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| Harry Bentley was the Jeffersons' slightly quirky British next-door neighbor on the series. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Male | |||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Russian language interpreter at the United Nations building | |||
| Character description: |
Slightly quirky but good-natured next-door neighbor of George and Louise, who develops a friendship with the Jeffersons and Willises. | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | The Jeffersons | |||
| Episodes appeared in: | 145 episodes from Seasons 1-7 and 10-11 | |||
| Character played by: | Paul Benedict | |||
Harry Bentley (Paul Benedict) is the Jeffersons' eccentric, English next-door neighbor. Harry works as a Russian language interpreter at the United Nations. He is known to everybody as a kind, gentle fellow, but George mostly finds him a complete annoyance, especially when he shows up at his door, complaining of back spasms (which could be cured only by George walking across his back) or to borrow a household item.
In nearly every episode he was in, George slams the door in his face, either in the middle of a conversation or at the beginning of one. Bentley usually tells stories about his childhood life whenever at a get-together, which almost always bore his guests, but he doesn't seem to notice. In one episode when the cast was dressing in Custumes [George Jefferson as Charlie Chaplin; Mrs Jefferson as Mae West; Florence as Harpo Marx; Tom Willis as Oliver Hardy and Mrs Willis as Stan Laurel]-Bentley dresses as his favorite comedian "Ducky Demster"!
About Harry Bentley[]
Bentley lives alone, but several times brings home a lady friend. Two of Bentley's most-talked-about ladies are Daphne and Patricia. Ironically in an earlier Season 3 episode, after taking ignorant advice from George, Bentley accidentally punches a NYPD cop (played by Alan Manson) in the face and winds himself in jail. He was bailed out by George, but still faced charges from the whole case. The officer he punched then realized Bentley is truly an honest person, and ultimately freed him.
Benedict left the series at the end of the 1980-81 TV season, which became the seventh year of the sitcom. The character of Bentley was written out, saying he went to live in the Soviet Union for two years. Benedict returned to the show in 1983 during the show's tenth year on television. From that point on, George became much friendlier to him, but would sometimes still slam the door on him.