American actor
John Bennett Perry
Perry in 2008
Born (1941-01-04 ) January 4, 1941 (age 83) Occupation Actor Years active 1967–2011 Spouses
Suzanne Langford
(
m. 1968;
div. 1970)
Children 2, including Matthew Perry
John Bennett Perry (born January 4, 1941) is an American actor and former model. He is the father of the actor Matthew Perry .
Early life
Perry was born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts ,[ 1] the son of businessman, bank director and civic leader Alton L. Perry and Maria (née Bennett).[ 2] He attended college at St. Lawrence University , where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.[ 3]
Career
Perry began his career focusing on singing, being part of the Serendipity Singers and with his stage credits including the 1967 musical Now Is the Time for All Good Men .[citation needed ] He also appeared as an extra in the crowd scene in the "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" segment in the 1972 film Cabaret .[citation needed ] Perry portrayed the clean-shaven "sailor" in the Old Spice commercials of the 1970s and 1980s.[ 4]
Perry has appeared in numerous films such as Lipstick (1976), Midway (1976), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Only When I Laugh (1981), Independence Day (1996) and George of the Jungle (1997), and on such television programs as The West Wing , L.A. Law , Days of Our Lives , Little House on the Prairie , Centennial , 240-Robert , Nakia , Falcon Crest , Murder, She Wrote , Diagnosis Murder and Magnum, P.I. . He played General Douglas MacArthur in the 1989 film Farewell to the King .
In the 1978–79 TV season, he and Stephanie Edwards co-hosted EveryDay , a syndicated daytime talk/variety series that also featured Murray Langston , Tom Chapin , Bob Corff and Anne Bloom . He and Edwards were both nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series, losing to Phil Donahue of The Phil Donahue Show .[ 5]
He appeared alongside his son Matthew Perry in the 1997 movie Fools Rush In , and in the episode "My Unicorn " of the sitcom Scrubs , each time as the father of his real-life son's character.[ 6] He also appeared in the episode of Friends with the title "The One with Rachel's New Dress ", playing the father of Rachel Green 's boyfriend Joshua.[ 7]
Personal life
From 1968 to 1970, he was married to Suzanne Langford, a former press secretary to former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . The couple had a son together, Matthew, who also became an actor. Perry married Debbie Boyle in 1981 and five years later the couple had a daughter together.[citation needed ]
Perry's son Matthew died on October 28, 2023, at age 54, from an apparent drowning, stemming from a ketamine overdose.[ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
Filmography
Film
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1972
Bobby Jo and the Good Time Band
Jeff
Television movie
1973–1974
Police Story
Sergeant Chick Torpi
Recurring role (5 episodes)
1974
Mannix
Steve Walker
Episode: "Walk a Double Line"
1974
Nakia
unknown role
Episode: "The Moving Target"
1975
Kung Fu
Deputy Hank Archer
Episode: "Battle Hymn"
1975
S.W.A.T.
Johnny Brewer
Episode: "The Vendetta"
1975
Barbary Coast
Commander Stark
Episode: "An Iron-Clad Plan"
1977
Little House on the Prairie
Andrew Hobbs / Frank James
Episode: "The Aftermath"
1978
Everyday
Himself (Host)
2 episodes – "#1.1" – "#1.11" Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series
1978–1979
Centennial
Mahlon Zendt
Miniseries (2 episodes) – "The Wagon and the Elephant" (1978) – "The Storm" (1979)
1979–1981
240-Robert
Deputy Theodore Roosevelt 'Trap' Applegate III
Series regular (16 episodes)
1981
A Matter of Life and Death
Shad Fleming
Television movie
1982
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
Russell Donovan
Episode: "Tales of the Apple Dumpling Gang"
1982
Today's F.B.I.
Parrish
Episode: "Tapper"
1982
Money on the Side
Tom Westmore
Television movie
1982
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Eckworth
Episode: "Heritage"
1983
I Married Wyatt Earp
John Behan
Television movie
1983
Little House on the Prairie
Russell Matthews
Episode: "Once Upon a Time"
1983
Teachers Only
unknown role
Episode: "Rex, the Wonder Husband"
1983
Wizards and Warriors
Colter
Episode: "The Dungeon of Death"
1983
Lottery!
unknown role
Episode: "Phoenix: Blood Brothers"
1983
Emerald Point N.A.S.
Joe
Episode: "#1.6"
1984
The Duck Factory
Brett Higgens / Arnold
Episode: "It Didn't Happen One Night"
1984
The Love Boat
George Washburn
Episode: "Only the Good Die Young/Honey Beats the Odds/The Light of Another Day"
1984
Paper Dolls
Michael Caswell
Series regular (13 episodes)
1985
The Other Lover
Peter Fielding
Television movie
1985
I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later
Wes Morrison
Television movie
1985
Magnum, P.I.
Stephen Parker
Episode: "Rapture"
1985–1986
Falcon Crest
Sheriff Floyd Gilmore
Series regular (21 episodes)
1986
Hotel
Drew Haywood
Episode: "Harassed"
1987
The Last Fling
Jason Elliot
Television movie
1987
Independence
Sheriff
Television movie
1987
Throb
Bobby
Episode: "Party Games"
1987
Poker Alice
Frank Hartwell
Television movie
1987
Rags to Riches
Tom Honkerson
Episode: "Wilderness Blues"
1987
Pursuit of Happiness
Fast Phil
Episode: "Advice and Consent"
1987
Murder, She Wrote
Judge Perry Sillman
Episode: "When Thieves Fall Out"
1988
Nightingales
Roger Taylor
Television movie
1988
L.A. Law
Richard Lauderbauch
Episode: "Romancing the Drone"
1988
Hunter
Steven Stag
Episode: "Dead on Target (Part 1 & 2)"
1989
She Knows Too Much
Matthew Bream
Television movie
1989
False Witness
Dr. Stiner
Television movie
1991
Over My Dead Body
Raymond
Episode: "Naked Brunch"
1992
Secrets
Dan Adams
Television movie
1992
Coach
Arthur Blackmore
Episode: "Dateline-Bangkok"
1992
Silk Stalkings
Ronald Bunch
Episode: "Irreconcilable Differences"
1993
Civil Wars
Adam Hunter
Episode: "Dances with Sharks"
1993
Murder, She Wrote
Dan Remsen
Episode: "Lone Witness"
1993
Home Free
Judge Quentin Cavanaugh
Episode: "Front Page"
1995
Renegade
Ted Radford
Episode: "Rancho Escondido"
1995
CBS Schoolbreak Special
Winston Halpern
Episode: "Kids Killing Kids"
1995
Eye of the Stalker
Duncan Emerson
Television movie
1996
Pier 66
Senator Powers
Television movie
1996
Night Stand
Colin Hunter
Episode: "Gays in the Military"
1998
The Wonderful World of Disney
Mr. Norman Zapruder
Episode: "Safety Patrol"
1998
Friends
Mr. Burgin
Episode: "The One with Rachel's New Dress"
1998
JAG
Roland Sims
2 episodes – "Yesterday's Heroes" – "Wedding Bell Blues"
1998
The Army Show
Nelson Caesar
Episode: "J. Paul Caesar"
1998–1999
Air America
Frank Arnett
Recurring role (6 episodes)
1999
Veronica's Closet
Byron Blair
Episode: "Veronica's from Venus/Josh's Parents Are from Mars"
1999
Nash Bridges
Frank Morgan
Episode: "Hide and Seek "
1999
3rd Rock from the Sun
Hamilton Bell
Episode: "Dick v. Strudwick"
1999–2000
Family Law
Senator Harlan Bell
Recurring role (3 episodes)
1999–2001
It's Like, You Know...
Barney the Anchorman
Recurring role (3 episodes)
2000
Diagnosis Murder
Robert Brantigan
Episode: "Man Overboard"
2001
The West Wing
Representative Bill. D
Episode: "Two Cathedrals"
2002
Providence
Charles Frank
Recurring role (3 episodes)
2003
7th Heaven
Detective Terry Richardson
2 episodes – "Stand Up" – "High Anxiety"
2003
Threat Matrix
Senator Otto
Episode: "Flipping"
2004
Scrubs
Gregory Marks
Episode: "My Unicorn"
2005
Cuts
Dennis
Episode: "Mack Daddies"
2005
Veronica Mars
Principal Alan Moorehead
2 episodes – "Ahoy, Mateys! " – "My Mother, the Fiend "
2006
Principal Dennis
unknown role
Episode: "Heiress Bridenapped"
2006
Our House
Judge
Television movie
2006
The Closer
Walter Langer
Episode: "Heroic Measures"
2008
Dirty Sexy Money
Hal Matheson
Episode: "The Birthday Present"
2009
Cold Case
Al 'Baltimore Red' Soddenheim '09
Episode: "November 22"
2011
Mr. Sunshine
Howard
Episode: "The Best Man"
References
^ Benjamin, Ruth; Rosenblatt, Arthur (2006). Who Sang what on Broadway, 1866-1996: The singers (L-Z) . McFarland. p. 602. ISBN 9780786421893 – via Google Books .
^ "Alton Perry obituary" . iBerkshires . February 4, 2003. Retrieved April 8, 2017 .
^ Phi Sigma Kappa, ed. (1986). Hills and a Star (8 ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana: Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. pp. 76–78.
^ Wild, David (May 18, 1995). " 'Friends': Six Lives on Videotape" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 29, 2023 .
^ Hoffman, Steve (May 18, 1979). " 'Donahue' Tops Emmys Again for Daytime TV" . The Cincinnati Enquirer . p. A-10. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Schonfeld, Alexandra (October 31, 2023). "All the Projects Matthew Perry and His Dad, John Bennett Perry, Both Starred In" . People . Retrieved July 28, 2024 .
^ Wehniainen, Grace (November 25, 2023). "Matthew Perry's Dad Appeared On Friends & Fans Totally Missed It" . Bustle . Retrieved July 28, 2024 .
^ Gariano, Francesca (October 29, 2023). "Matthew Perry said his sisters, brother 'never turned their backs' on him. Everything to know about his 5 siblings" . Today . Retrieved October 29, 2023 .
^ Winton, Richard; Brennan, Matt; Sheets, Connor (October 28, 2023). " 'Friends' star Matthew Perry dead at 54, found in hot tub at L.A. home" . Los Angeles Times .
^ Haring, Bruce (November 3, 2023). "Matthew Perry Funeral Attended By 'Friends' Co-Stars And Family In L.A." Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 4, 2023 .
External links