Biography

Derek Benfield was born on March 11, 1926 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Lifeforce (1985), Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1995) and Z Cars (1962). He was married to Susan Lyall Grant. He died on March 10, 2009 in Esher, Surrey, England, UK.

Diminutive, balding British actor and playwright. The son of a journalist, he trained at RADA and first acted on allied forces radio during military service in World War II. On stage from 1948, he also wrote more than thirty plays, beginning in 1953, many of them comedies. From the 1960's, he became a prolific character actor, often in patriarchal roles, on British television.