Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Viscount Woodstock and Baron Cirencester (born Tasmania 1 June 1953) is an English actor and inventor, usually known as Tim Bentinck.
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Background and education
The son of the eccentric Henry Bentinck (wartime Coldstream Guards officer, BBC producer, jackaroo, author, advertising producer, and self-sufficient organic smallholder), Bentinck was born on a sheep station in Tasmania. He was brought home to England when he was two and lived in the Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted. He later attended a local prep school before going on to Harrow School and the University of East Anglia, where he was awarded a BA degree in the History of Art. By his own admission, he spent most of his time at UEA in its drama society. He then trained for an acting career at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Career
Bentinck has been an actor since 1982 and is best known for the roles of David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers and Tom Lacey in the BBC Drama series "By the Sword Divided" (1983-85). He is a voice-over artist and has also starred in television series and has many theatre, television and film credits. He played a pirate in The Pirates of Penzance on film and stage, understudying, and eventually taking over from Tim Curry, the role of the Pirate King in the London production.
For a £200 buyout, he recorded the "mind the gap" warnings on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground.
He is also an inventor with several patents to his name, a computer programmer, web site designer, guitarist, banjoist, songwriter, author, travel journalist and house renovator.
Titles
In 1990, a distant Bentinck cousin who was Duke of Portland died, and Tim Bentinck's father succeeded to the earldom of Portland, using his maiden speech in the House of Lords to address environmental issues.
In 1997, Tim Bentinck succeeded his father. Although he took his seat in the unreformed House of Lords, he did not speak there before losing the right to do so as a result of the House of Lords Act 1999, and apart from a lecture tour of the United States on English Eccentrics, he has not used this title.
On 29 December 1732, the Hon. William Bentinck, Baron of the Duchy of Guelders (second surviving son of Hans Willem Bentinck) was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire (Graf Bentinck [1]) by Imperial Letters Patent. This title continues to be held by Tim Bentinck and his heirs (see Family).
Family
Bentinck married Judith Emerson in 1979, and they have two sons, William Bentinck (heir apparent to the peerages, and entitled to style himself Viscount Woodstock, as a courtesy title) and The Honourable Jasper Bentinck.
References
- ^ Ruvigny, Melville H. (2000) [1909]. The Nobilities of Europe. Adamant Media Corporation.
External links
- Bentinck's website
- "Tim Bentinck Interview". MI6. http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/interview_tom_bentinck1.php3. (Bentinck provided the voice of James Bond for the video-game "The World Is Not Enough")
- Tim Bentinck at the Internet Movie Database
- Radio 4 biography
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Bentinck |
Earl of Portland 1997– |
Incumbent Heir: William Bentinck, Viscount Woodstock |
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