As a 1950s radio actor on Chicago-based shows such as “Let’s Pretend” and “The Shadow,” Eric Benson loved playing the bad guy. His facile command of accents and inflections gave nuance to nefarious characters and brought shady guys to life.
“He had a beautiful voice, very talented in that respect,” said Ana Benson, his wife of 40 years. “He liked the villains more. He said they were a lot more fun than playing the good guy.”
Paradoxically, it was a “good guy” role that ended his radio career, his wife said. When the House Committee on Un-American Activities came looking for communists among radio actors, Mr. Benson refused to give up his friends, she said. As a consequence, he was blacklisted and forced off the air in the 1950s.
“They were going from actor to actor to find ones that would testify. He knew a lot of actors who were communists, but he was not about to turn them in,” his wife said. “He felt like their civil liberties were being compromised. If they wanted to be communists, so be it.”
Mr. Benson, who lived on the North Side, died of complications from heart and bone marrow disorders on Friday, June 9, at Illinois Masonic Hospital. He was 77.
Mr. Benson was born Philip Jerome Stumpf in Little Falls, Minn., but he considered himself a Chicagoan. He moved to the city in the 1950s, and took classes at the University of Chicago.
Mr. Benson had changed his name in the late 1940s when he became an actor. Radio was his love and it hurt him deeply to give it up once he was blacklisted, his wife said. After Mr. Benson left acting, he would occasionally do dramatic readings at coffeehouses, she said.
Mr. Benson went on to manage bookstores, including Follett’s textbook store in Chicago. He had a lifelong love of literature and music.
“He had this really eclectic taste. He loved fine literature and detective stories,” his wife said. Never abandoning his love of acting, Mr. Benson did a few stage productions but found it difficult to pull off a bad guy role in person. At 5 feet 5inches tall, he had a voice that was more imposing than his physique, his wife said.
“If he played the villain, because he was a little guy, people would feel sorry for him,” she said.
Mr. Benson retired in the 1980s after he developed a bone marrow disorder. He also had a heart condition. Though his movement was limited by his illnesses, he maintained a wide circle of friends with whom he would discuss literature.
Ana Benson said her husband frequently brought new friends home.
“Sometimes I felt like I was living in a Marx Brothers movie. He was always bringing strange characters home,” she said.
Dr. Arthur Berkson, Mr. Benson’s physician, said his patient was always upbeat and enthusiastic, despite his poor health.
Mr. Benson would keep up with current affairs and regale the medical staff with stories about his beloved Chicago Cubs, books and music.
“He was always fun to talk to,” Berkson said. “He was always energetic and full of life and had such a good attitude about living and the people he cared about. You never got the sense that he had ever given up.”
Other survivors include two daughters, Kristin Maria Anderson and Susannah Marlene Papandrea; a mother-in-law, Palmira Carlo; a sister, Mary Duffy; and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Holy Family Catholic Church, 2515 Palatine Rd., Inverness.
