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Joan Benham is a Actor British born on 17 may 1918 at London (United-kingdom)
Joan Benham (17 May 1918 – 13 June 1981) was an English actress best known for her portrayal of Lady Prudence Fairfax in the ITV period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. She was the first cousin of Hollywood actress Olive Sturgess and was born in London.
Although her career mostly centred on television, Benham began her career appearing on the West End stage in the 1940s and continued to appear on the London stage periodically throughout her career. She appeared on Broadway as Helena in the 1954 revival of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream opposite Patrick Macnee as Demetrius.
Joan Benham appeared in sixteen episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs, from the first to the last series, as Bellamy family friend, Lady Prudence Fairfax. Other television programmes she appeared in include, Doctor in the House, Doctor in Charge, Father Brown, The Duchess of Duke Street, Doctor on the Go, Just William and Take My Wife. Her film credits include the Miss Marple movie Murder Ahoy! (1964), Ladies Who Do (1963), Perfect Friday (1970), and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978).
Her last role was as Melinda Spry in the sitcom Terry and June. This episode, The Lawnmower, was broadcast on 13 November 1981, exactly five months after the day she had died, in Westminster, London, aged 63.
Source : Wikidata
Joan Benham
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Birth name Joan Olive Benham
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 17 may 1918 at London (United-kingdom)
Death 13 june 1981 (at 63 years) at Westminster (United-kingdom)
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 17 may 1918 at London (United-kingdom)
Death 13 june 1981 (at 63 years) at Westminster (United-kingdom)
Joan Benham (17 May 1918 – 13 June 1981) was an English actress best known for her portrayal of Lady Prudence Fairfax in the ITV period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. She was the first cousin of Hollywood actress Olive Sturgess and was born in London.
Although her career mostly centred on television, Benham began her career appearing on the West End stage in the 1940s and continued to appear on the London stage periodically throughout her career. She appeared on Broadway as Helena in the 1954 revival of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream opposite Patrick Macnee as Demetrius.
Joan Benham appeared in sixteen episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs, from the first to the last series, as Bellamy family friend, Lady Prudence Fairfax. Other television programmes she appeared in include, Doctor in the House, Doctor in Charge, Father Brown, The Duchess of Duke Street, Doctor on the Go, Just William and Take My Wife. Her film credits include the Miss Marple movie Murder Ahoy! (1964), Ladies Who Do (1963), Perfect Friday (1970), and Carry On Emmannuelle (1978).
Her last role was as Melinda Spry in the sitcom Terry and June. This episode, The Lawnmower, was broadcast on 13 November 1981, exactly five months after the day she had died, in Westminster, London, aged 63.
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Filmography of Joan Benham (29 films)
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Carry On Emmannuelle (1978)
, 1h28Directed by Gerald Thomas
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Jack Douglas, Peter Butterworth, Beryl Reid
Roles Cynical Lady
Rating32%
Emmannuelle Prevert (Suzanne Danielle) relieves the boredom of a flight on Concorde by seducing timid Theodore Valentine (Larry Dann). She returns home to London to surprise her husband, the French Ambassador, Emile Prevert (Kenneth Williams) but first surprises the butler, Lyons (Jack Douglas). He removes her coat only to find she has left her dress on the 'plane! The chauffeur, Leyland (Kenneth Connor), housekeeper, Mrs Dangle (Joan Sims) and aged boot-boy, Richmond (Peter Butterworth) sense saucy times ahead ... and they are right! Emile is dedicated to his bodybuilding, leaving a sexually frustrated Emmannuelle to find pleasure with everyone from the Lord Chief Justice (Llewellyn Rees) to chat show host, Harold Hump (Henry McGee). Theodore is spurned by Emmannuelle, who has genuinely forgotten their airborne encounter and despite reassurances from his mother (Beryl Reid), Theodore exacts revenge by revealing Emmannuelle's antics to the Press. However, after a visit to her doctor (Albert Moses), she discovers she is pregnant and decides to settle down to a faithful marriage with Emile ... and dozens of children.
The Greek Tycoon (1978)
, 1h47Directed by J. Lee Thompson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Politique, Political films
Actors Anthony Quinn, Jacqueline Bisset, James Franciscus, Raf Vallone, Edward Albert, Joss Ackland
Roles Lady Allison
Rating54%
The film focuses on the courtship and marriage of aging Greek Theo Tomasis, who rose from his humble peasant roots to become an influential mogul who owns oil tankers, airlines, and Mediterranean islands and longs to be elected President of Greece, and considerably younger Liz Cassidy, the beautiful widow of the assassinated President of the United States. The two first meet when she is visiting his island estate with her husband James, the charismatic Senator from the state of Massachusetts. Theo immediately is attracted to her and, despite the fact she obviously is happily married, begins to woo her aboard his yacht while her husband is deep in conversation with the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. As the plot unfolds, Theo's beloved son Nico dies in an accident, his wife Simi commits suicide, James becomes President and appoints his brother John Attorney General, and Theo ends his affair with Paola to comfort and eventually marry grieving widow Liz.
Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (1978)
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Beryl Reid, John Le Mesurier, Arthur Askey, Liz Fraser, John Junkin, Lance Percival
Rating42%
Hardcore (1977)
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films
Actors Anthony Steel, Victor Spinetti, Ronald Fraser, Graham Stark, Graham Crowden, Percy Herbert
Roles Norma Blackhurst
Rating42%
Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971)
, 1h30Directed by Reginald Mills
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Musical
Themes Children's films
Actors Joan Benham
Rating67%
L'histoire nous est présentée par son auteure, Beatrix Potter (interprétée à l'écran par l'actrice Niamh Cusack). A ses côtés se trouve Pierre, un jeune lapin qu'elle a transformé en héros des aventures qu'elle a écrites. On découvre à chaque épisode tout l’univers enchanteur de Pierre Lapin, de Tom Chaton, de Rebondi Cochonnet et de bien d’autres animaux encore au travers de 9 contes qui nous montrent la vie animale avec ses joies et ses malheurs.
Quest for Love (1971)
, 1h27Directed by Ralph Thomas
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Romance
Actors Joan Collins, Geraldine Moffat, Tom Bell, Simon Ward, Denholm Elliott, Laurence Naismith
Roles Helpful Neighbour (uncredited)
Rating65%
An explosion at a demonstration of his new invention catapults physicist Colin Trafford into a parallel universe - an identical world, but with subtle differences, where John F. Kennedy is Secretary General of the League of Nations and World War II and the Vietnam War never happened. Here he's a famous author with a beautiful wife with whom he instantly falls in love, but for whom his alternate self never cared. But just as suddenly, another accident propels Trafford back to our world where he is caught in a race against time in a quest to find the woman he loves. Little does she know, however, that her life depends on him finding her.
Perfect Friday (1970)
, 1h35Directed by Peter Hall
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Crime
Themes Heist films
Actors Ursula Andress, Stanley Baker, David Warner, T.P. McKenna, Joan Benham, Julian Orchard
Roles Miss Welsh
Rating63%
The story revolves around three people -- Lord Nicholas Dorset and his wife Britt, for whom luxury is a necessity, and their bank manager Mr. Graham. Over the years, Mr. Graham has devised a plan to rob his own bank. His clients' desperate financial straits make them ideal accomplices in his eyes, but to ensure their loyalty he makes love to Britt after sending her husband away, then bribes Nick with a retainer.
The Magic Christian (1969)
, 1h32Directed by Joseph McGrath
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, John Cleese, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Caroline Blakiston
Roles Socialite in Sotheby's
Rating58%
Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers), an eccentric billionaire, together with his newly adopted heir (formerly a homeless derelict), Youngman Grand (Ringo Starr), start playing elaborate practical jokes on people. A big spender, Grand does not mind handing out large sums of money to various people, bribing them to fulfill his whims, or shocking them by bringing down what they hold dear. Their misadventures are designed as a display of father Grand to his adoptive charge that "everyone has their price"—it just depends on the amount one is prepared to pay. They start from rather minor spoofs, like bribing a Shakespearean actor (Laurence Harvey) to strip during a stage performance of Hamlet, and convincing a traffic warden (Spike Milligan) to take back a parking ticket and eat it (delighted by the size of the bribe, he eats its plastic cover too) and proceed with increasingly elaborate stunts involving higher social strata and wider audiences. As their conversation reveals, Grand sees his plots as 'educational' ("Well, you know, Youngman, sometimes it's not enough merely to teach. One has to punish as well").
Arthur? Arthur! (1969)
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Shelley Winters, Donald Pleasence, Terry-Thomas, Tammy Grimes, Joan Benham, Michael Bates
Roles Mrs. Payne
Rating56%
The Wild Affair (1965)
Directed by John Krish
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Nancy Kwan, Terry-Thomas, Betty Marsden, Victor Spinetti, Jimmy Logan, Paul Whitsun-Jones
Roles Dress Saleslady
Rating58%
This script must be run from the command line
Murder Ahoy (1964)
, 1h33Directed by George Pollock
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy thriller, Crime
Actors Margaret Rutherford, Stringer Davis, Lionel Jeffries, Bud Tingwell, Derek Nimmo, Joan Benham
Roles Alice Fanbraid
Rating69%
The action takes place mainly on board an old wooden-walled battleship, HMS Battledore, which has been purchased by a Trust for the rehabilitation of young criminals, and intended by the founder to put backbone into young jellyfish.
The V.I.P.s (1963)
, 1h59Directed by Anthony Asquith
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Transport films, Aviation films
Actors Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Louis Jourdan, Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor
Roles Miss Potter
Rating62%
The film is set within Terminal 3 of London Heathrow Airport during a fog. As flights are delayed, the VIPs (very important people) of the title play out the drama of their lives in a number of slightly interconnected stories. The delays have caused serious hardship for most of the characters and have plunged some of them into a deep personal or financial crisis.
Ladies Who Do (1963)
, 1h25Directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy
Actors Peggy Mount, Robert Morley, Harry H. Corbett, Dandy Nichols, Miriam Karlin, Avril Elgar
Roles Miss Pinsent
Rating67%
Mrs. Cragg (Peggy Mount) works as a charwoman (part-time domestic servant) for retired Colonel Whitforth (Robert Morley) and as a cleaner at an office block in London. It is whilst doing her office cleaning that she retrieves a unsmoked cigar as a gift for the Colonel and unwittingly wraps it in a scrap of paper discarded by a property financier named James Ryder (Harry H. Corbett).
I Thank a Fool (1962)
, 1h40Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Susan Hayward, Peter Finch, Diane Cilento, Clive Morton, Cyril Cusack, Kieron Moore
Roles Restaurant Manager
Rating60%
200px Dr. Christine Allison (Susan Hayward) is convicted of manslaughter for the mercy killing of her terminally ill, married lover. After serving two years in prison, she is unable to find work.
The Grass Is Greener (1960)
, 1h44Directed by Stanley Donen
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Moray Watson, Joan Benham
Roles Hairdresser's Receptionist (uncredited)
Rating64%
The Earl and Countess of Rhyall (Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) are facing financial troubles and are therefore forced to permit guided tours of their stately home.