Talk:Charles Bennett (actor)

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Really born in 1889? Or the wrong photo?[edit]

According to Wikipedia and IMDb, Bennett was born in 1889 and would have been in his mid-20s in 1915 - however, the photo shows rather a middle-aged man. It also says in the article from which the photo is that he started his career with Edwin Booth who died in 1893. So there are two options: a) the photo shows another Charles Bennett, b) Bennett was born much earlier than 1889. --Clibenfoart (talk) 10:44, 9 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I had not noticed this before but thank you for drawing attention to it. Every 6 months or so I find myself stumbling over a humdinger of nonsense on WP and this is a classic example.

So - here’s a bit of easily done original research, which we can’t include on the article page, but I’ll add here because others with more patience might want to pursue it and find some way to integrate it.

This photo does not show the Charles Bennett who was born in New Zealand. A very grainy photo of the New Zealand Charles Bennett can be found in his US naturalisation papers – sadly not clear enough to use here. Also worth noting, another photo purporting to show Charles Bennett (see Find a Grave [[1]]) is obviously of actor Gilbert Roland.

Charles Joseph Bennett was born in Dunedin NZ, probably on 13 April 1891 although the dates 1892 and 1893 are also used. (His NZ birth certificate is probably document 1891/7584) which an enthusiast could buy.

His death certificate is here [[2]] which again confirms most details.

His US naturalisation document also confirms most details and shows Bennett married fellow actress, Australian born Eileen Brown at Oak Bay, British Columbia on 9 October 1914. See also online at [[3]] Both Bennett and Brown seem to have first arrived in the US in August 1912, to tour with the very last Pollard’s opera company tour – in company with other young Australian and New Zealand performers - Queenie Williams, Ted McNamara, Billy Bevan and others. See [[4]] for an Australian report on their doings. This also means many of the early IMDB credits are likely to be wrong.

It’s quite clear Charles Bennett of New Zealand never married Boots Mallory. The few references to Boots’ husband suggest that he was a musician.

So who is the person in the photo and original article? I agree with Clibenfoart - it's another person, perhaps yet another Charles Bennett who was an actor, who really did start his career with Edwin Booth.Nickm57 (talk) 21:56, 10 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Brent E Walker on various Charles Bennetts[edit]

Worth reading is one of the most authoritative voices on the Sennett studio, Brent E Walker. Page 488 of his 2010 book "Mack Sennett's Fun Factory..." is the final word I think. He warns that the Sennett studio Charles Bennett "is definitely not to be confused with several other individuals who share his name... including the New Zealand born (1889-1943) player of Cockney roles in Hollywood talkies..." Nickm57 (talk) 07:37, 9 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]