John Levene

John Levene, (born 24 December 1941) is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who. He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He was working in a men's clothing store on Regents Street in London when Telly Savalas encouraged him to sign up as an actor for The Dirty Dozen. He failed to get a part, as he was not a union member, but this got him interested in ... more

John Levene, (born 24 December 1941) is an English actor. His most famous role was that of Sergeant Benton of UNIT on the television series Doctor Who. He was born John Anthony Woods in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He was working in a men's clothing store on Regents Street in London when Telly Savalas encouraged him to sign up as an actor for The Dirty Dozen. He failed to get a part, as he was not a union member, but this got him interested in acting. On joining Equity, he adopted the professional name John Levene to avoid confusion with another John Woods who was already registered with the union. His first acting role was in the television series Adam Adamant Lives!. Other television roles included episodes of Callan (1970), The Adventurer (1972), and the film Go for a Take (1972). He made an uncredited appearance as a Cyberman in the 1967 Doctor Who serial The Moonbase and as a Yeti in The Web of Fear before making his first appearance as then-Corporal Benton in the Doctor Who... less