The 'brains' and 'action' heavies who had meaty roles and lots of dialog ... and the players who were fathers, ranch owners, lawman, mayors, judges, lawyers, storekeepers, newspaper editors, wardens, etc. |
Real name: William Arthur Louvain Crespinel
1914 - 2010
Special thanks to James Crespinel, Lee Bennett's son, for help on this webpage on his father. This is a work in progress and we'll update this as James uncovers more about his Dad's later, post movie career as a photographer. Last update to this webpage: July 27, 2017. |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is from the pressbook to Eddie Dean's ROMANCE OF THE WEST (PRC, 1946). |
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.
Lee Bennett biographies on the internet - and other sources - are incorrect. All / many of those bios have him mis-identified as big band crooner Lee Hunt Bennett (1911 - 1954) who sang with the Jan Garber Orchestra, fronted his own band for a while, and in the 1940s - 1950s was a radio announcer, performer, and singer at WGN and NBC in Chicago.
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:
The PRC producer / director of the initial entries in the Dean series was Robert Emmett 'Bob' Tansey. Tansey was fascinated with Cinecolor and became personal 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.
Bennett picked up another PRC payday 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.
Found a few mentions of Lee Bennett in the trades:
There were significant changes in Hollywood in the post World War II years. Film production costs had escalated. Drive in theaters and newfangled television were arriving. And the B western was fading away. Had to be a difficult period for Lee Bennett, actor.
Circa early 1950s, he exited the movie business and re-located to New York City. Son James writes: "he spun off as a free lance photographer and that became his life's work ... cheesecake, sports, movie, lots of rich and famous."
With the occupation change and move, the Lee Bennett name was dropped and he became William / Bill Crespinel.
William Arthur Louvain Crespinel died on May 9, 2010 in New York, New York at the age of 95.
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on:
Lee Bennett / William Arthur Louvain Crespinel (1914 - 2010): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071881
His father, William T. Crespinel (1890 - 1987): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0187487
Lee Bennett's son James Crespinel is a muralist, painter, and photographer: http://www.crespinel.com/Home.html
Getty Images has a large portrait photo of a very young Lee Bennett: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actor-lee-bennett-news-photo/526851646
Lee Bennett at Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). |
(Courtesy of James Crespinel) L-to-R are Lee Bennett, Chief Yowlachie and Bennett's father, William T. Crespinel, on the set of the Eddie Dean Cinecolor oater WILD WEST (PRC, 1946). The senior Crespinel handled the color supervision on WILD WEST. He later became the boss of the Cinecolor company. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from L-to-R are Al LaRue (before his days as 'Lash'), Sarah Padden, Jennifer Holt, Lee Bennett, unknown player (possibly Ray Elder), Eddie Dean, Emmett 'Pappy' Lynn at the desk, and in the upper right corner is Johnny Carpenter. Scene from the Cinecolor SONG OF OLD WYOMING (PRC, 1945), Eddie Dean's first starring oater. Below is a crop / blowup from that still showing Lee Bennett and Jennifer Holt, the sister of Tim Holt. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Eddie Dean has bested Lee Bennett in a scene from DRIFTIN' RIVER (PRC, 1946). |
On the trail of Lee Bennett / William Arthur Louvain Crespinel. |
The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), Rootsweb, ProQuest obituaries, and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) provide more on William Arthur Louvain Crespinel (Lee Bennett) and the Crespinel family:
The New York Times newspaper had an obituary on Lee Bennett's father, William T. Crespinel, who passed away June 19, 1987 at his home in Laguna Beach, California. "He is survived by a daughter, Kathleen McCandless of North Hollywood, Calif.; a son, William A. Crespinel of Manhattan, and two grandchildren.": https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/24/nyregion/william-crespinel-96-pioneer-in-color-films.html |