Nat Benchley

American writer and actor

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Nat Benchley

Benchley as Det. Augie Polk on HBO's The Wire

Born|

Nathaniel Robert Benchley

Occupation| Actor
Parents|

* Nathaniel Benchley
* Marjorie Bradford

Relatives|

* Robert Benchley (grandfather)
* Peter Benchley (brother)

Nathaniel Robert "Nat" Benchley is an American author and actor who has performed for stage, television, and cinema.

## Life and career[edit]

Benchley is the son of Nathaniel Goddard Benchley, an author, and Marjorie (Bradford). He is the grandson of humorist Robert Benchley, a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. He is the brother of author Peter Benchley, who authored the novel Jaws. He is a graduate of The Choate School and Stanford University.

Since 1996,[citation needed] Nat Benchley has been performing a show named Benchley Despite Himself,[1] which he describes as "a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short films, radio rantings and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by his grandson, and combined with family reminiscences and friends' perspectives".[2] He has performed it in Washington, D.C.; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and other locations. The Washington Post termed it "an engaging work that breaks with the usual conventions of one-man plays. Rather than inhabit the character of Robert Benchley the entire evening, Nat Benchley blends his own observations with re-creations of the routines and sketches that made his grandfather famous. The effect is at once seductive and distancing, perhaps a bit like Robert Benchley, whose humor often obscured his unhappiness."[1]

He has recorded two CDs of Robert Benchley's monologues, Benchley On Benchley, Volumes 1 & 2. He also does narration work for commercials and television documentaries for the National Geographic Channel and the Discovery Channel.

His movies include Diner, Broadcast News, and Home for the Holidays. He also had a continuing character role as Det. Augustus Polk for HBO's television series The Wire.

His television credits also include Counterplot, a mid 1980s show that taught arithmetic to elementary students. The show was broadcast by Maryland Public Television. Benchley played the role of a private detective named Nick Malone who solved cases by solving mathematical problems. Each episode lasted approximately 20 minutes, with most of the episode occurring in the detective's office, wherein numbers important for the plot were written on paper on an easel. A recurring adversary was a man named The Shark, played by Doug Tillett. https://av.lib.umd.edu/media_objects/dn39x183w

In 1988, he created the title role of "Church Key Charlie Blue" in Jim Lehrer's play. That same year, he and co-actor Bill Grimmette were both nominated for Helen Hayes Awards (Washington, DC's, version of the Tonys) for their performances in Athol Fugard's show "The Blood Knot".

During the 1990s Benchley revived two Peter Cook and Dudley Moore stage productions, Beyond the Fringe and Good Evening in the Washington, D.C., area. He also appeared as a character of the 1996 video game The Sacred Mirror of Kofun.

From the early 1980s to the early 2000s, he was an officer of the Screen Actors Guild for the Washington/Baltimore division. He served as vice-president, president and national board member.

According to his website, "Prior to disdaining regular work, he wrote and produced public relations for WETA, the Washington, D.C. public television station, worked on a White House national drug abuse prevention campaign and served in the Philippines and Viet Nam in the U.S. Naval Security Group during the unpopular Southeast Asian dust-up." During the early 1970s, he wrote and acted in an anti-shoplifting movie for the Florida Attorney General's office titled "High Pockets At Full Noon". And in 1999 he wrote a movie for the FBI National Academy explaining their unique, multi-national networking program.

In 2009, he and co-editor Kevin C. Fitzpatrick published "The Lost Algonquin Round Table", a collection of early writings by his grandfather Robert Benchley and other members of the fabled New York literary gang.[3]

In 2011, he recorded audio versions of four of his father's children's books for HarperCollins Publisher's "I Can Read" series.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Gregory, Dolores (2003-11-18). "'Benchley': Seeing a Famous Forebear Whole". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
2. ^ ""Benchley Despite Himself"". www.natbenchley.com. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
3. ^ Hansen, Liane (2009-09-20). "Algonquin Writers' Work No Longer Lost". NPR. Retrieved 2016-05-29.

## External links[edit]

* Nat Benchley at IMDb
* Nat Benchley at AllMovie
* Official website