Who was Benjamin Whitrow and who’s his love child with Celia Imrie? Pride and Prejudice actor who died in 2017

BENJAMIN Whitrow was a familiar face on TV and in film, until he passed away in 2017.

We take a look at his life and career on the big and small screen...

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Who was Benjamin Whitrow?

Benjamin John Whitrow was born February 17, 1937 and was an English actor.

He passed away on September 28, 2017 aged 80.

Benjamin was best known  for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, and the voice of Fowler in the 2000 animated film Chicken Run.

He was married to Catherine Cook and they had two children - Hannah Mary Whitrow (b. 1973) and Thomas George Whitrow (b. 1976).

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What films did Benjamin star in?

• Quadrophenia as Jimmy's Boss (1979)
• Brimstone and Treacle as Businessman (1982)
• Clockwise as a Headmaster (1986)
• Personal Services as Mr. Marsden (1987)
• Hawks as Mr. Granger (1988)
• Restoration as Merivel's Father (1995)
• The Opium War as Lord Palmerston (1997)
• Chicken Run as Fowler (2000)
• Scenes of a Sexual Nature as Eddie Wright (2006)
• Bomber as Alistar (2009)
• Darkest Hour as Sir Samuel Hoare (2017)

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Did he have a love child with Celia Imrie?

In 1994 he had a child with actress Celia Imrie.

The actress made a deal with Benjamin in her early forties to have a baby – a son called Angus – but didn’t expect him to play any part in his upbringing.

In her 2011 autobiography, the Happy Hoofer, she says she “laid out her terms” during a walk on the beach and told him that in return for giving her a child, she would not ask anything from him.

She had previously suggested she was not romantically involved with Benjamin, but in an interview in February 2018, she revealed they were once in a relationship.

The Calendar Girls star told the Daily Telegraph: “Angus was devoted to this father and, though I've never really said it properly, Ben and I did have a romance.

“I wanted to have his baby before it was too late and he [Whitrow] was very, very honest with him [Angus] and he accepted that and was a wonderful father.”

Angus is now also an actor - he plays Josh Archer in radio drama the Archers.