Hall of Fame: Ben Welden

About the last thing one might associate with perennial movie and TV bad guy Ben Welden—who next to Steven Carr just might hold the record for the most appearances on TAOS (eight)—would be a professional career as a concert pianist. But that’s exactly what the Toledo, Ohio born actor (1901) was trained for until the acting bug stung him big time.

Rather than heading off to New York, the traditional destination of most untested young American actors, Welden migrated to England and the West End of London where he first worked both on the legitimate stage and later in a series of early English talkies such as The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes. With what one critic has described as “a barracuda face” a harsh, gravelly voice and an intimidating persona, he early on established his persona as a no-nonsense and threatening American gangster. This was a signature role that would eventually lead him back to the United States and a long association with Warner Brothers (among many other studios).

He would play tough guys and second tier mobsters and “torpedoes” (along with many other parts, many unaccredited) in such films as Marked Women, City for Conquest and the classic The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart. Other appearances would include Sorrowful Jones with Bob Hope, Angel on My Shoulder, All Through the Night, The Last Crooked Mile, Tear Gas Squad (with a young actor named George Reeves), The Roaring Twenties with Jimmy Cagney, I Was a Convict and dozens (and dozens) of others.

Equally in demand on the fledgling new medium of television and more than capable of holding his own in both dramatic and comedic roles, Ben worked often in most of the shows of the era. His hundreds of appearances would include Batman, The Lucy Show, Surfside Six, 77 Sunset Strip, Dragnet, Fury, The Lone Ranger, I Love Lucy, Mr. and Mrs. North and The Gene Autry Show.

On TAOS, his parts strayed little from his usual portrayals of thugs and petty criminals. Yet by the time the shows were produced in the 1950s his once menacing features had softened a bit with age and the less severe tone of most of the later Superman shows on which he appeared (he only did one first year episode, The Mind Machine) with their lighter toned, more juvenile scripts made his characterizations less threatening, sometimes comedic and occasionally buffoonish. For the record, his other Superman shows would include The Dog Who Knew Superman, The Machine That Could Plot Crimes, Flight to the North, Topsy Turvy, Disappearing Lois, The Mysterious Cube and The Gentle Monster.

In later years, after retiring from show business, Ben Welden, reportedly the nicest and gentlest of men, operated a successful California-based popcorn business.

He passed away in 1997 in Woodland Hills, California.

We are immensely proud to recognize the many talents and achievements of Mr. Welden and to happily induct him into the George Reeves Hall of Fame.

If you have anyone you would like to nominate,