John
), about the crazy Soho characters, all played by Benson, who the author came to know during his time running a clothes shop in London's Old Compton Street. Having done sell-out performances in July 2009, Benson returned in a longer version of the play for a month's run in 2010, appearing at London's Trafalgar Studios until May 26.
He continues to sing. August 2010 found him once again at the Edinburgh Festival, premiering two new productions for the Fringe at the Gilded Balloon. The first of these, The Singalong Glee Club, continues his musical career where his Noel Coward song spiel leaves off, with a musical evening featuring well-known songs from his 20th Century songbook, but on this occasion not exclusively by Coward. His repertoire includes Cohen Owes Me Ninety-Seven Dollars (Irving Berlin, 1915), All The Things You Are (Kern/Hammerstein, 1939), and Collegiate (Jaffe/Bonx, 1925). His pianist was once again Stewart Nicholls.
The other show which he premiered at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe was a drama, once again written by himself, entitled Lockerbie - Unfinished Business, telling the story of Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103. This production garnered him international notices, including the New York Times and as far afield as Hollywood, winning him a Scotsman Fringe First award, and for which he was nominated for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression award. He talks in his on-line blog about the national and international media coverage which the production received.
He also talks about his theatrical experiences, and the blog reveals details of his current showdates. He now has a dozen one-man shows in his theatrical repertoire, with which he continues to tour, including
Think No Evil Of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams; Nothing But Pleasure (a.k.a Mourning Glory); To Be Frank: Frankie Howerd and the Secret of Happiness; Star Struck: A Fantasy Celebrity Party; David Benson's Haunted Stage; It's A Plot: David Benson's Conspiracy Cabaret ; Why Pay More ; David Benson's Christmas Party ; Doctor Whom: My Search for Samuel Johnson; David Benson sings Noel Coward; and the two productions which he premiered at Edinburgh in 2010, The Singalong Glee Club and Lockerbie: Unfinished Business.
For Easter 2011 he did a London season at The Warehouse, Croydon from 6th to 17th April, presenting Lockerbie: Unfinished Business and his two most enduring shows: Think No Evil of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams and To Be Frank - Frankie Howerd And The Secret of Happiness.
Thereafter he was engaged for a major new National Theatre
production of Richard Bean's comedy One Man Two Guvnors, an adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters
, directed by Nicholas Hytner with Cal McCrystal. Benson had previously worked with McCrystal in Loot (Derby Playhouse, 2003) and Jack and The Beanstalk (Newbury Corn Exchange, Christmas 2004), both productions which McCrystal directed; and, in addition, Benson wrote two pantomimes (Cinderella and Dick Whittington) which were directed by McCrystal at Newbury. The 2011 National Theatre production, starring popular television actor James Corden
, was presented at the Lyttelton Theatre on London's South Bank for a ten week season from May 17th to July 26th, and toured the UK throughout October, including playing a week in Cardiff and a week in Edinburgh. Benson plays the waiter, Gareth, whilst also understudying two of the main parts, including Charlie.
(in December 1996), Michael Parkinson
’s Sunday Supplement, the late Ned Sherrin's Loose Ends (in February 2003 and again in December 2007), Kaleidoscope
, and Midweek.
In December 2002 he appeared in Ruth Draper and Her Company of Characters on BBC Radio 4
, which was an appreciation of the life and career of an actress whom he cites as one of the most important influences on his stage work.
Benson has an unusual facility with accents and as a mimic and impressionist. In November 2003 he performed The Private World of Kenneth Williams, a three-part series for BBC Radio 4
, in which he also read extracts from The Kenneth Williams Diaries in character as Williams
. Subsequently he appeared, also in character as Williams, in Horne of Plenty, a 3 hour special for BBC radio, broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in December 2005 (and repeated in 2008 and February 2011), celebrating the radio shows of Kenneth Horne, in all of which Kenneth Williams had appeared. Then in February 2006 Benson narrated the documentary Carry On Filming for BBC Radio 4
, a retrospective of the Carry On films, in which Kenneth Williams had appeared more often than any other member of the team.
All of his radio work connected with Kenneth Williams was commissioned by BBC producer Jonathan James Moore, who died in November 2005, aged 59, without whose support this type of work has dried up for him.
More recently, David Benson's facility with accents and as a voice artist has led him into character parts in radio drama. In the first of these, in July 2006 he narrated the BBC Radio 1
documentary Waiting for Superman, about the DC Comics character, using a cod-American accent.
He then performed various character roles in a number of independent drama productions broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 Extra: firstly in a four-part Paul McGann Doctor Who
radio serial entitled Invaders from Mars
, set in 1938 (broadcast at Halloween 2005), in which (amongst other parts) he made use of his remarkable facility for impersonating famous Hollywood stars by playing Orson Welles
; and subsequently in six new science fiction radio productions in The Scarifyers
series, playing comedy parts in character alongside former Doctor Who actors Nicholas Courtney
(Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
) and Terry Molloy
(Davros
), in the spoofs The Nazad Conspiracy and The Devil of Denge Marsh (both were three-part serials broadcast during 2007, and repeated in 2009 and 2010), For King and Country (a four-part serial broadcast in February 2009, and repeated in December 2010 and in October 2011), The Curse of the Black Comet (a four part serial broadcast in October 2010, and repeated in May 2011, which also featured Brian Blessed
), and three yet to be broadcast, including The Secret Weapon of Doom (with Leslie Phillips
). Despite the death in 2011 of Nicholas Courtney, 'The Scarifyers' series is to continue: David Warner and Philip Madoc have recorded two further serials, currently still in post-production - The Magic Circle and The Horror of Loch Ness - alongside Terry Molloy, in which David Benson once again plays all the character parts.
He also plays the recurring role of Panda in the Iris Wildthyme
series, a collection of humorous audio dramas released exclusively on CD, which star another former Doctor Who companion, Katy Manning
(Jo Grant), as Miss Wildthyme.
In December 2007 he appeared in another character role for radio, in a Saturday Play broadcast on BBC Radio 4
, written by Pamela Branch. This was a comedy set in 1951, entitled The Wooden Overcoat, in which he was cast as an extremely camp character, even more so than his role as Aleister Crowley in the Scarifyers serials, based in part on the character known as 'Snide', portrayed by Kenneth Williams on radio in Hancock's Half Hour and in the Carry On films.
These productions reveall Benson's talent for playing character parts in comedy, convincingly portraying not only American accents but also sundry East European and Russian accents, when cast as various mad scientists in the Dr Frankenstein mould. The Scarifyers serials also cast him in one highly camp role, as psychic investigator Aleister Crowley
: a comic part with strongly emphasised similarities to his high-camp comedic style on stage, as Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd, in his one-man shows. In the various Scarifyers comedies he has typically played half a dozen character roles in each, filling up the cast by supplying the character parts not played by stars Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy, including - amidst his sinister East Europeans - lampooning sundry eccentric titled and upperclass Englishmen.
Comedy has been a recurring theme in his show business career, which began with his impersonation of two famous 'camp' comedians, Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd, then progressed to his role in the television situation comedy Goodnight Sweetheart
camping it up as Noel Coward, and has now come full circle with his radio work, in which he plays comedy roles that owe much to the high-camp style popularised by Kenneth Williams. He cites the radio shows of Jack Benny
and Spike Milligan
as his earliest comedy influences.
Goodnight Sweetheart
(BBC) as Noel Coward
, Series Five (1998) and Six (1999)
Reputations (BBC Four, 1998) reading Kenneth Williams
Diary extracts
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
character actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, most famous for his one-man show entitled 'Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
' about the life and career of the late comedian, for which he won the Scotsman's Fringe First award in 1996, and for his television role as Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
in the BBC comedy series Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
. His theatrical repertoire includes a wide range of Coward's best known songs, performed in-character as Coward. When not touring in the theatre he can be found on BBC radio, playing all the character parts in the science fiction comedy series The Scarifyers.
He was born in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and has a twin sister Miranda and an older brother Jonathan. He changed his surname in 1996 on joining Equity, the actors' trade union. He was educated at Park Hall Secondary Modern in Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich
Castle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, and at Sutton Coldfield College of Further Education. He went on to gain a Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at the Royal Holloway College, University of London. He lived in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
from 1985, and in New York from 1993 on-and-off for four years. In 2001 he moved permanently to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he now resides.
Presently represented by Seabright Productions, David Benson appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe during August 2010 in two new shows, previewed in Eastbourne, Highgate, London and Oxford during July. For Lockerbie: Unfinished Business he won the Scotsman's Fringe First Award 2010, and received notices in the New York Times and Hollywood trade press.
He has a dozen one-man shows in his current theatrical repertoire, with which he tours (see current showdates), and writes and directs professional stage productions for other performers. He also sings: performing a wide range of the songs of Noel Coward, amongst others, in a flamboyant cabaret style, performed in-character as Coward.
His theatrical, television and radio work has mainly revolved around comedy; and his most famous roles, impersonating comic actor Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
, comedian Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
, and playwright and composer Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, have featured his uncanny mimicry of well-known stars who share a common camp theme.
David Benson is currently appearing in the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
production of One Man, Two Guvnors
One Man, Two Guvnors
One Man, Two Guvnors is a play by Richard Bean. It opened at the National Theatre in June 2011. The play, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starred James Corden and is an English adaptation of Servant of Two Masters , a 1743 Commedia del Arte comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni...
, a comedy starring James Corden
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....
, adapted from Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters is a comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1743. Goldoni originally wrote the play at the request of actor Antonio Sacco, one of the great Truffaldinos in history...
, which was presented at the Lyttelton Theatre on London's South Bank from May 17th to July 26th 2011, and which garnered glowing reviews. He is currently on tour with the production, which is touring the UK throughout October.
Stage
As a young man, Benson held various jobs: including as a "skivvy" in a restaurant kitchen, and as an assistant in Scotland's first gay and lesbian bookshop. Between 1990 and 1996 he worked in the Edinburgh-based GrassmarketGrassmarket
The Grassmarket is an historic market square in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland.In relation to the rest of the city the area is a hollow, well below surrounding ground levels.-Location:...
Project Theatre Company, performing in a series of award winning semi-documentary dramas, often improvised, ranging from homeless men (Glad, 1990–92) to pensioners (One Moment, 1993), and a young lady whose brother was killed in police custody (20/52, 1995). These productions gave him his first taste of theatrical success, when One Moment, an improvised drama devised by Jeremy Weller, won a Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993.
It was at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
in 1996 that he premiered his first one-man show, Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams, a semi-autobiographical production based around the life and career of comedy actor Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
, performed mainly in character as Williams; and which, as with his subsequent Edinburgh shows (with the exception of Star Struck), was entirely written by himself. The show was an instant hit with audiences, and won a Scotsman Fringe First award. It then went on national tour, culminating in a short West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
run during 1998. It was revived in 2001 and still tours today: Benson claims he will continue touring the show "'till I drop".
In 1998 he premiered his second one-man show, at the Assembly Rooms
Assembly rooms
In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were few public places of entertainment open to both sexes...
, during the Edinburgh Fringe. Entitled Nothing But Pleasure, it was timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, and consisted mainly of a detailed description of the events at her funeral. Nothing But Pleasure was subsequently invited to the Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is Australia's largest and most attended annual cultural event running every January since it was first held in 1977. Its program features around 80 events including contemporary and classical music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and artist talks...
, where Benson and pianist/arranger David Paul Jones performed it in The Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in January 1999. The show then ran at the Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated in Jermyn Street, London.Formerly a restaurant, under the leadership of Howard Jameson, it was transformed into a 70-seat studio theatre right in the heart of London's West End...
London during 2000, under the new title Mourning Glory.
After a period of theatrical inactivity David Benson returned to the Fringe and to touring in 2001, writing and performing a sequel to Think No Evil Of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams, and in the process breaking a vow he had made in 1998 never to play another dead, camp comic ("As if I intended to spend the rest of my life impersonating dead, camp comedians!"), turning his attention to the late Frankie Howerd
Frankie Howerd
Francis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
. To Be Frank played The Pleasance, Edinburgh at the 2001 Festival. As well as being an examination of the life and career of Howerd, the show, like all of Benson's work, has a strong autobiographical element: he gives an uncompromising account of his "period of theatrical inactivity" in a sequence which culminates in the uproarious "slaughter" of a collection of "irritating television personalities". This production is one which he still tours today, subtitled Frankie Howerd and the Secret of Happiness (an ironic comment on the fact that Frankie never seemed to find that secret).
In January 2002 Benson appeared, for the first time, in a play. He stepped into the breach to take a role in the Peepolykus production of Eugene Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
's absurdist classic Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (play)
Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd...
, which toured the UK for the first half of the year, before returning for a sell-out season at the Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
and a sell-out date at the Battersea Arts Centre
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth that specialises in music and theatre productions.-History:...
. It was during the long drives to and from these shows that Benson and Peepolykus founder David Sant first discussed the possibility of working on a new show together. The result, in 2003, was Star Struck, his fourth one-man show, in which he appeared in character as, amongst others, Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, and even Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
- a show which he premiered at that year's Edinburgh Fringe. During 2003 he also appeared in a production of Joe Orton
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
's Loot directed by Cal McCrystal
Cal McCrystal (director)
Cal McCrystal is a British theatre director. He is the brother of the journalist Damien McCrystal and the son of the journalist and writer Cal McCrystal.-References:...
, at the Derby Playhouse, in which he took the role which Kenneth Williams had played in the original 1966 West End production.
Benson has also directed for the stage. In 2003 he directed (and co-created) All The Rage, the first solo stage show by the media personality Janet Street-Porter
Janet Street-Porter
Janet Street-Porter is a British media personality, journalist and television presenter. She was editor for two years of The Independent on Sunday. She relinquished the job to become editor-at-large in 2002...
, which premiered at that year's Fringe. In pantomime, he starred in Jack and The Beanstalk at the Newbury Corn Exchange, once again directed by Cal McCrystal, for Christmas 2004. He subsequently wrote two pantomimes, Cinderella and Dick Whittington, both of which were directed by McCrystal at Newbury.
Between 2005 and 2007 he developed three further one-man shows, all of which were written by himself, premiering each in turn at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
. These were, respectively, David Benson's Haunted Stage ; It's A Plot: David Benson's Conspiracy Cabaret ; and Why Pay More. He continued touring in his earlier shows, as well as making Christmas appearances in pantomime. In 2006 his appearance at the Fringe also included the 10th anniversary production of Think No Evil Of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams. Additionally in 2006, during a busy year he appeared in a play at the Theatre Royal Winchester directed by James Barry, starring in the comedy Same Time Next Year, in which he took the Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
role from the film.
In August 2008 he again premiered a one-man show at the Fringe, turning his attention to Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
once more, with David Benson Sings Noel Coward. This show originated as a cameo impression of Coward in Benson's original 1996 stage production of Think No Evil Of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, a cameo which led to his being offered a continuing role as Noel Coward in the BBC television series Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
. This in turn led to his performing a number of Coward's monologues and songs on stage, as part of the Hollywood Party sequence in his one-man show Star Struck, which he premiered at the Fringe in 2003, built around the quintessential Coward monologue Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Benson continues to direct. At the 2008 Fringe he directed - as well as writing - the First World War drama My Grandfather's Great War, starring Cameron Stewart, based upon the experiences of Stewart's Grandfather in the 1914-18 War as recorded in his war diaries. After premiering at the Fringe, the production toured in the Spring of 2009 and enjoyed a London run in November 2010.
In his on-line blog Benson talks about his role in the London production of the revival of the black comedy Future Me by Stephen Brown, originally produced in 2007, in which he toured during February and March 2009 and then played London's Only Connect until April 26. As ever, in 2009 he appeared throughout August at the Edinburgh Fringe, in a new one-man show written by himself, premiering Dr Whom? My Search for Samuel Johnson, giving the definitive account of the life of Dr Johnson, the man who, in the 18th Century, wrote the world's first ever Dictionary of the English language.
During 2009 he also appeared in a play with author Clayton Littlewood and singer Alexis Gerred, playing a number of character roles in an adaptation of Littlewood's best-selling book Dirty White Boy (a book which became a favourite of no less than Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
), about the crazy Soho characters, all played by Benson, who the author came to know during his time running a clothes shop in London's Old Compton Street. Having done sell-out performances in July 2009, Benson returned in a longer version of the play for a month's run in 2010, appearing at London's Trafalgar Studios until May 26.
He continues to sing. August 2010 found him once again at the Edinburgh Festival, premiering two new productions for the Fringe at the Gilded Balloon. The first of these, The Singalong Glee Club, continues his musical career where his Noel Coward song spiel leaves off, with a musical evening featuring well-known songs from his 20th Century songbook, but on this occasion not exclusively by Coward. His repertoire includes Cohen Owes Me Ninety-Seven Dollars (Irving Berlin, 1915), All The Things You Are (Kern/Hammerstein, 1939), and Collegiate (Jaffe/Bonx, 1925). His pianist was once again Stewart Nicholls.
The other show which he premiered at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe was a drama, once again written by himself, entitled Lockerbie - Unfinished Business, telling the story of Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103. This production garnered him international notices, including the New York Times and as far afield as Hollywood, winning him a Scotsman Fringe First award, and for which he was nominated for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression award. He talks in his on-line blog about the national and international media coverage which the production received.
He also talks about his theatrical experiences, and the blog reveals details of his current showdates. He now has a dozen one-man shows in his theatrical repertoire, with which he continues to tour, including
Think No Evil Of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams; Nothing But Pleasure (a.k.a Mourning Glory); To Be Frank: Frankie Howerd and the Secret of Happiness; Star Struck: A Fantasy Celebrity Party; David Benson's Haunted Stage; It's A Plot: David Benson's Conspiracy Cabaret ; Why Pay More ; David Benson's Christmas Party ; Doctor Whom: My Search for Samuel Johnson; David Benson sings Noel Coward; and the two productions which he premiered at Edinburgh in 2010, The Singalong Glee Club and Lockerbie: Unfinished Business.
For Easter 2011 he did a London season at The Warehouse, Croydon from 6th to 17th April, presenting Lockerbie: Unfinished Business and his two most enduring shows: Think No Evil of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams and To Be Frank - Frankie Howerd And The Secret of Happiness.
Thereafter he was engaged for a major new National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
production of Richard Bean's comedy One Man Two Guvnors, an adaptation of Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters
Servant of Two Masters is a comedy by the Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1743. Goldoni originally wrote the play at the request of actor Antonio Sacco, one of the great Truffaldinos in history...
, directed by Nicholas Hytner with Cal McCrystal. Benson had previously worked with McCrystal in Loot (Derby Playhouse, 2003) and Jack and The Beanstalk (Newbury Corn Exchange, Christmas 2004), both productions which McCrystal directed; and, in addition, Benson wrote two pantomimes (Cinderella and Dick Whittington) which were directed by McCrystal at Newbury. The 2011 National Theatre production, starring popular television actor James Corden
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....
, was presented at the Lyttelton Theatre on London's South Bank for a ten week season from May 17th to July 26th, and toured the UK throughout October, including playing a week in Cardiff and a week in Edinburgh. Benson plays the waiter, Gareth, whilst also understudying two of the main parts, including Charlie.
Radio
David Benson has been interviewed on many BBC and ILR radio shows, including Mavis NicholsonMavis Nicholson
Mavis Nicholson is a British writer and TV broadcaster.She was born Mavis Mainwaring and spent her childhood in Briton Ferry. She became a student at Swansea University...
(in December 1996), Michael Parkinson
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...
’s Sunday Supplement, the late Ned Sherrin's Loose Ends (in February 2003 and again in December 2007), Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope
A kaleidoscope is a circle of mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other end creates a colorful pattern, due to the reflection off the mirrors...
, and Midweek.
In December 2002 he appeared in Ruth Draper and Her Company of Characters on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, which was an appreciation of the life and career of an actress whom he cites as one of the most important influences on his stage work.
Benson has an unusual facility with accents and as a mimic and impressionist. In November 2003 he performed The Private World of Kenneth Williams, a three-part series for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, in which he also read extracts from The Kenneth Williams Diaries in character as Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
. Subsequently he appeared, also in character as Williams, in Horne of Plenty, a 3 hour special for BBC radio, broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in December 2005 (and repeated in 2008 and February 2011), celebrating the radio shows of Kenneth Horne, in all of which Kenneth Williams had appeared. Then in February 2006 Benson narrated the documentary Carry On Filming for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, a retrospective of the Carry On films, in which Kenneth Williams had appeared more often than any other member of the team.
All of his radio work connected with Kenneth Williams was commissioned by BBC producer Jonathan James Moore, who died in November 2005, aged 59, without whose support this type of work has dried up for him.
More recently, David Benson's facility with accents and as a voice artist has led him into character parts in radio drama. In the first of these, in July 2006 he narrated the BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
documentary Waiting for Superman, about the DC Comics character, using a cod-American accent.
He then performed various character roles in a number of independent drama productions broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and BBC Radio 4 Extra: firstly in a four-part Paul McGann Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
radio serial entitled Invaders from Mars
Invaders from Mars (Doctor Who audio)
Invaders from Mars is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, set in 1938 (broadcast at Halloween 2005), in which (amongst other parts) he made use of his remarkable facility for impersonating famous Hollywood stars by playing Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
; and subsequently in six new science fiction radio productions in The Scarifyers
The Scarifyers
The Scarifyers is an audio adventure series produced by Cosmic Hobo Productions and based on stories written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Set in 1936 and 1937, it follows the exploits of DI Lionheart and ghost-story writer Professor Dunning, as played by Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy.Each...
series, playing comedy parts in character alongside former Doctor Who actors Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
(Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
) and Terry Molloy
Terry Molloy
Terry Molloy is an English actor known predominantly for his work on radio and television.Molloy has been a member of the cast of BBC Radio 4's The Archers playing Mike Tucker since 1973 and has won awards for his work as an actor on radio.On television, Molloy is perhaps best known for his role...
(Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
), in the spoofs The Nazad Conspiracy and The Devil of Denge Marsh (both were three-part serials broadcast during 2007, and repeated in 2009 and 2010), For King and Country (a four-part serial broadcast in February 2009, and repeated in December 2010 and in October 2011), The Curse of the Black Comet (a four part serial broadcast in October 2010, and repeated in May 2011, which also featured Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in the town of Goldthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England...
), and three yet to be broadcast, including The Secret Weapon of Doom (with Leslie Phillips
Leslie Phillips
Leslie Samuel Phillips, CBE is an English actor with a highly recognisable upper class accent. Originally known for his work as a comedy actor, Phillips subsequently made the transition to character roles.-Early life:...
). Despite the death in 2011 of Nicholas Courtney, 'The Scarifyers' series is to continue: David Warner and Philip Madoc have recorded two further serials, currently still in post-production - The Magic Circle and The Horror of Loch Ness - alongside Terry Molloy, in which David Benson once again plays all the character parts.
He also plays the recurring role of Panda in the Iris Wildthyme
Iris Wildthyme
Iris Wildthyme is a fictional character created by writer Paul Magrs, who has appeared in short stories, novels and audio dramas from numerous publishers...
series, a collection of humorous audio dramas released exclusively on CD, which star another former Doctor Who companion, Katy Manning
Katy Manning
Katy Manning is an English actress best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. She has also made many theatre appearances, and is now a citizen of Australia. She is myopic...
(Jo Grant), as Miss Wildthyme.
In December 2007 he appeared in another character role for radio, in a Saturday Play broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, written by Pamela Branch. This was a comedy set in 1951, entitled The Wooden Overcoat, in which he was cast as an extremely camp character, even more so than his role as Aleister Crowley in the Scarifyers serials, based in part on the character known as 'Snide', portrayed by Kenneth Williams on radio in Hancock's Half Hour and in the Carry On films.
These productions reveall Benson's talent for playing character parts in comedy, convincingly portraying not only American accents but also sundry East European and Russian accents, when cast as various mad scientists in the Dr Frankenstein mould. The Scarifyers serials also cast him in one highly camp role, as psychic investigator Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
: a comic part with strongly emphasised similarities to his high-camp comedic style on stage, as Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd, in his one-man shows. In the various Scarifyers comedies he has typically played half a dozen character roles in each, filling up the cast by supplying the character parts not played by stars Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy, including - amidst his sinister East Europeans - lampooning sundry eccentric titled and upperclass Englishmen.
Comedy has been a recurring theme in his show business career, which began with his impersonation of two famous 'camp' comedians, Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd, then progressed to his role in the television situation comedy Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
camping it up as Noel Coward, and has now come full circle with his radio work, in which he plays comedy roles that owe much to the high-camp style popularised by Kenneth Williams. He cites the radio shows of Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
and Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
as his earliest comedy influences.
Television
Jackanory (BBC1), as writer (short story, The Rag-and-Bone Man, performed by Kenneth Williams) (1975)Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart
Goodnight Sweetheart is a sitcom that ran for six series on BBC1 from 1993 to 1999. It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow, an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing him to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the...
(BBC) as Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Series Five (1998) and Six (1999)
Reputations (BBC Four, 1998) reading Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
Diary extracts