Nat Benchley

Who is Nat Benchley?

Nathaniel Robert "Nat" Benchley is an American writer and actor who has performed on stage, television, and film. He is the grandson of humorist Robert Benchley, the son of author Nathaniel G. Benchley, and the brother of author Peter Benchley, who wrote Jaws.

Since 1996 Nat Benchley has been performing Benchley Despite Himself, "a compilation of Robert Benchley's best monologues, short films, radio rantings and pithy pieces as recalled, edited, and acted by his grandson, and combined with family reminiscences and friends' perspectives." He has performed it in Washington, DC; New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and other locations. The Washington Post called it "an engaging work that breaks with the usual conventions of one-man plays. Rather than inhabit the character of Robert Benchley the entire evening, Nat Benchley blends his own observations with re-creations of the routines and sketches that made his grandfather famous. The effect is at once seductive and distancing, perhaps a bit like Robert Benchley, whose humor often obscured his unhappiness."

He has recorded two CDs of Robert Benchley's monologues, Benchley on Benchley, Volumes 1 & 2.