Ben Bard

Ben Bard
Born
Benjamin Greenberg

(1893-01-26)January 26, 1893
DiedMay 17, 1974(1974-05-17) (aged 81)
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park
Great Mausoleum
Azalea Terrace
Ruth Roland's family crypt
Occupation(s)Film, stage actor
Spouses
(m. 1929; died 1937)
Roma Clarisse
(m. 1939; died 1947)
(m. 1948; div. 1954)

Ben Bard (January 26, 1893 – May 17, 1974) was an American movie actor, stage actor, and acting teacher. With comedian Jack Pearl, Bard worked in a comedy duo in vaudeville.[1]

In 1926, Bard, Pearl, and Sascha Beaumont appeared in a short film made in Lee DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. He had a small role in The Bat Whispers (1930). Later in the decade, he ran a leading Hollywood acting school, Ben Bard Drama.

Bard was recruited to be a leading man at Fox Film Corporation. However, he was typecast as a "Suave Heavy"—a smooth-talking, well-dressed fellow with a dark side. An example of this type is his portrayal of "Mr. Brun" in The Seventh Victim (1943). Also in 1943, Bard appeared in two other Val Lewton-produced horror films: The Leopard Man, as Robles, the Police Chief, and The Ghost Ship, as First Officer Bowns.

Bard became the head of the New Talent Department at Twentieth-Century-Fox in September 1956,[2] eventually resigning in August 1959. He re-opened his school, Ben Bard Drama, in 1960.

  1. ^ Laurie Joe, Jr. (1953). Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt. p. 86.
  2. ^ Schallert, Edwin (September 12, 1956). "Rory Calhoun Aligns With Independents; New Plays Due; Bard Signs". Los Angeles Times. Vol. 75, no. 9. Los Angeles, California. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.