Perry Benson
Perry Benson (born 9 April 1961) is an English character actor renowned for his versatile performances in British television sitcoms, films, and theatre.[1][2][3] Benson began his acting career at the age of 12, touring London parks with the London Bubble Theatre in a production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.[3] His early television appearance came in the classic series Dixon of Dock Green, marking the start of a prolific career spanning decades.[3] He gained prominence through regular roles in popular British sitcoms, including Henry Livingstone in You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993), which showcased his comedic timing in a period comedy setting.[3] Other notable television credits include Operation Good Guys (1997–2000), where he played a bumbling police officer, and Clive Dyke in Benidorm (2014–2015).[3][1] In film, Benson has appeared in critically acclaimed works such as Sid and Nancy (1986), portraying Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, and Shane Meadows' This Is England (2006), contributing to its raw depiction of 1980s skinhead culture.[1][3] His filmography also features roles in cult classics like Quadrophenia (1979) and Scum (1979), as well as more recent action-comedies including Accident Man (2018) and Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday (2022), and continuing into 2024 with Members Club and A Gangster's Kiss, alongside upcoming projects as of 2025.[3][1] On stage, he has performed at prestigious venues such as the Royal Court Theatre in The Good Woman of Szechwan and Class Enemy, and toured as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show opposite Russell Crowe.[3] Benson's work often highlights his ability to portray working-class characters with authenticity and humor, establishing him as a staple in British entertainment.[3]Early life
Childhood and family
Perry Benson was born on 9 April 1961 in St Pancras, London, England.[4] He grew up in the London area, with his early years centered around the Islington neighborhood, where he attended the Anna Scher Theatre School as a child and began performing at a young age.[4] This local theater environment provided his initial exposure to acting, marking a non-conventional path into the profession through community-based drama rather than formal academies.[4] Benson is the brother of actress Kim Benson, born in 1965 in the same St Pancras area; little is publicly known about their parents or other family members.[5]Education and training
Benson received his formal acting training at the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington, London, a renowned youth theater program established in 1968 that emphasized naturalism and realism in performance.[4][6] The school, founded by Anna Scher, focused on drawing from students' personal experiences to foster authentic character development, helping young actors like Benson build believable portrayals without relying on traditional stage school formality.[6][7] Building on his training at the school, his early professional stage debut came in 1972 (aged 11) with the London Bubble Theatre Company, touring London parks where he performed as the boy in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.[8][3] Through participation in the school's youth theater programs, Benson honed his character acting skills, particularly in improvisation and techniques that prioritized emotional truth and ensemble collaboration.[4] This training laid the groundwork for his distinctive style of portraying nuanced, working-class characters in later roles.[6]Acting career
Early roles
Perry Benson began his professional acting career in the mid-1970s, securing initial credits in British television and film that frequently cast him as tough, working-class youths in socially realistic dramas.[3] His first television appearance was as an uncredited boy in the 1974 episode "Cat-Walk" of the BBC police series Dixon of Dock Green.[3] His first credited television role occurred in 1978 as the "Boy on Stairs" in the second episode of the BBC children's series Grange Hill, a production known for its portrayal of school life and adolescent challenges in a London comprehensive. In 1979, Benson transitioned to film with appearances in two landmark British youth culture films: an uncredited part as a young advertising agency employee in Quadrophenia, Franc Roddam's adaptation of The Who's rock opera that captured the mod subculture and gang rivalries of 1960s London; and the role of Formby, a borstal inmate, in Alan Clarke's controversial Scum, which depicted the brutal realities of the British juvenile detention system and was initially banned by the BBC before its cinematic release.[3][9][10] In 1980, he took on another small television part as Tiny in the episode "All Mod Cons" of the ITV crime series Minder, playing a streetwise associate in a story involving mod revivalists and petty crime. These breakthrough roles in the 1970s highlighted Benson's ability to embody gritty, authentic young characters from London's underclass, setting the foundation for his ongoing work in British drama.[3]Film career
Benson's film career gained momentum in the 1980s with supporting roles in British cinema that showcased his ability to portray working-class characters in dramatic contexts. He took on the lead role of Carly, an unemployed teenager navigating dystopian youth culture, in the 1984 TV movie Stars of the Roller State Disco, directed by Alan Clarke.[11] Later that decade, he portrayed Paul Cook, the drummer of the Sex Pistols, in Alex Cox's punk biopic Sid and Nancy (1986), contributing to the film's depiction of the band's chaotic rise.[3] Entering the 2000s, Benson continued in supporting capacities across crime and comedy genres, often embodying eccentric or tough figures. In Love, Honour and Obey (2000), a mock gangster film directed by Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis, he played Perry "Fat Alan," a member of a north London criminal gang.[12] His role as Ronald "Meggy" Megford in Shane Meadows' coming-of-age drama This Is England (2006) highlighted his knack for comedic timing amid social realism, portraying a hapless skinhead. That same year, he appeared as a Trading Standards Officer in the mockumentary comedy Alien Autopsy, adding to its satirical take on conspiracy theories.[13] In the horror film Mum & Dad (2008), Benson delivered a chilling performance as the sadistic patriarch "Dad" in a dysfunctional family terrorizing an immigrant worker.[14][3] The 2010s saw Benson maintain a steady presence in diverse British productions, blending drama, comedy, and action while favoring character-driven supporting parts. He featured in Vinyl (2012), a comedy-drama about aging rockers, playing one of the veteran musicians in a scheme to revive their careers.[15][3] In the family-oriented Christmas film Get Santa (2014), directed by David Evans, Benson portrayed Jimbo, a parolee aiding a boy's quest to find Santa Claus.[16] A notable later highlight was his turn as Finicky Fred, an inventive assassin specializing in unorthodox weapons, in the action-comedy Accident Man (2018).[17][3] Throughout these decades, Benson's work predominantly featured supporting roles in crime thrillers, social dramas, and comedies, often drawing on his authentic East End persona to enhance ensemble casts.Television career
In the early 1980s, Benson made guest appearances in several British comedy series. In the BBC's Blackadder (1983), he portrayed minor characters including a Pigeon Vendor in "The Foretelling," an Italian Priest in "The Archbishop," and Daft Ned, a peasant, in "Witchsmeller Pursuivant."[18] These roles marked his entry into period comedy, showcasing his ability to play eccentric supporting parts. He also appeared in sketch shows like The Real McCoy (1991–1996), contributing various roles across multiple episodes while serving as a writer for the program, which highlighted Black British humor.[19][20] Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Benson secured his first major recurring role as Henry Livingstone, the bootboy, in the BBC sitcom You Rang, M'Lord? (1988–1993). Created by David Croft and Jimmy Perry, the series depicted life below stairs in a 1920s aristocratic household, with Benson's character providing comic relief through his hapless antics and Cockney wit across all 26 episodes.[21] This role established him as a staple in British sitcoms, emphasizing his strengths in ensemble casts and physical comedy. In the mid-1990s, Benson continued in similar vein with the role of Ralph, a fireman and trainee driver, in Oh, Doctor Beeching! (1995–1997), another Croft and Perry production set in a 1960s railway station facing closure. His portrayal of the bumbling yet good-natured Ralph contributed to the show's nostalgic humor, appearing in all 21 episodes.[3] He followed this with a lead role as Bones in the mockumentary-style sitcom Operation Good Guys (1997–2000), playing a dim-witted undercover police officer in a dysfunctional unit; the series ran for 24 episodes and satirized law enforcement tropes.[22] Benson's television work in the 2000s and early 2010s included guest spots in popular series, such as the Ice Cream Man in the Doctor Who episode "The Eleventh Hour" (2010), where his character unwittingly aids the Doctor during an alien invasion in a small English village.[23] He also had a recurring role as Clive Dyke, a holidaymaker entangled in chaotic resort antics, in Benidorm (2014–2015), appearing in 12 episodes across seasons 6 and 7.[3][24] These appearances, alongside various dramatic guest roles in shows like The Bill and Misfits, underscored his versatility in both comedy and genre television.[20]Recent work
In the early 2020s, Perry Benson continued to build on his reputation for portraying quirky, memorable character roles in British independent films and television specials. In 2022, he reprised his role as the eccentric Finicky Fred in the action-comedy sequel Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday, directed by the Kirby Brothers, where his character provides comic relief amid high-stakes assassin antics. That same year, Benson starred as The Driver in the short film Backseat Driver, a dark comedy exploring the nocturnal encounters of a London cabbie with eccentric passengers.[25] Benson's television work in this period included a standout comedic turn in the 2023 BBC mockumentary special The Kemps: All Gold, where he played Ross Kemp (not that one), the fictional brother of Spandau Ballet's Kemp siblings, delivering satirical jabs at celebrity culture and family dynamics.[26] Transitioning back to film in 2024, he appeared as Neil, the bespectacled member of a down-on-their-luck male stripper troupe, in the horror-comedy Members Club, which blends gory supernatural elements with bawdy humor set in a rural working men's club. Later that year, Benson took on the role of Marmite in A Gangster's Kiss, a Tarantino-esque gangster comedy directed by Ray Burdis, featuring his character in a chaotic tale of method acting gone awry within London's criminal underworld.[27][28] By 2025, Benson expanded into voice acting and new media, providing various voices for the narrative-driven stealth video game Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream, set in a dystopian city and focusing on themes of disappearance and rebellion. He also featured as Levi in the action-comedy thriller Jackie the Stripper, a grindhouse-style film about a band of female assassins targeting a secret society tied to Jack the Ripper. Additionally, Benson returned to sitcom territory as Henry Livingstone in James and Ivy, an audio series continuation of aristocratic servant antics originally inspired by You Rang, M'Lord?, co-starring Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard.[29][30][31] Throughout these projects, Benson has maintained a focus on versatile supporting roles in action, comedy, and indie productions, often infusing everyday British eccentricity into ensemble casts to heighten narrative tension and humor.[32]Filmography
Films
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Where's Johnny? | Maurice [33] |
| 1975 | What's Next? | Ted [33] |
| 1978 | The Class of Miss MacMichael | Peter [1] |
| 1979 | Quadrophenia | Monkey [34] |
| 1979 | Scum | Formby [33] |
| 1979 | The Birth of the Beatles | Page Boy [35] |
| 1986 | Sid and Nancy | Paul [1] |
| 1995 | Annie: A Royal Adventure! | Mean Murphy Knuckles [33] |
| 1998 | Final Cut | Tony [33] |
| 2000 | Love, Honour and Obey | Perry "Fat Alan" [33] |
| 2000 | Last Resort | Immigration Officer [33] |
| 2006 | Alien Autopsy | Missy [36] |
| 2006 | This Is England | Meggy [33] |
| 2008 | Somers Town | Graham [33] |
| 2008 | Mum & Dad | Dad [33] |
| 2011 | Anuvahood | Brian [33] |
| 2012 | Outside Bet | Sefton Wallace [33] |
| 2012 | Borrowed Time | Ted [33] |
| 2012 | Vinyl | Robbie [33] |
| 2014 | Get Santa | Paperboy [37] |
| 2018 | Accident Man | Finicky Fred [38] |
| 2018 | Suggs: My Life Story | Taxi Driver [33] |
| 2019 | Break Clause | Danny [33] |
| 2019 | The Last Heist | Mick [33] |
| 2020 | To Be Someone | Ken [33] |
| 2022 | Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday | Finicky Fred [33] |
| 2024 | A Gangster's Kiss | Marmite [1] |
| 2024 | Members Club | Neil [1] |
| 2025 | Bjorn of the Dead | Jimmy [39] |
| 2025 | Jackie the Stripper | Levi [30] |
Television
Perry Benson began his television career with minor roles in the 1970s and has since appeared in numerous productions, including recurring roles in several popular British sitcoms and guest spots in dramas and comedies.[3] The following table lists his television credits chronologically, including series, years, roles, and episode counts for recurring appearances.| Year(s) | Title | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Dixon of Dock Green | Boy | 1 (uncredited) [40] |
| 1978 | Grange Hill | Boy on Stairs | 1[34] |
| 1981 | Going Out | Sammy Lee | 6[41] |
| 1983 | The Black Adder | Pigeon Vendor | 1[20] |
| 1983 | The Black Adder | Daft Ned | 1[20] |
| 1984 | The Young Ones | Spaz | 1[20] |
| 1986 | A Very Peculiar Practice | John Graftin | 1[42] |
| 1987 | Hi-de-Hi! | Trevor | 1 (Christmas special)[20] |
| 1987 | Filthy Rich & Catflap | Freddy Gorgeous | 1[20] |
| 1988–1993 | You Rang, M'Lord? | Henry Livingstone | 26 (recurring)[43] |
| 1989 | The Bill | Harry Thompson | 1[44] |
| 1991–1992 | The Real McCoy | Various roles | 9[20] |
| 1994 | Minder | Tiny | 1[20] |
| 1995 | The Upper Hand | Terry | 4 (3 episodes + special)[20] |
| 1995 | Sardines | Coxswain | 1[20] |
| 1995–1997 | Oh, Doctor Beeching! | Ralph | 20 (recurring, including pilot) |
| 1997–2000 | Operation Good Guys | Bones | 19 (recurring)[45] |
| 1999 | Kiss Me Kate | James | 1[20] |
| 2002 | 15 Storeys High | Andy | 1[20] |
| 2004 | 15 Storeys High | Perry | 1[20] |
| 2004 | Top Buzzer | Dave | 7[20] |
| 2008 | My Family | Gary | 1[20] |
| 2009 | Parents of the Band | Ned | 2[20] |
| 2009 | Reggie Perrin | Busker | 1[20] |
| 2009 | Misfits | Beverly | 1 |
| 2010 | This Is England '86 | Meggy | 4 (recurring)[46] |
| 2013 | Man Down | Mr. Harringey | 2[20] |
| 2014–2015 | Benidorm | Clive Dyke | 14 (recurring)[47] |
| 2015 | This Is England '90 | Meggy | 6 (recurring)[1] |
| 2016 | Morgana Robinson's The Agency | Mr. Cassidy | 2 (1 episode + special)[20] |
| 2018 | Lee and Dean | Terry | 4 (series regular)[20] |
| 2018 | Sick of It | Delivery Man | 1[20] |
| 2019 | Don't Forget the Driver | Nigel | 1[20] |
| 2020–2023 | The Kemps | Ross | Multiple (recurring)[20] |
| 2025 | James and Ivy | Henry Livingstone | TBA (upcoming) [31] |