Robert Bensley

Robert Bensley (c. 1740 – 1817) was an 18th-century English actor, of whom Charles Lamb in the Essays of Elia speaks with special praise.

His early life is obscure, but his family was not poor: an uncle, Sir William Bensley, was among the directors of the British East India Company.

He is said to have served in America as a lieutenant of marines, attaining his commission through the influence of another relative; in this capacity, he may have participated in theatrical entertainments for soldiers; one early biography mentions a role on Thomas Otway's The Orphan.

The following season, he moved to Covent Garden, where he earned sixteen shillings a day working for George Colman the Elder.

He played his final role, in Arthur Murphy's The Grecian Daughter, opposite Sarah Siddons: the benefit earned him 362 pounds.

Though early rumor linked him to singer Isabella Mattocks, he did not marry until 1772, when he met Francina Augustina Cheston in Bristol after having accidentally caused her to fall from her horse.

Even his defenders admitted that Bensley had to overcome notable physical deficiencies to make a mark as an actor: his eye and features were said to lack expressiveness, his voice was too nasal, and his movements too jerky and awkward.