John Bennett Perry was Born on January 4, 1941, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, married Suzanne Morrison (a press secretary and television newsreader who later divorced), married Debbie Perry, and had children, Matthew (an actor) and Marie (from the second marriage).
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His success led to bicoastal chances, and he made his film debut in 1976, playing a minor role in the horrific revenge thriller “Lipstick.” Perry’s versatility as a character actor propelled him to the top ranks of the era’s actors.
He had memorable roles in dozens of television series, including the homesteader drama “Little House on the Prairie” and the mystery thriller “Murder, She Wrote.” He was later praised for his role as a tireless sheriff in the 1987 television film “Independence,” which got a Western Heritage award.
Perry has since been in huge blockbusters such as Roland Emmerich’s catastrophe film “Independence Day” and Brendon Fraiser’s family farce “George of the Jungle.” He has also acted in several movies with his son Matthew (often as his father),
including the 1997 romantic comedy “Fools Rush In” and the popular medical sitcom “Scrubs.” Perry has also played country music as a The Ojai Valley Boys member.
About
I played John Bennett Perry on the T.V. show It’s Like You Know, which starred Jennifer Grey. He was photographed at his son’s burial in the autumn of 2023.
Before fame
He appeared in the 1967 musical Now is the Time for All Good Men.
Trivia
He played Rachel’s father in one episode of Friends.
Career
John Bennett Perry began his career as a singer, joining the Serendipity Singers and performing in the 1967 musical Now Is the Time for All Good Men.
He also featured as an extra in the crowd scene during the “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” part of the 1972 film Cabaret. Perry played the clean-shaven “sailor” in the Old Spice commercials from the 1970s and 1980s.
John Bennett Perry has appeared in numerous films, including 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),
as well as on television shows such as The West Wing, L.A. Law, Days of Our Lives, Little House on the Prairie’s, Centennial, 240-Robert, Nakia, Falcon Crest, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, and Magnum, P.I. He portrayed General Douglas MacArthur in the 1989 film Farewell to the King.
In the 1978-79 television season, he and Stephanie Edwards co-hosted Every Day, a syndicated daytime talk/variety show that included Murray Langston, Tom Chapin, Bob Corff, and Anne Bloom.
He and Edwards were nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service, or Variety Series but lost to Phil Donahue of The Phil Donahue Show.
He starred in the 1997 film Fools Rush In in the Scrubs episode “My Unicorn” as the father of his real-life son’s character. He also played the father of Rachel Green’s boyfriend Joshua in the Friends episode “The One with Rachel’s New Dress
Personal life.
From 1968 until 1970, he married Suzanne Langford, a former press secretary for former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
The couple had a son named Matthew, who also became an actor. John Bennett Perry married Debbie Boyle in 1981, and five years later, they had a daughter together.
Perry’s son Matthew died on October 28, 2023, aged 54, of an alleged drowning caused by a ketamine overdose.