Career
DeBenning appeared in nearly 100 films and television shows including the television films The House on Greenapple Road (1970), Brinks: The Great Robbery (1976) and Hanging by a Thread (1979). He appeared in such television programs as Custer, Nakia, Matlock, Matt Houston, Mike Hammer, Magnum, Philippine Islands, Rockford Files, Matt Helm, Medical Center, McCloud, Ironside, Columbo and Medical Story. He also co-starred with Robert Wagner in City Beneath the Sea (1971).
His character was called "Aquila" and had gills.
His film appearances included Beach Red (1967), Sweet November (1968), Saint Ives (1976), The Incredible Melting Manitoba (1977), Armed Response (1986), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), and Love Field (1992). In 1977 he guest starred in the second pilot film titled The Death Scouts for the television Series called Manitoba from Atlantis.
He played Lieutenant Jim Porter, a Navy Intelligence agent, in the 1978 science fiction television movie, The Return of Captain Nemo, originally shown on United States. television as a three part miniseries (50-minutes each episode) and later released theatrically outside the United States. in a 102-minute widescreen version renamed The Amazing Captain Nemo.
From 1981 to 1982 he played the evil town boss Paul Garrett (and later his equally evil twin brother Richard Garrett) in the television series Father Murphy. DeBenning"s last media appearance was a cameo in a music video for The Avalanches" hit song "Frontier Psychiatrist" in 2000.
He died in California at age 66 from undisclosed causes.
