Ben Welden
Ben Welden | |
---|---|
Born |
Benjamin Weinblatt June 12, 1901 Toledo, Ohio, USA |
Died |
October 17, 1997 96) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, USA | (aged
Years active | 1930–1966 |
Ben Welden (June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Born in Toledo, Ohio, Welden appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1966.
Short, balding and somewhat rotund, he often literally played a "heavy", frequently in a somewhat comical or slightly dim-witted way, offsetting the sinister nature of his character's actions. Among his roles in this vein was The Big Sleep.
Fans of Adventures of Superman remember him well, as he appeared in eight episodes, always as a different character and yet really the same character, in a way. His best-known Superman episode might be "Flight to the North", in which he tries (and fails) to outwit a country-bumpkin type (played by Chuck Connors).
In 1966, he acted in episodes 47 and 48 of Batman.
He was a semi-regular in the 1954-1955 CBS legal drama, The Public Defender, starring Reed Hadley as an attorney for the indigent. He appeared in a 1956 episode of The Lone Ranger entitled "Trouble at Tylerville".
In his later years, Welden owned a confection company called Nutcorn, which supplemented his acting income.
Outliving most of his peers, Welden died at age 96 on October 27, 1997. He was residing at the Motion Picture Retirement Home (Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital) in Woodland Hills, California at the time of his death.
Selected filmography
- Big Business (1930)
- The Innocents of Chicago (1932)
- Tin Gods (1932)
- The Medicine Man (1933)
- Born Lucky (1933)
- Home, Sweet Home (1933)
- Aunt Sally (1933)
- General John Regan (1933)
- His Grace Gives Notice (1933)
- Their Night Out (1933)
- Mr. Quincey of Monte Carlo (1933)
- This Is the Life (1933)
- Gay Love (1934)
- The Man Who Changed His Name (1934)
- The Black Abbot (1934)
- Admirals All (1935)
- Annie, Leave the Room! (1935)
- Trust the Navy (1935)
- The Big Splash (1935)
- Death on the Set (1935)
- Come Out of the Pantry (1935)
- The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)
- The Improper Duchess (1936)
- She Knew What She Wanted (1936)
- Love Is on the Air (1937)
- Back in Circulation (1937)
- The Great Barrier (1937)
- Marked Woman (1937)
- Love and Hisses (1937)
- Kid Galahad (1937) as Buzz Barett
- Crime Ring (1938)
- The Saint in New York (1938)
- The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Tavern Proprietor (uncredited)
- Annie, Leave the Room! (1939)
- Dangerously They Live (1941)
- All Through the Night (1942) as Smitty
- The Fighting Seabees (1944)
- The Missing Corpse (1945)
- Mr. Hex (1946)
- The Big Sleep (1946) as Pete, Mars' flunky (uncredited)
- Heading for Heaven (1947)
- Too Many Winners (1947)
- Killer Dill (1947)
- Appointment with Murder (1948)
- Tough Assignment (1949)
- Search for Danger (1949)
- Three Dark Horses (1952)
- Killers from Space (1954)
- The Adventures of Captain Africa (1955)