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Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Actor · Died October 22, 1944, aged 74 · Deer Creek, Indiana, USA

Richard Bennett (May 21, 1870 – October 22, 1944) was an American actor who became a stage and silent screen matinee idol over the early decades of the twentieth century. He was born in Deacon's Mills, Indiana in 1870 (some sources state 1872), the son of George Washington Bennett and Eliza Huffman. 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. His silent movie debut was a reprisal of his stage role in Damaged Goods (1914), which co-starred his wife, Adrienne Morrison. He helped adapt the screenplay and direct the drama. In the drama The Valley of Decision (1916), which he wrote, Bennett appeared on the screen with his wife, Morrison, and his three daughters. In 1922, Bennett starred in Broadway's English-language version of Leonid Andreyev's melodrama He Who Gets Slapped, playing the title role as He. The success of the play led to its being filmed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with the production starring Lon Chaney in Bennett's role. With the advent of the talkies the middleaged actor found a niche as a character actor. In 1931 he appeared with Constance Bennett in Bought! On November 8, 1903, Bennett and actress Adrienne Morrison were married in Jersey City. They had three daughters, Constance Bennett (1904–1965); Barbara Bennett (1906–1958); and Joan Bennett (1910–1990). He and Morrison were divorced in April 1925. Their first and third daughters, Constance and Joan, became successful movie stars. Their second daughter, Barbara, was also briefly an actress, but with less success. The two appeared together on stage in the 1923 play The Dancers Barbara married the popular singer Morton Downey. The controversial television talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr., was Richard Bennett's grandson. In 1925, he became acquainted with Aimee Raisch in San Francisco, during the production of Creoles, in which she played a minor role. She was a young socialite and aspiring actress who was divorcing her millionaire clubman and polo player husband, Harry G. Hastings. Bennett and Raisch were married July 11, 1927, in Chicago. He and Aimee, who later went by Angela, separated April 3, 1934, and were divorced in 1937. His daughter Joan made her stage debut acting with him in Jarnegan (1928). This play, in which he played Jack Jarnegan, provided one of his favourite roles—that of a belligerent, drunken movie director given to acidulous and profane comments on Hollywood. Richard Bennett died at age 74 from a heart attack at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Episcopal funeral services were conducted on October 24, 1944, in Beverly Hills. He is interred in Pleasant View Cemetery, Lyme, Connecticut, beside his second wife and mother of his daughters. Bennett was fond of saying that the movie industry was not a business, but a madhouse.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 21, 1870
Died
October 22, 1944 (aged 74)
From
Deer Creek, Indiana, USA
Works as
Actor
Titles
7 on MovieCove · 27 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 28Down 21% in 30 days

What are Richard Bennett's films like?

Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Bonds.

Themes

share of theme weight
Morality
22%
Bonds
21%
Power
18%
Society
16%
Self
14%
Ideas
6%
Survival
4%

What they feel like to watch

their average across 5 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Serious: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their serious movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 0 · Dark 3

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0

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

Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 0

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

Steady 2 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 0 · 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 2 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

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

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0

Roles they play

3 analyzed roles

Usually the Herald: 2 of 3 analyzed roles.

Herald
2 of 3
Mentor
1 of 3

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Melancholic
4
Contemplative
3
Warm
2
Bittersweet
2
Tense
2
Other
2

How their films linger

Bittersweet5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Happy1
  • Bittersweet4

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 Richard Bennett's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (2).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Richard Bennett'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

27 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page.

  • Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles(2014)

    as Major Amberson (clip from The Magnificent Ambersons (1942))

    Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films

  • The Pirates of Blood River(1962)

    as Seymour (uncredited)

    Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films

  • Journey Into Fear(1943)

    as Ship's Captain

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • The Magnificent Ambersons(1942)

    as Major Amberson

    Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films

  • 18 Minutes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1935)

    as Korn

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

    as Gaston Greiner

  • Big Executive (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)

    as Commodore Richardson

  • The Song of Songs(1933)

    as Baron von Merzbach (replaced by Lionel Atwill)

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films

  • If I Had a Million(1932)

    as John Glidden

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Strange Justice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Kearney

  • Madame Racketeer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Elmer Hicks

  • No Greater Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Surgeon

  • This Reckless Age (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)

    as Donald Ingals

  • Arrowsmith(1931)

    as Gustav Sondelius

    Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films

  • Bought! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)

    as David Meyer

  • Five and Ten (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)

    as John Rarick

  • The Home Towners (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1928)

    as Vic Arnold

  • Lying Wives (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1925)

    as Ted Stanhope

  • Youth for Sale (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1924)

    as Montgomery Breck

  • The Eternal City (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)

    as Bruno

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

    as Doctor

  • The Gilded Youth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1917)

    as John Slocum

  • The Valley of Decision (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    Writer · as Arnold Gray

  • And the Law Says (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    Director · as Lawrence Kirby

  • Philip Holden - Waster (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    as Philip Holden

  • The Sable Blessing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)

    as John Slocum

  • Damaged Goods (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1914)

    Writer · as George Dupont

Career shape

Star power in the 79th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 25 titles from 1914 to 1962.

Biggest box office

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)

$16K worldwide

Highest rated

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Midcredits 94th

Film career

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting25 of 25: 22 only acting, 3 with another role · typical Midcredits score59thDirecting1 of 25: 0 only directing, 1 with another roleWriting2 of 25: 0 only writing, 2 with another role

25 titles, 3 with more than one role — acting and writing overlap on 2 of them.

By decade

1910s7 · 7 acting · 3 crew1920s4 · acting1930s11 · acting1940s2 · acting1960s1 · acting

Billing

usually 8th · 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 Richard Bennett's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 73rd percentile, the median of all 7; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 69th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

69thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Approval · how many liked their films

76thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Reach · how many have seen their films

63rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Midcredits score across 7 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up2
  • 50th to 74th3
  • 25th to 49th2

Shape of the crowd

None of their 7 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Crowd Pleaser4
  • Broadly Agreed2

Most loved · actor

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Midcredits 94th · 81% liked

Reviewers score the acting 76/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 82, detractors 46. 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 Richard Bennett work with?

People who share at least 2 of Richard Bennett's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Dolores Costello shares the most, 2.

Actors