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Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck of Waldeck Limpurg, MBE (born 1 June 1953), commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an Australian-born British actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 series, The Archers.

As the Earl of Portland, Bentinck was a member of the House of Lords from 1997 to 1999. He is also Count Bentinck in the peerage of the Holy Roman Empire.

Early life

The son of the non-conformist intellectual Henry Bentinck, Portland was born on a sheep station in Barton, Tasmania, Australia, but moved with his family to Berkhamsted in England at the age of two. He was educated at a prep school, then Harrow School, and finally at the University of East Anglia, where he spent much of his time on productions of its drama society, before receiving a BA degree in the History of Art. After graduation, he trained in acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career

Bentinck has been an actor since 1978 and is known for the roles of David Archer in the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers and Tom Lacey in the BBC TV drama series By the Sword Divided (1983–85). He is also a voice-over artist, having provided the voice of James Bond for the video-game The World Is Not Enough (Nintendo 64 and PlayStation version), and the voice of Roger Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure. Between 1990 and 2006 he was also the voice of "Mind The Gap" on the London Underground Piccadilly line. Bentinck has a long list of theatre, television and film credits. He appeared in The Thick of It in 2005 and 2007 and starred with David Jason in The Royal Bodyguard in 2012.

As himself, Bentinck has appeared on Call My Bluff, won a round of University Challenge, Celebrity Mastermind, Pointless Celebrities and beaten Judith Keppel on science in Celebrity Eggheads.

Bentinck has revoiced Gérard Depardieu in the film Nouvelle France, and Chow Yun Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He has provided post-production voices for many major US and UK film and television productions since helping provide the voices of both Scottish and English armies alongside Mel Gibson in Braveheart.

His first film role was as 'Harris', Roger Moore's lieutenant in North Sea Hijack; other film roles include William Goldman's The Year of the Comet, the western, The Pride of Wade Ellison as well as the short film, Locked Up by Bugsy Riverbank Steel – winner of Best Foreign Short Film at the Lanzarote Film Festival in 2013. Also Fast Girls, The Redistributors, Rule Number Three with Nicholas Hoult, The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline, Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night, Vanity Fair, the U-boat commander in Enigma, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and many short and student films. In 2018 he starred with Jack Roth as Conrad in the Netflix movie, Us And Them. He played the role of Frederick Forsyth in the BBC television film Reg (2016).

On stage, after many London fringe theatre appearances, Bentinck starred as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1982, as Captain Brice in Arcadia at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, and as Hubert Laurie in Night Must Fall, also at the Haymarket. Bentinck toured a one-man show, Love Your Chocolates, – a mixture of stories, comedy songs and multi-media, and played Frank in Educating Rita at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire, in 2009.

Bentinck regularly writes travel articles for The Mail on Sunday and his book, Avant Garde A Clue, co-written with Albert Welling, is published on Kindle. In March 2015, his children's book, Colin The Campervan, was published by FBS Publishing.

Bentinck's autobiography, Being David Archer – And Other Unusual Ways of Earning a Living was published by Constable in 2017.

Bentinck has made many guest appearances in Big Finish audio dramas, including audio productions based on Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake's 7 and Space 1999. He has also narrated over sixty audiobooks.

In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to drama.

Bentinck is also an inventor with several patents to his name, as well as a programmer/web site designer, musician and writer.

Television

Bentinck's roles on television include:

• The Nevers
• Gentleman Jack
• Flack
• The Game
• The Politician's Husband
• The Royal Bodyguard
• Tales of the Unexpected (The Stinker)
• Twenty Twelve
• The Thick of It
• Doctors
• Broken News
• Shadow Play
• Sharpe's Rifles
• The Armando Iannucci Shows
• A Prince Among Men
• Grange Hill
• Made in Heaven
• Square Deal
• By the Sword Divided
• EastEnders
• Silent Witness
• The Crown

Video games

Bentinck has also done voicework for numerous videogame titles:

• The Feeble Files
• The World Is Not Enough
• 007 Racing
• Prisoner of War
• Secret Weapons Over Normandy
• James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
• Knights of Honor
• Medieval II: Total War
• Heavenly Sword
• Hellgate: London
• Viking: Battle for Asgard
• Rhodan: Myth of the Illochim
• Memento Mori
• Divinity II
• Venetica
• Dragon Age II
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• The Book of Unwritten Tales
• Deponia
• Risen 2: Dark Waters
• The Secret World
• The Night of the Rabbit
• The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief
• Total War: Rome II
• The Dark Eye: Demonicon
• Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse
• Blackguards
• Dark Souls II
• Lego The Hobbit
• Grid Autosport
• Sacred 3
• Risen 3: Titan Lords
• Dreamfall Chapters
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
• Deponia Doomsday
• Dark Souls III
• Total War: Warhammer
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2
• Anno 1800
• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Titles

On the death of the 9th Duke of Portland in 1990, Bentinck's father Henry, his sixth cousin, succeeded to the earldom of Portland. In 1997 Tim succeeded his father. He took a seat in certain sittings of the House of Lords but made no speeches (nor questions) before losing the right and not standing for selective internal election, under the House of Lords Act 1999.

On 29 December 1732, the Hon. William Bentinck, Baron Bentinck of the Duchy of Guelders (second surviving son of Hans Willem Bentinck), was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire as Count (Graf) Bentinck, by Imperial Letters Patent of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. This title also vests in him. Under the Royal Warrant of 27 April 1932 on Foreign Titles the dispensation granted by Queen Victoria to use the title and daughters' styles socially in Great Britain was rescinded beyond any living heirs, the last of which were Bentinck's late father and aunt.

Personal life

Bentinck married the milliner Judith "Judy" Ann Emerson (born Newcastle-under-Lyme, 10 October 1952) in London on 8 September 1979. They have two sons: Will Bentinck (born London, 19 May 1984) and The Hon. Jasper James Mellowes Bentinck (born London, 12 June 1988). They reside in London.

References

1. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Portland, accessed 24 November 2022
2. "University of East Anglia" (PDF). UEA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
3. "Tim Bentinck Interview". MI6. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
4. "Tim Bentinck". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
5. "Tim Bentinck in University Challenge". YouTube. 5 September 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
6. "BBC One – Celebrity Mastermind, 2012/2013, Episode 10". Bbc.co.uk. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
7. "BBC Two – Celebrity Eggheads, Series 5, Episode 8". Bbc.co.uk. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
8. "Battle of the Brave (2004)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
9. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
10. "BBC One: Reg". BBC Online. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
11. "The Watermill Theatre – Love Your Chocolates! – An Evening With Tim Bentinck". Watermill.org.uk. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
12. "The Watermill Theatre – EDUCATING RITA". Watermill.org.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
13. Goodwin, Eileen (5 March 2011). "Rugby fans would not be put off: writer". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
14. "Moonflesh". Retrieved 6 May 2015.
15. "Battleground". Retrieved 6 May 2015.
16. "Gerry Anderson's Space 1999 returns – News – Big Finish". bigfinish.com. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
17. "No. 62310". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B15.
18. "A child support – United Kingdom Patent GB2201083". Patent.ipexl.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
19. "Tim Bentinck – Websites". Bentinck.net. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
20. "Tim Bentinck – Music Recordings". Bentinck.net. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
21. "Tim Bentinck – Travel". Bentinck.net. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
22. Tim Bentinck at IMDb
23. Director: Ian Barber; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Kim Revill (23 April 2013). "Episode dated 23/04/2013". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
24. "Tim Bentinck". IMDb. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
25. "IMDb – International Media Database". IMDb.
26. Ruvigny, Melville H. (2000) . The Nobilities of Europe. Adamant Media Corporation.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Portland
• Tim Bentinck's website – official website of the actor
• Tim Bentinck at IMDb
• Actor Tim Bentinck – Who's who The Archers, BBC Radio 4

v t e Current earls in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
Sorted by (historical) entity at time of grant
England	Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby William Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon William Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon Robert Fiennes-Clinton, 19th Earl of Lincoln Alexander Howard, 22nd Earl of Suffolk William Herbert, 15th Earl of Montgomery Alexander Feilding, 12th Earl of Denbigh Anthony Fane, 16th Earl of Westmorland Alexander Howard, 15th Earl of Berkshire Richard Bertie, 14th Earl of Lindsey Daniel Finch-Hatton, 17th Earl of Winchilsea John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich Paul Capell, 11th Earl of Essex George Howard, 13th Earl of Carlisle Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury Daniel Finch-Hatton, 12th Earl of Nottingham Richard Bertie, 9th Earl of Abingdon Timothy Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland Richard Lumley, 13th Earl of Scarbrough Rufus Keppel, 10th Earl of Albemarle George Coventry, 13th Earl of Coventry William Child Villiers, 10th Earl of Jersey
Scotland	Alistair Sutherland, 25th Earl of Sutherland Anthony Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness Stewart Douglas, 22nd Earl of Morton James Leslie, 22nd Earl of Rothes Henry Erskine, 18th Earl of Buchan Hugh Montgomerie, 19th Earl of Eglinton John Stuart, 21st Earl of Moray James Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar Michael Douglas-Home, 16th Earl of Home James David Drummond, 10th Earl of Perth Simon Bowes-Lyon, 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne James Erskine, 16th Earl of Kellie George Baillie-Hamilton, 14th Earl of Haddington Andrew Stewart, 14th Earl of Galloway Ian Maitland, 18th Earl of Lauderdale James Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun Charles Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss James Ramsay, 17th Earl of Dalhousie David Ogilvy, 14th Earl of Airlie Alexander Leslie-Melville, 15th Earl of Leven John Grant, 13th Earl of Dysart John Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Selkirk Patrick Carnegy, 15th Earl of Northesk Andrew Bruce, 15th Earl of Kincardine Anthony Lindsay, 13th Earl of Balcarres Filippo Rospigliosi, 12th Earl of Newburgh Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee Patrick Hope-Johnstone, 11th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell Iain Cochrane, 15th Earl of Dundonald James Keith, 14th Earl of Kintore Malcolm Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore Alexander Leslie-Melville, 14th Earl of Melville Peter St John, 9th Earl of Orkney James Charteris, 9th Earl of March Ian Ogilvie-Grant, 13th Earl of Seafield John Dalrymple, 14th Earl of Stair Harry Primrose, 8th Earl of Rosebery Patrick Boyle, 10th Earl of Glasgow
Great Britain	Robert Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth Peter Bennett, 10th Earl of Tankerville Charles Finch-Knightley, 12th Earl of Aylesford Richard Parker, 9th Earl of Macclesfield James Waldegrave, 13th Earl Waldegrave Charles Stanhope, 12th Earl of Harrington Quentin Wallop, 10th Earl of Portsmouth Guy Greville, 9th Earl Brooke George Hobart-Hampden, 10th Earl of Buckinghamshire Piers North, 10th Earl of Guilford Joseph Yorke, 10th Earl of Hardwicke Robin Fox-Strangways, 10th Earl of Ilchester Guy Greville, 9th Earl of Warwick William Sackville, 11th Earl De La Warr William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Allen Bathurst, 9th Earl Bathurst George Villiers, 8th Earl of Clarendon Alexander Murray, 8th and 9th Earl of Mansfield Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 7th Earl Talbot Christopher Edgcumbe, 9th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe Charles Fortescue, 8th Earl Fortescue Alexander Murray, 9th Earl of Mansfield George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon Edward Cadogan, 9th Earl Cadogan James Harris, 7th Earl of Malmesbury
Ireland	Kingdom of Ireland Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Waterford John Boyle, 15th Earl of Cork William Anthony Nugent, 13th Earl of Westmeath John Brabazon, 15th Earl of Meath Alexander Feilding, 11th Earl of Desmond Roger Lambart, 13th Earl of Cavan John Boyle, 15th Earl of Orrery Derry Moore, 12th Earl of Drogheda Peter Forbes, 10th Earl of Granard Ivo Bligh, 12th Earl of Darnley Myles Ponsonby, 12th Earl of Bessborough Thomas Butler, 11th Earl of Carrick Henry Boyle, 10th Earl of Shannon Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran Patrick Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown John Savile, 8th Earl of Mexborough David Turnour, 8th Earl Winterton Robert King-Tenison, 12th Earl of Kingston Robert Jocelyn, 10th Earl of Roden David Vaughan, 9th Earl of Lisburne Patrick Meade, 8th Earl of Clanwilliam Randal McDonnell, 10th Earl of Antrim Thomas Pakenham, 8th Earl of Longford George Dawson-Damer, 7th Earl of Portarlington Charles Bourke, 11th Earl of Mayo Michael Annesley, 12th Earl Annesley Andrew Cole, 7th Earl of Enniskillen John Crichton, 7th Earl Erne George Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan John Lowry-Corry, 8th Earl Belmore Andrew Stuart, 9th Earl Castle Stewart Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 8th Earl of Donoughmore After 1801 Edmund Pery, 7th Earl of Limerick Nicholas Trench, 9th Earl of Clancarty Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse Charles Acheson, 7th Earl of Gosford Shaun Agar, 6th Earl of Normanton Richard Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey Francis Hare, 6th Earl of Listowel Richard Graham-Toler, 7th Earl of Norbury Edward Knox, 8th Earl of Ranfurly
United Kingdom	King George III Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn Benjamin Craven, 9th Earl of Craven Rupert Onslow, 8th Earl of Onslow Julian Marsham, 8th Earl of Romney John Pelham, 9th Earl of Chichester Francis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton John Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis Simon Nelson, 10th Earl Nelson Alexander Kent Grey, 8th Earl Grey William Lowther, 9th Earl of Lonsdale Conroy Ryder, 8th Earl of Harrowby Prince Regent David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 7th Earl of Minto Charles Cathcart, 7th Earl Cathcart John Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam Albert Eliot, 11th Earl of St Germans Mark Parker, 7th Earl of Morley Richard Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford King George IV John Scott, 6th Earl of Eldon Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke James Temple-Gore-Langton, 9th Earl Temple of Stowe Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor King William IV Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham Fergus Leveson-Gower, 6th Earl Granville Edward Howard, 8th Earl of Effingham David Moreton, 7th Earl of Ducie Charles Pelham, 8th Earl of Yarborough Queen Victoria Thomas Coke, 8th Earl of Leicester Anthony Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough William Byng, 9th Earl of Strafford Mark Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley David Ward, 5th Earl of Dudley Hugh Montgomerie, 7th Earl of Winton John Russell, 7th Earl Russell John Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie John Wodehouse, 5th Earl of Kimberley Richard Wortley, 5th Earl of Wharncliffe Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton William Palmer, 5th Earl of Selborne John Northcote, 5th Earl of Iddesleigh Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook King Edward VII Evelyn Baring, 4th Earl of Cromer Ivor Windsor-Clive, 4th Earl of Plymouth Edward Foljambe, 5th Earl of Liverpool King George V Harry Primrose, 4th Earl of Midlothian Michael Hicks Beach, 3rd Earl St Aldwyn David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty Alexander Haig, 3rd Earl Haig Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh Roderick Balfour, 5th Earl of Balfour Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith Patrick Jellicoe, 3rd Earl Jellicoe Peter Mackay, 4th Earl of Inchcape William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel King George VI Simon Bowes-Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Benedict Baldwin, 5th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Peter Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax Brer Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie David Lloyd George, 4th Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma Queen Elizabeth II Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis Mark Cunliffe-Lister, 4th Earl of Swinton John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee Simon Marquis, 3rd Earl of Woolton David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton
Italics in entries mean the peer also holds a previously listed earldom of higher precedence

• 1953 births
• Living people
• Actors from Berkhamsted
• Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
• Alumni of the University of East Anglia
• Bentinck family
• British people of Dutch descent
• British people of English descent
• Counts of the Holy Roman Empire
• Earls of Portland
• English autobiographers
• English male film actors
• English male radio actors
• English male soap opera actors
• English male television actors
• English male video game actors
• English male voice actors
• English people of Dutch descent
• Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999
• Male actors from Hertfordshire
• Male actors from Tasmania
• Members of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at Harrow School
• Teutonic Knights