Harry Benham
Date of birth: 1884-02-25
Place of birth: Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as:
Biography
From Wikipedia Harry Benham (February 26, 1884 – July 17, 1969) was an American silent film actor. Born in Valparaiso, Indiana, as a child Benham and his family moved to Chicago, where he was raised and attended school. Benham had a talent for singing and sang in his local church choir. In 1904, the production Peggy From Paris came to Chicago and, at age 20, Benham became a member of the chorus while earning a living in the wholesale paper business. Benham was soon selected to play the leading role in the production and remained in that role throughout the production's three-year run. He was subsequently able to garner more roles in other plays, such as The Sultan of Sulu, Woodland, Marrying Mary, The Gay Musician, H.M.S. Pinafore, Florodora, The Mayoress, and Madame Sherry. In 1910 Benham joined the Thanhouser Company in New Rochelle, New York, for whom he played the leading role in many of the company's films through 1915. He married actress Ethyle Cooke, and together they had two children, Dorothy and Leland, who also became prominent Thanhouser personalities. Benham died on July 17, 1969 in Sarasota, Florida, aged 85.
Movie Credits
Her Secret
1912-06-06
The husband was stern, solemn and never could understand why anyone should laugh. The wife didn't ha
Your Best Friend
1922-03-26
A Jewish mother in New York finds herself at odds with her son's new wife, a pretty Gentile girl.
Under Two Flags
1912-07-02
Drama of life in the foreign legion of Africa
The Dancer's Peril
1917-03-12
The Grand Duke Alexis has been happy with his wife, Lola, formerly the queen of the St. Petersburg b
Polly with a Past
1920-11-29
Polly Shannon takes a job as a maid to earn money to go to Paris and study opera. She becomes embroi
The Last of the Carnabys
1917-07-22
The affluent Carnabys have now dwindled in fortune and family, leaving just Lucy and her brother, Go
Hush Money
1921-11-01
The only daughter of wealthy Wall Street banker, Evelyn Murray, while with her aristocratic fiancé,
A Woman's Loyalty
1914-05-05
The greenhouse proprietor did not take any heart in his work, for he firmly believed he was destined
The Heart of the Princess Marsari
1915-05-18
The girl's father is Gunga Ras, a Hindu student of the occult. The girl's uncle is found dead and th
Daughter of Kings
1915-05-23
J. Courtleigh Brice, son of a self-made father, lives abroad where he does little except spend the m
Their Burglar
1911-11-03
In the course of a fashionable reception at her home, a young girl quarrels with her suitor. Piqued
The Missing Heir
1911-11-07
A lawyer is given the execution of a will, which bequeaths to the child of a disinherited son a larg
The Tomboy
1911-12-19
A wealthy miner, having no near relatives, leaves his two little daughters to the guardianship of a
She
1911-12-25
She was the first attempt in film to depict the story of H. Rider Haggard's 1886 novel She: A Histor
Jilted
1912-05-14
Age old tale of a couple marooned.
Letters of a Lifetime
1912-10-01
The wealthy old bachelor returned to his home after a visit to his club, and found waiting him news
The Warning
1912-10-04
Happy in the love of his devoted wife and their child, a young businessman found life's pathway plea
A Romance of the U.S.N.
1912-12-06
A foolish quarrel with his sweetheart and a desire for adventure caused a young man to enlist in the
Brains vs. Brawn
1912-12-15
Among the suitors of a wealthy widow was a middle aged scientist, and while the woman was glad to re
The Repeater
1912-12-22
The story's hero, a reformer in politics, has been accused and convicted of "padding the registratio
The Head of the Ribbon Counter
1913-06-15
The head of the ribbon counter was the most popular clerk in the store. Customers liked him, employe
The Girl of the Cabaret
1913-08-08
A young girl, who had talent as a violinist, came to New York determined to win fame on the concert
The Mischief Maker
1916-11-26
Effie Marchand refuses to marry a man she has never met, but who has been picked out by her mother,
The Warfare of the Flesh
1917-05-22
Melodrama in which the rich arrogant George gives money to poor Frank and Jane, so he may spend a ni
The Old Curiosity Shop
1911-01-29
A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of d
Dora Thorne
1912-04-30
A young lord elopes with an employee's daughter. The visit of a lady to her home causes the young wi
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1912-01-16
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and rel
The Mummy
1911-03-07
An electric current accidentally brings a female mummy back to life with decidedly romantic inclinat
The Portrait of Lady Anne
1912-07-23
The ghost of a selfish, inconsiderate woman must make up for her past transgressions by making sure
Moths
1913-08-31
A French woman has to marry a Russian to preserve the reputation of her society mother. However she
King Rene’s Daughter
1913-07-01
This elaborate and well-staged silent version of Hertz' play is exceedingly well produced for 1913:
Pamela Congreve
1914-05-25
The story of country girl Pamela Congreve who driven by revenge rises through London society to seek
Nicholas Nickleby
1912-03-18
With The Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield, both released in 1911, and Nicholas Nickleby in 1
The Voice of Conscience
1912-09-02
Two girls fall in love with the same man. Out motoring one day they are thrown from the machine and
Madam Blanche, Beauty Doctor
1915-07-08
A good example of the clever light comedy Thanhouser produced for its Falstaff label, while other st
Zudora
1914-11-20
Zudora, not knowing she's an heiress to a $20 million fortune, lives with her uncle, a mystic and de
Just a Shabby Doll
1913-03-10
A romantic story utilizing flashback sequences, featuring Harry Benham, Mignon Anderson and Helen Ba
Star of Bethlehem
1912-12-24
Following a bright wandering star, three magi from the East travel to Bethlehem of Judea to meet a v
Get Rich Quick
1911-05-25
An investment plan that tells potential investors they can "get rich quickly" turns out to be a swin
In a Garden
1912-10-24
Over the years, an old gardener observes a romance develop between a young boy and girl. 20 years af
Cinderella
1911-12-21
Elaborately produced version of the well known George O. Nichols fairy tale interrupted by just a fe
His Uncle's Wives
1913-02-01
A painter in New York City discovers that he has inherited a harem. Since he's already married and h
East Lynne
1912-01-26
Based on the novel of the same name by Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen Wood).
One Flag at Last
1911-09-18
A Southern girl helps an escaped Union soldier in the midst of the Civil War.
David Copperfield
1911-10-17
Thanhouser Company three-reel silent film based on Charles Dickens’s story of an English lad's tribu
Cecilia of the Pink Roses
1918-06-02
Cecilia is a spunky Irish girl from a struggling family, faced with the imminent death of her mother
The Love Craze
1918-11-18
A Florence Lawrence short film directed by Winthrop Kelley
The Path of Happiness
1916-01-31
Sick of life in the city after his fiancée deserts him, Merrill Day goes to the country for a rest w
Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four
1913-02-25
An adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle novel starring Sherlock Holmes.
Robin Hood
1913-09-23
Robin Hood and his followers aid the poor and oppressed from their hideout in Sherwood Forest, pursu
The Lady from the Sea
1911-12-12
Ellida was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, and spent many hours near the water's edge. While sh
When You and I Were Young
1917-07-16
Farm girl Dorothy, clashes with her traditional father over her ambition to become a writer and even
When Hungry Hamlet Fled
1915-08-17
The Country Girl
1915-06-15
Sisters Phyllis and Alithea are kept in the countryside until they reach the age of eighteen when th
A Freight Car Honeymoon
1915-06-06
When telegraph operator Dan Boynton is dismissed shortly after his marriage, he and his new bride Al
The Wrecked Taxi
1912-08-16
The young girl has two devoted suitors. She makes her choice yet manages to remain devoted friends w
The Man Inside
1916-01-17
Years after Barry Thornton disappears from Panama while under suspicion of stealing American defense
The Forest Rose
1912-11-29
Forester and Maywood, two wealthy neighbor planters, volunteered their services to defend their coun
The Victim
1920-12-01
A priest is trying to help a poor family when nearby the father is hit on the head by a criminal who
His Two Patients
1915-07-25
The Girl of the Sea
1915-06-01
The Town That Forgot God
1922-10-30
A village schoolteacher, unaware that Eben, the village carpenter, is in love with her, marries a su
The Prey
1920-09-12
Having misused funds held in his trust by investing them with his friend, Henry Lowe, Robert Reardon
The Dangerous Paradise
1920-10-20
To avoid marrying the elderly suitor her aunt has chosen for her, young socialite Ivis Van Astor dec