Dick Bentley

A stalwart from the great days of radio comedy, actor Dick Bentley is best remembered as the gormless Ron in the Denis Norden and Frank Muir's fifties series Take It From Here. Bentley was born in Australia and during his teens played the saxophone in local dance bands. He came to Britain in 1939 and appeared briefly in the BBC radio series You've Asked For It. During the Second World War he returned to Australia where he entertained the troops. He also appeared in troop shows throughout the South Pacific and in New Guinea. After the War he returned to London and appeared in radio's The Navy Mixture before teaming up with Joy Nichols and the comedian Jimmy Edwards in Take It From Here. He also had his own weekly radio series Gently, Bentley and subsequently appeared in a number of Royal Command Performances. His film appearance included an excellent cameo in The Sundowners (1960), with Robert Mitchum and an amusing role in Barry Humphries' The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972). He was also a noted singer of light popular songs and made a number of LPs. From the early 1970s he lived in retirement in London. In his last interview he said: "I'd sooner be remembered as a funny man than that people remembered the funny things I say. I don't want to be a second-hand Tommy Handley. I want to be a first class Bentley."