Benton Jennings | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation(s) | Film, television, stage actor, stage director, writer |
| Spouse | Liz (1986–present) |
| Website | http://www.bentonjennings.com |
Benton Jennings (born October 27, 1955)[1] is an American film, television, commercial, voice-over, and stage actor, writer and director based in Los Angeles, CA.
He attended Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas with a BFA in Theatre Arts, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and The Film Actors Lab in Dallas, Texas studying under Adam Roarke and Spencer Milligan.
Jennings has performed in over 60 film and television roles, and over 100 stage productions nationally, in the UK, and Europe. He also performed in over 6000 performances with the nationally touring and award winning sketch comedy troupe, "The Gunfighters", which he co-founded in 1975.[2]
Jennings has won 27 Best Actor awards from film festivals for his performance as 'Rabbi' in the independent film "The Annunciation" including The New York Best Actor Awards, Best Shorts Competition, Accolade Global Film Competition, Depth of Field International Film Festival, LA Indies Awards, Toronto Independent Film Festival, San Francisco Indie Short Festival, Indiefest Film Awards, Hollywood International Golden Age Festival, and Berlin International Art Festival.
He has the dubious distinction of having portrayed Adolf Hitler five times: once on the TV soap Passions, David Zucker's 2008 comedy film An American Carol, the indie comedy feature Poolboy: Drowning Out The Fury with Kevin Sorbo, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the "Captain Mexico" parody sketch, ep 9.163, July 26, 2011, and February 2012 in a professional photo essay which depicts a time traveling assassin shooting Hitler.
In 2009, he became a series regular in the hit comedy web series Safety Geeks: SVI playing the role of Hopkins, a droll English butler. The series also stars Brittney Powell, Dave Beeler, Tom Konkle, and Mary Cseh. The series is a multiple award winner including "Best Film or TV Comedy" at the 1st International 3D Awards in Los Angeles.
In 2012 Jennings became a series regular on the award winning comedy web series School And Board playing school board president (and frozen yogurt tycoon) Mike Donovan. The series won "Outstanding Achievement - Ensemble Cast in a Comedy or Mockumentary Series" at the LA Web Fest.
Jennings was recently a member of the critically acclaimed SkyPilot Theatre Company in Los Angeles. While appearing in a production of Requiem for a Heavyweight by Rod Serling as the Doctor, having already received critical praise for the part ("...an excellent BENTON JENNINGS..." - Amy Bowker, The Tolucan Times) he stepped in to the lead role of Maish when actor Ken Butler became terminally ill, with only 4 days rehearsal to learn over 70 pages of dialog, and received standing ovations for his performances.
He is the youngest son of William Bryan Jennings who played the cop in the 1966 cult film favorite Manos: The Hands of Fate.[3][4]
He is the founder of the living history organization, 93rd Sutherland Highland Regiment of Foot Living History Unit, organized in 1989.[5]