Jon Toby Benn (30 July 1935 – 9 December 2018)[1] was a businessman, entrepreneur, and actor, who most notably played the mob boss in Way of the Dragon.
[7] Benn played the Mafia boss in Bruce Lee's film, Way of the Dragon which was released in 1973.
[8] His getting the part in the movie came about as a result of a cocktail party conversation with Hong Kong film producer Raymond Chow.
Due to the fact that Benn didn't want children, they separated but remained good friends.
[10] Having studied Spanish in Mexico as a teenager, Benn later ran an English language program there.
[6][5] During the 1960s, Benn had either bit parts or double roles in The Magnificent Seven in 1960, John Huston’s Night of the Iguana in 1964.
Benn played the part of the mad scientist, Professor Lucas who is enlisted by the FBI to create clones of Bruce Lee.
[11][17][18] In November 1997, Benn was guest of honor at the Brandon Lee Association sponsored convention in England which commemorated the 25th anniversary of Way of the Dragon.
Pictures of Benn with Lee and Norris which were taken during the filming of Way of the Dragon appeared in a magazine which covered the silver anniversary event.
The RZA directed film which starred Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu also featured Pam Grier.
Actor and filmmaker Michael Worth spent several days with Benn and his family in Kentucky for documentary on Bruceploitation.