Name Burr DeBenning | TV shows Search for Tomorrow | |
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Full Name Burris F. DeBenning Other names Burr De BenningBurris DeBenning Movies The Incredible Melting M, Beach Red, A Nightmare on Elm St, City Beneath the Sea, Sweet November Similar People William Sachs, Cornel Wilde, Sandy Baron, Sandy Dennis, Stephen Hopkins | ||
Burr DeBenning (September 21, 1936 – May 26, 2003) was an American character actor who worked in both film and television.
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Early years
The son of M.J. DeBenning, he was born Burris DeBenning in Seminole, Oklahoma and grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He enrolled at Oklahoma State University as a business major, but he switched to drama midway through his second year there and went on to have major roles in several plays at OSU. After serving in the Air Force, he went to New York University and earned a master's degree in drama.
Career
DeBenning first acted professionally in an off-Broadway play that lasted four days. He next joined a professional troupe in Boston.
DeBenning appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows including the television films The House on Greenapple Road (1970), Brinks: The Great Robbery (1976) and Hanging by a Thread (1979). He appeared in such television programs as Custer, Nakia, Matlock, Matt Houston, Mike Hammer, Magnum, P.I., The Virginian, Rockford Files, Matt Helm, Medical Center, McCloud, Ironside, Columbo and Medical Story. He also co-starred with Robert Wagner in City Beneath the Sea (1971). His character was called "Aquila" and had gills. His film appearances included Beach Red (1967), Sweet November (1968), St. Ives (1976), The Incredible Melting Man (1977), Armed Response (1986), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), and Love Field (1992). In 1977 he guest starred in the second pilot film titled The Death Scouts for the TV series called Man from Atlantis. He played Lt. Jim Porter, a Navy Intelligence agent, in the 1978 science fiction TV miniseries, The Return of Captain Nemo,:888 originally shown on U.S. TV as a three part miniseries (50-minutes each episode) and later released theatrically outside the U.S. in a 102-minute widescreen version renamed The Amazing Captain Nemo.
From 1981 to 1982 he played the evil town boss Paul Garrett (and later his equally evil twin brother Richard Garrett) in the TV series Father Murphy.
Personal life
DeBenning was married to actress Susan Silo.
Death
DeBenning died in California at age 66 from undisclosed causes.