Skip to content
MovieCove
Ben Alexander

Ben Alexander

Actor · Died July 5, 1969, aged 58 · Goldfield, Nevada, USA

Nicholas Benton "Ben" Alexander III (June 27, 1911 – July 5, 1969) was an American motion picture actor, who started out as a child actor in 1916. He is best remembered for his role as Officer Frank Smith in the Dragnet franchise.

Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 27, 1911
Died
July 5, 1969 (aged 58)
From
Goldfield, Nevada, USA
Works as
Actor
Titles
15 on MovieCove · 71 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 39 days to Oct 28Up 15% in 30 days

What are Ben Alexander's films like?

Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.

Genres

Drama5 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 55th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Drama movies
Action2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 49th percentile
: browse their Action movies
Crime2 titlesTypical Midcredits score: 58th percentile, at or above their average across these genres
: browse their Crime movies

Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.

Themes

share of theme weight
Morality
41%
Bonds
18%
Survival
16%
Power
12%
Ideas
9%
Self
3%
Society
2%
Justice6 titles, browse their movies with this themeTruth2 titles, browse their movies with this themeDuty2 titles, browse their movies with this themeLoyalty2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 10 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 6 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 0

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

A split, not a type: Gentle 1 · Charged 4 · Intense 5

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 7 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 7 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 8 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 3 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 2

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 9 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0

Roles they play

2 analyzed roles

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
8
Melancholic
4
Thrilling
3
Contemplative
3
Dread
2
Other
7

How their films linger

Rousing4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 2 with a twist

  • Happy5
  • Bittersweet4
  • Tragic1
  • Ambiguous1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Ben Alexander's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 15 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (3).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Ben Alexander's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

71 credits, 15 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Los Angeles Plays Itself(2003)

    as Officer Frank Smith in Dragnet

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Judd, for the Defense (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

  • Felony Squad (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)

    Show 73 episodes · as Desk Sgt. Dan Briggs

  • Batman(1966)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

    Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all shows

  • About Faces (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

  • Man in the Shadow(1957)

    as Ab Begley

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films

  • Dragnet(1954)

    as Officer Frank Smith

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films

  • Dragnet(1951)

    Show 276 episodes · Screenplay · as Frank Smith

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows

  • Criminals Within(1941)

    as Sgt. Paul

    Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films

  • The Leather Pushers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)

    as Dan Brown, Announcer

  • American Portrait (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1940)

    as David

  • Buried Alive (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)

    as Riley

  • Convict's Code (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)

    as Jeff Palmer

  • Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1938)

    as Larry Weldon

  • The Spy Ring (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1938)

    as Capt. Don Mayhew

  • The Life of the Party (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)

    as Orchestra Leader

  • Western Gold(1937)

    as Bart

    Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • The Outer Gate (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)

    as Bob Terry

  • The Legion of Missing Men (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)

    as Don Carter

  • Shall We Dance(1937)

    as Evans (uncredited)

    Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films

  • Red Lights Ahead (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)

    as George Wallace

  • The Fire-Trap (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Bob Fender

  • Annapolis Farewell (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Adams

  • Reckless Roads (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Wade Adams

  • Born to Gamble (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Paul Mathews

  • Grand Old Girl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Tom Miller

  • Flirtation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)

    as Dudley

  • Most Precious Thing in Life(1934)

    as Gideon 'Gubby' Gerhart

    Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films

  • The Life of Vergie Winters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)

    as Barry Preston

  • Once to Every Woman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)

    as Joe

  • Stage Mother (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)

    as Francis Nolan

  • This Day and Age(1933)

    as Morry Dover

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Roadhouse Queen (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)

    as Junior Knox

  • What Price Innocence? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)

    as Tommy Harrow

  • The Vanishing Frontier (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)

    as Lucien Winfield

  • Tom Brown of Culver (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Cpl. John Clarke

  • The Wet Parade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Evelyn's Friend (uncredited)

  • High Pressure (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Geoffrey Weston

  • Suicide Fleet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)

    as Kid

  • Are These Our Children? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)

    as Nicholas 'Nick' Crosby

  • It's a Wise Child(1931)

    as Bill Stanton

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Many a Slip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)

    as Ted Coster

  • All Quiet on the Western Front(1930)

    as Franz Kemmerich

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films

  • The Divine Lady (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1928)

    as Young lieutenant

  • Two to One (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1927)

    as George Minafer as a Child

  • The Highbinders (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1926)

    as Roy Marshall

  • A Self-Made Failure (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1924)

    as Sonny

  • Boy of Mine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)

    as Bill Latimer

  • Jealous Husbands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)

    as Bobbie / Spud

  • The Yankee Spirit (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)

    Actor

  • Penrod and Sam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)

    as Penrod Schofield

  • Blue Streak McCoy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)

    as Job the child

  • Through Eyes of Men (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)

    as Little Billy

  • The Notorious Mrs. Sands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)

    as Child

  • The Family Honor (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)

    as Little Ben Tucker

  • The Triflers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)

    Actor

  • The Better Wife (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Little Dick

  • The White Heather (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Donald Cameron

  • The Mayor of Filbert (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Carroll

  • The Hushed Hour (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Gondy

  • Josselyn's Wife (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Tommy Josselyn

  • The Turn in the Road (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1919)

    as Bob

  • Little Orphant Annie(1918)

    as Orphan

    Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • The Heart of Rachael (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1918)

    as Jim

  • The One Woman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1918)

    as Boy

  • The Lady of the Dugout (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1918)

    as The Lady's son

  • Hearts of the World(1918)

    as The Boy's Littlest Brother

    Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films

  • A Wife on Trial (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1917)

    as Child (uncredited)

  • The Little American(1917)

    as Bobby Moore

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Big Tremaine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    as Child

  • Each Pearl a Tear (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    Actor

Career shape

Star power in the 86th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 70 titles from 1916 to 1967.

Biggest box office

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

$8.2K worldwide

Highest rated

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Midcredits 98th

Most popular right now

Dragnet (1951)

Film career

Top draw in 1 MovieCove title.

  • 1928Screen debut· The Divine Lady

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting70 of 70: 69 only acting, 1 with another role · typical Midcredits score66thWriting1 of 70: 0 only writing, 1 with another role

By decade

1910s15 · acting1920s13 · acting1930s32 · acting1940s3 · acting1950s3 · 3 acting · 1 crew1960s4 · acting

Billing

usually 5th · top billed in 0% of 5 roles

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.

How do Ben Alexander's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 65th percentile, the median of all 13; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 58th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

58thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 10

Approval · how many liked their films

59thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 10

Reach · how many have seen their films

36thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 10

Midcredits score across 15 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th8
  • 25th to 49th1
  • Below 25th2

Shape of the crowd

7 of their 15 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved3
  • Crowd Pleaser7
  • Mixed5

Most divisive · actor

It's a Wise Child (1931)

81st percentile spread · 12% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · actor

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Midcredits 98th · 86% liked

Reviewers score the acting 67/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 50. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Ben Alexander work with?

People who share at least 2 of Ben Alexander's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jack Webb shares the most, 2.

Actors