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IMDbPro

Ben Alexander(1911-1969)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Director
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Ben Alexander
Trailer for Los Angeles Plays Itself
Play trailer1:21
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
4 Videos
41 Photos
Starting out as a child actor in 1915, Ben Alexander's first roles were in the films of such directors as Cecil B. DeMille and D.W. Griffith. He later graduated to juvenile leads and supporting parts in sound films, most notably in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). When his acting career slowed down in the mid-'30s, he found a new career as a successful radio announcer. Alexander was more or less retired when producer Jack Webb picked him for the part of his detective partner in the TV series Dragnet (1951). Alexander later played another detective on Howard Duff's TV series The Felony Squad (1966).
BornMay 26, 1911
DiedJuly 5, 1969(58)
BornMay 26, 1911
DiedJuly 5, 1969(58)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys

Photos41

Ben Alexander and Marion Davies in It's a Wise Child (1931)
Ben Alexander, Johnny Arthur, Clara Blandick, Marion Davies, and Polly Moran in It's a Wise Child (1931)
Ben Alexander and Jack Webb in Dragnet (1951)
Ben Alexander and Marion Davies in It's a Wise Child (1931)
Ben Alexander in Dragnet (1951)
Ben Alexander, Judith Allen, Richard Cromwell, and Edward J. Nugent in This Day and Age (1933)
Ben Alexander, Nigel Barrie, and Clara Kimball Young in The Better Wife (1919)
Ben Alexander and Marion Davies in It's a Wise Child (1931)
Ben Alexander and Judith Allen in This Day and Age (1933)
Lew Ayres, Ben Alexander, G. Pat Collins, Scott Kolk, Slim Summerville, Louis Wolheim, and John Wray in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Ben Alexander, Richard Alexander, William Bakewell, Slim Summerville, and Louis Wolheim in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Lew Ayres and Ben Alexander in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Known for

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front
8.1
  • Kemmerich(as Kemmerick)
  • 1930
Dragnet (1951)
Dragnet
7.5
TV Series
  • Officer Frank Smith
  • Off. Frank Smith
  • Sgt. Frank Smith
  • Officer Frank Smith #2
Pampered Youth (1925)
Pampered Youth
5.7
  • George Minafer, as a child
  • 1925
Orson Welles, Jeff Chandler, and Colleen Miller in Man in the Shadow (1957)
Man in the Shadow
6.8
  • Ab Begley
  • 1957

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Felony Squad (1966)
    The Felony Squad
  • Men Against Evil
  • Batman (1966)
    Batman
    • (uncredited)
  • Dragnet (1951)
    Dragnet
    • ...
  • People
  • Orson Welles, Jeff Chandler, and Colleen Miller in Man in the Shadow (1957)
    Man in the Shadow
  • The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1955)
    The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial
  • Ben Alexander, Ann Robinson, and Jack Webb in Dragnet (1954)
    Dragnet
  • Party Time at Club Roma
  • Donald Curtis, Ann Doran, I. Stanford Jolley, and Eric Linden in Criminals Within (1941)
    Criminals Within
  • Richard Arlen and Andy Devine in The Leather Pushers (1940)
    The Leather Pushers
  • American Portrait
  • Buried Alive (1939)
    Buried Alive
  • Robert Kent and Anne Nagel in Convict's Code (1939)
    Convict's Code
  • Joe Penner, Toddy Peterson, Suzanne Ridgway, and June Travis in Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (1938)
    Mr. Doodle Kicks Off

Writer

  • Dragnet (1951)
    Dragnet

Director

  • The D.A.'s Man (1959)
    The D.A.'s Man

Videos4

Shall We Dance
Clip 2:59
Shall We Dance
Trailer
Trailer 1:22
Trailer
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Trailer 1:21
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Dragnet
Trailer 1:32
Dragnet

Personal details

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    • May 26, 1911
    • Goldfield, Nevada, USA
    • July 5, 1969
    • Hollywood, California, USA(natural causes)
    • February 26, 1950 - July 5, 1969 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    (1949-53) Radio: Appeared as regular cast member on "The Martin and Lewis Show", NBC Radio.
  • Publicity listings
    • 8 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Owned and operated the Ben Alexander Ford car dealership in Highland Park, California (northeast of Los Angeles), from c. 1953 until his death in 1969. Owned and operated the Ben Alexander Ford dealership on Portrero Avenue in San Francisco until his death.
  • Quotes
    [on working with Jack Webb in Dragnet (1951)] Jack and I never memorize any of our lines. We can't because we're always working on six pictures at once. We read our lines from a teleprompter.

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