- Tim Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland
Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland and Viscount Woodstock (born
Tasmania 1 June 1953 ) is an Englishactor andinventor , usually known as Tim Bentinck.Background and education
The son of the eccentric Henry Bentinck (wartime
Coldstream Guards officer,BBC producer,jackaroo , author, advertising producer, and self-sufficient organic smallholder), Bentinck was born on a sheep station inTasmania . He was brought home toEngland when he was two and lived in theHertfordshire town ofBerkhamsted . He later attended a local prep school before going on toHarrow School and theUniversity of East Anglia , where he was awarded a BA degree in the History of Art. By his own admission, he spent most of his time at UEA in its drama society. He then trained for an acting career at theBristol Old Vic Theatre School.Career
Bentinck has been an actor since 1982 and is best known for the role of David Archer in the
BBC Radio 4 series "The Archers ". He is a leadingvoice-over artist and has also starred in television series and has theatre and film credits. He played a pirate in "The Pirates of Penzance " on film and stage, understudying and sometimes going on as, the Pirate King in the London production.For a £200 "buyout", he recorded the "
mind the gap " warnings on thePiccadilly Line of theLondon Underground .He is also an
inventor with severalpatents to his name, a computer programmer, web site designer,guitar ist,banjo ist, songwriter, author and house renovator.Titles
In 1990, a distant Bentinck cousin who was
Duke of Portland died, and Tim Bentinck's father succeeded to the earldom of Portland, using his maiden speech in theHouse of Lords to address environmental issues.In 1997, Tim Bentinck succeeded his father. Although he took his seat in the unreformed
House of Lords , he did not speak there before losing the right to do so as a result of theHouse of Lords Act 1999 , and apart from a lecture tour of theUnited States on English Eccentrics, he has not used this title.Family
Bentinck married Judith Emerson in 1979, and they have two sons,
William Bentinck, Viscount Woodstock (heir to the peerages) andThe Honourable Jasper Bentinck.External links
* [http://www.bentinck.net/ Bentinck's website]
* "(Bentinck provided the voice ofJames Bond for the video-game "The World Is Not Enough")"
*
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/whos_who/actors/timothybentinck.shtml Radio 4 biography]References
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/ ThePeerage.com]
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