Richard Bennett (actor)

Clarence Charles William Henry Richard Bennett (May 21, 1870 – October 22, 1944) was an American actor who became a stage and silent screen actor over the early decades of the 20th century. He was the father of actresses Constance Bennett, Barbara Bennett and Joan Bennett with actress Adrienne Morrison, his second wife.

Bennett was born in Deer Creek Township, Cass County, Indiana, in May 1870. Called Clarence until he was 10, he was the eldest child of George Washington Bennett and Eliza Leonora Bennett. His younger sister was Ina Blanche Bennett. For a time, he was a sailor on Great Lakes steamer, a professional boxer, medicine showman, troubadour and night clerk in a hotel in Chicago. Bennett made his stage debut on May 10, 1891, in Chicago, in The Limited Mail. He went to New York City, where his Broadway debut was in His Excellency the Governor (1899), which was produced by Charles Frohman. In his third Broadway production, he played the role of Father Anselm in Frohman's production of A Royal Family (1901–02).

Bennett was married to Grena Heller in 1901 in San Francisco. They soon separated and were divorced in 1903. Using her married name, she starred in a few plays on Broadway and went on to a successful career as a music critic for Hearst's New York American.

On November 8, 1903, Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison were married in Jersey City. They had three daughters, all notable actresses: Constance Bennett, Barbara Bennett and Joan Bennett.

In 1905, Bennett won fame as the leading man, Hector Malone, Jr., in Shaw's Man and Superman. That was followed by his successful appearance as Jefferson Ryder in Charles Klein's hit play The Lion and the Mouse (1905).

A series of spectacular roles followed. In 1908, he played the role of John Shand opposite Maude Adams in J. M. Barrie's What Every Woman Knows. Frequent quarrels between the stars occurred during the run of the play, and when Adams opened in Peter Pan, Bennett telegraphed his congratulations "on achieving your long ambition to be your own leading man."

Bennett is also known for adapting socially conscious works of Eugène Brieux, including Maternity.

In 1913, Bennett had a theatrical success starring as Georges Dupont in the stage drama Damaged Goods, which he also co-produced. He won a reputation for his curtain harangues, which friends—and critics—said were at least as good as his stage portrayals when he wound up an appearance by stepping in front of the curtain and castigating the police and courts for "narrow-mindedness". He developed this penchant until his ab-lib speeches won greater applause than many of the plays in which he acted.