Lee Bennett

William Arthur Louvain Crespinel (1914 - 2010) was the son of William Thomas Crespinel (1890 - 1987), Vice President and later president of the Cinecolor company. Both father and son were born in England. The son used a screen name of "Lee Bennett" and did mostly uncredited roles in about fifty movies scattered over the years 1937 - 1953. B western fans remember "Lee Bennett" from his appearances in a batch of the mid 1940s Eddie Dean oaters from Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) and Eagle-Lion. The films were: Song of Old Wyoming (PRC, 1945); Bennett is unbilled as one of the cowpunchers working for Ma Conway (Sarah Padden). The Cravan Trail (PRC, 1946); Bennett has a uncredited role as a townsman. Driftin' River (PRC, 1946); Bennett portrays a reformed outlaw named "Tucson". Romance of the West (PRC, 1946); Bennett has an unbilled role as a lawyer. Wild West (PRC, 1946); Bennett plays a telegraph engineer named "Butler". Stars Over Texas (PRC, 1946); Bennett's on the side of the law, playing a dual role as "Waco Harper" and "Bert Ford". Colorado Serenade (PRC, 1946); Bennett plays a preacher named "Parson Trimble". The Tioga Kid (PRC, 1948); Bennett was henchman "Tucson" and worked for gang boss Dennis Moore. Tioga had lots of footage from Driftin' River (PRC, 1946) along with some new scenes and dialog. Prarie Outlaws (Eagle-Lion, 1948); this is a cut down version of the Cinecolor Wild West (PRC, 1946) and released in B&W. The PRC producer / director of the initial entries in the Dean series was Robert Emmett 'Bob' Tansey. Tansey was fascinated with Cinecolor and became friends and / or business friendly with Cinecolor's William T. Crespinel. Crespinel even did color supervision on several of the Dean adventures. Good probability that Lee Bennett's connection to Eddie Dean and PRC was due to the relationship of his father and Tansey. He picked up another payday from PRC in a credited role in the Michael Shayne who-done-it Larceny in Her Heart (PRC, 1946), which starred Hugh Beaumont and pretty Cheryl Walker. October 12, 1946 Showmen's Trade Review: "Lee Bennett, whose father is William Crespinel, Cinecolor president, was added to 'Twain Sombreros,' Harry Joe Brown production for Columbia release." (AKA "Twin Sombreros", this Randolph Scott western was released as Gunfighters (Columbia, 1947).) William Arthur Louvain Crespinel died on May 9, 2010 in New York, New York at the age of 95.