Harry Benham

From Wikipedia Harry Benham February 26 1884 July 17 1969 was an American silent film actor Born in Valparaiso Indiana as a child Benham and his family moved to Chicago where he was raised and attended school Benham had a talent for singing and sang in his local church choir In 1904 the production Peggy From Paris came to Chicago and at age 20 Benham became a member of the chorus while earning a living in the wholesale paper business Benham was soon selected to play the leading role in the production and remained in that role throughout the productions threeyear run He was subsequently able to garner more roles in other plays such as The Sultan of Sulu Woodland Marrying Mary The Gay Musician HMS Pinafore Florodora The Mayoress and Madame Sherry In 1910 Benham joined the Thanhouser Company in New Rochelle New York for whom he played the leading role in many of the companys films through 1915 He married actress Ethyle Cooke and together they had two children Dorothy and Leland who also became prominent Thanhouser personalities Benham died on July 17 1969 in Sarasota Florida aged 85