Volume III: Biographies

KILPACK, Bennett *

Actor (date?)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Bennett Kilpack was an actor with Thanhouser at one time, according to the 1918 edition of the Motion Picture Studio Directory.

Biographical Notes: Bennett Kilpack was born in England on February 6, 1883 (one account says 1892). He was educated at St. John's College, in electrical engineering at a trade school, and at the London School of Oratory. His training as an electrical engineer was ignored for the time being, and at the age of 23 he made his debut as a Shakespearean actor. Kilpack went to Canada in 1908, where he was unable to secure work on the stage, but he was able to become an apprentice in a locomotive factory, after which he utilized his earlier training and became an electrical engineer with the Canadian Pacific Railroad in Montreal. Soon thereafter, he came to the United States and secured a position as a teacher of drama at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1910 he toured with a Shakespeare company and was seen in Othello and other productions. Later, he was on stage under the managements of Klaw & Erlanger, Shubert, and Liebler, after which he appeared in films with IMP, Thanhouser, and Frohman.

The 1917 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory noted that he was 5'7" tall and had a dark complexion. His representative was Kirmmse, Inc. at 105 West 40th Street, New York City. During World War I he was with the salvage operations of the Royal Flying Corps in Canada. Kilpack returned to the United States, and for many years, until 1950, he made his home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. From the 1920s onward he was in radio and was featured on many programs. Bennett Kilpack later achieved great renown as the star of the radio program, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons. He died of cancer in a sanitarium in Santa Monica, California on August 18, 1962. At the time his home was in Westchester, a suburb of Los Angeles. He was survived by his son, John, of Westchester, California; a brother, John, of Portland, Oregon; and a sister, Mrs. Lucy Karcher, of New York.

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