John Levene

John Levene in the 1996 documentary, "Return to Devil's End"

John Levene (born 24th December 1941) played Sergeant John Benton of UNIT on Doctor Who, beginning with "The Invasion" and concluding with "The Android Invasion."

He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.

Levene was working in a men's clothing store on Regents Street in London when Telly Savalas encouraged him to sign up as an actor for The Dirty Dozen. He failed to get a part, as he was not a union member, but this got him interested in acting. On joining Equity, he adopted the professional name John Levene to avoid confusion with another John Woods who was already registered with the union.

His first acting role was in the television series Adam Adamant Lives!. Other television roles included episodes of Callan (1970), UFO (1970), The Adventurer (1972), and the film Go For A Take (1972). He also played a police constable in the horror film, Psychomania (1971).

He made an uncredited appearance as a Cyberman in the 1967 Doctor Who serial The Moonbase and as a Yeti in The Web of Fear before making his first appearance as then-Corporal Benton in the Doctor Who serial The Invasion in 1968. The Web of Fear was, incidentally, the serial that introduced Benton's commanding officer Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT were featured heavily in early 1970s Doctor Who, and the promoted Sergeant Benton also became a regular. The character of Benton was later promoted to Warrant Officer, in "Robot," though is usually referred to as "Sergeant" by fans.

In 1977, following his final appearance on Doctor Who, he gave up acting as a career to set up his own audio visual company, Genesis Communications, and has directed well over 45 audio visuals and live events for various clients including the Ford Motor Company, British Airways, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Amway and Revlon.

He briefly returned to the role of Benton in the 1988 Reeltime Pictures video production "Wartime." He also appeared as himself in the Doctor Who documentaries "Chronotrip" (2001) and "Myth Runner," and also appeared along with former co-stars Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, and Richard Franklin for the Reeltime documentary, "Return to Devil's End," about the making of the classic story, "The Daemons."

He has also worked as an entertainer on cruise liners and has now emigrated to the USA where he has returned to acting under the name John Anthony Blake.

He is married and is the father of two adult children from his previous marriage. His latest acting work was on an independent movie called Cannibalistic. He has also acted on an episode of Big Bad Beetleborgs, industrial videos, and has done some voice-over work for Disney and The Queen Mary Hotel, among others.

External links

• John Levene at the Internet Movie Database