Benjamin Patrick Aris was born on 16 March 1937 in London, and following the Second World War, he trained at the Arts Educational School.

[2] He also appeared in Tony Richardson's 1969 production of "Hamlet" at London's Roundhouse, its New York transfer to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, and also its film version the same year.

[7] His other early television roles included Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Sam and the River (1975), Crown Court, Wodehouse Playhouse and Target.

[5] He also worked several times for director Ken Russell, in films The Music Lovers, Savage Messiah, and Tommy, and in TV's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Lady Chatterley.

[9][5] For three episodes, from 1980 to 1981, he played Mr Spalding in To the Manor Born, and then in 1983, he portrayed Edmund Waller, one of Tom Lacey's friends at the court of Charles I, in By the Sword Divided.