Career
With comedian Jack Pearl, Bard worked in a comedy duo in vaudeville. In 1926, Bard, Pearl, and Sascha Beaumont appeared in a short film made in Lee DeForest"s Phonofilm sound-on-film process. He had a small role in The Bat Whispers (1930).
Later in the decade, he ran a leading Hollywood acting school, Ben Bard Drama.
Bard was recruited to be a leading man at Fox Film Corporation. However, he was typecast as a "Suave Heavy"—a smooth-talking, well-dressed fellow with a dark side.
An example of this type is his portrayal of "Mr. Brun" in The Seventh Victim (1943).
Also in 1943, Bard appeared in two other Val Lewton-produced horror films: The Leopard Manitoba, as Robles, the Police Chief, and The Ghost Ship, as First Officer Bowns.
Bard died in Los Angeles in 1974, aged 81. His resting place is with Ruth Roland at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.
