Ben Alexander

This article is about the actor. For the rugby league player, see Ben Alexander.

Ben Alexander
Ben Alexander, 1919
Born	Nicholas Benton Alexander May 26, 1911(1911-05-26) Goldfield, Nevada, USA
Died	July 5, 1969 (aged 58) Hollywood, California, USA
Other name(s)	Bennie Alexander Benny Alexander

Ben Alexander (May 26, 1911 – July 5, 1969) was an Emmy-nominated American motion picture actor, who started out as a child actor in 1915.

Life and career

Born Nicholas Benton Alexander IV in Goldfield, Nevada and raised in California, Alexander made his screen debut at age of five in Every Pearl a Tear. He went on to portray Lillian Gish's young brother in D.W. Griffith's Hearts of the World. It was in another World War I classic, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), that Alexander made his first positive impression as an adult actor in the role of Kemmerick, the tragic amputation victim.

When Alexander's acting career slowed down in the mid 1930s, he found a new career as a successful radio announcer, and in 1952, Jack Webb chose him to replace Herbert Ellis in the role of Officer Frank Smith in the TV series Dragnet. In 1966, Alexander returned to police work as Sergeant Dan Briggs on the weekly ABC cop series Felony Squad.

For his contribution to the entertainment industry Ben Alexander has one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television.

His acting career was supplemented by the ownership/operation of his Ford dealership in downtown L.A., now currently a BMW/Mini dealership(until recently owned by his son, Nick, now operated by Nick's daughter) in the mid-late 1960s.

Filmography

Television

• On Trial (1 episode, 1957)
• Dragnet (36 episodes, 1952-1959)
• Batman (1 episode, 1966)
• Felony Squad (Unknown episodes, 1966-1969)
• Judd, for the Defense (1 episode, 1969)

Writer

• Dragnet (Co-writer, 6 episodes)

External links

• Ben Alexander at the Internet Movie Database
• Ben Alexander at Allmovie
• Ben Alexander at TV.com
• Ben Alexander at Find A Grave