Hywel Thomas Bennett is a Welsh film and television actor. Bennett is known for his recurring title role as James Shelley in the television sitcoms Shelley (1979-84) and its sequel The Return of Shelley (1988-92).
Background
From 1970-88, Bennett was married to Cathy McGowan, who was the presenter of the TV rock show Ready Steady Go! in the mid-1960s. They have a daughter, Emma.
Bennett retired in 2007 after being diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.
Education
Sunnyhill School, Streatham, Henry Thornton Grammar School
Career
After becoming known for his role in the comedy film The Virgin Soldiers (1969), Bennett made appearances in films such as Loot (1970) and Percy (1971). He was in EastEnders during 2003 as gangster Jack Dalton.
He played small parts in Doctor Who (1965) and The Sweeney (1976). He starred in The Virgin Soldiers (1969), the film adaptation of Loot (1970) by Joe Orton, and Percy (1971). He was also cast opposite Hayley Mills in several films including The Family Way (1966), Twisted Nerve (1968) and Endless Night (1972).
He played major parts in several Dennis Potter television plays, including Where the Buffalo Roam (1966), Pennies from Heaven ("Better Think Twice", 1978) in which he played Tom, a pimp, and Karaoke (1996), and Cold Lazarus (also 1996). He took the lead role in Shelley (1979–84) and its sequel The Return of Shelley (1988–92).
He was also the villainous Mr. Croup in Neil Gaiman's serial Neverwhere (1996). His character, Ricki Tarr, was pivotal in the 1979 BBC serial based on the John le Carré novel, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979). He also appeared in Lock, Stock... (2000) as 'Deep Throat'. Bennett also starred in the four-part 1979 BBC mini series Malice Aforethought from the original novel, written in the 1920s, by Francis Iles.
In 2003, he joined the cast of long running soap opera EastEnders as Jack Dalton, a gangland boss who was introduced into the series as a former adversary of Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) whose death he was believed to have ordered in 1989. He first appeared in the series in May 2003 but was written out just two months later when his character was shot dead by Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman), son of Den Watts; just before his demise, the character revealed that Den had survived the shooting 14 years earlier, and later that year Den returned to the series.
He also appeared as an occasional character, Peter Baxter, on The Bill and was in the first episode of Jam & Jerusalem.
He appeared in the 1986 music video of "Loving You's a Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It" by Bonnie Tyler and Todd Rundgren. He playbacked the Todd Rundgren vocals. The song can be found on Bonnie's album Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire.