Frederick Bentham

Frederick Bentham FABTT FIES (23 October 191110 May 2001) was a British theatre lighting designer and engineer who created the Light Console in 1932 and continued to influence lighting in theatres into the 1970s, firstly as the chief engineer before becoming the Research and Design director of Strand Electric and Engineering Company. Bentham would go on to become the editor of TABS, Strand's technical journal, and Sightline, the ABTT's journal, and lighting. In 1969 he was elected as master of the Art Workers Guild.

Early life Bentham was born on 23 October 1911 in Harlesden, to the sculpturer Percy George Bentham and his wife Ellen Celia Hobbs and had two siblings, Philip (also a sculpturer, best known for The Coventry Boy ) and Celia. Bentham was a muse for his father at just 7 months old, with a sculpture of him created in bronze. While at school, Bentham started his love affair with lighting by working in the amateur theatre club and by creating mock up design for theatre lighting by using Meccano. His great grandfather was the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Career Bentham started his career with General Electric Company in 1929. He was part of the theatre consulting engineers department, where he was assistant to Basil Davis in what was a two man department. The work was mainly concentrated on decorative lighting of movie theatres, which grew his interest in colour mixing and brought to his attention the electro-mechanical Mansell clutch. He wrote about his idea in his article Light as an Art in The Builder. Previous to the Light Console, a complex mechanical device was used and the operators were unable to see the stage. The console used the Mansell clutch, which allowed remote control of dimmers from an electro-mechanically driven shaft. His first prototype was used by Bentham to perform a colour light show at the Ideal Home Exhibition in 1932. and John Christie at Glyndebourne.

By 1936, he had exerted his influence on the company by introducing a new case-bound catalogue which included many innovative products designed by Bentham, including profile spotlights, parallel beamlights, and acting area spotlights. The catalogue also included models that only had an existence in its pages but could be built if required. He was elected to the Art Workers Guild as a Decorative Colour Worker member in 1936 after his lecture Stage Lighting as an Art at the Guild, in front of his father and George Bernard Shaw. which he would require major surgery for 11 years later, and did not return to work full time until 1939. His father Percy would also die this year.

The first commercial sale of the Light Console was to the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon in 1940. Due to the war it took 6 months to complete the installation, with Bentham and Strand foreman Bill Pepworth having to get permission from the Portuguese ambassador to take seats on a weekly civil flight. Bentham also led the war work of Strand by developing lighting for aircraft carriers While on his road to recovery, Bentham acted as an unofficial adviser

While in the sanatorium, Strand asked one of Bentham's team, James Templeton Wood to develop an electronic system based on Thryatron valves that George Izenour had developed at Yale University. The Strand Remote Control – Electronic Type or known as the Woody was unfortunately unreliable, and by 1955 Bentham had returned the company back to motorised resistance and transformer dimmers. In 1958, Bentham was made a director of Strand.

In 1961, Bentham became a founding member of the Association of British Theatre Technicians It was in 1962 that Strand launched the Bentham designed Pattern 264 spotlight. The 264 was patented as a biofocal spotlight and the entire lens tube was mounted with a hinge to the lamphouse, so it could be swung open for access to the reflector or lens. In 1966, Bentham's Research and Development team demonstrated the IDM (Instant Dimmer Memory), the first lighting memory system.

By 1968, Strand were falling behind the opposition and were heavily investing in solid state technology, which made them a target for a takeover. That arrived in the form of The Rank Organisation. Bentham released his next publication Art of Stage Lighting in 1968, which would go onto have two further versions in 1976 and 1980. and followed this with Stage Planning in 1971.

Bentham did not fit into the corporate culture at The Rank Organisation and retired from the business in 1973. He moved to become the editor of the Association of British Theatre Technicians journal, Sightline in 1974, a role held until 1984, and worked as a theatre consultant.

Awards In 1969 Bentham was elected as the master of the Art Workers' Guild. In 1983 he was elected as the first fellow of the Association of British Theatre Technicians. In 1997, Bentham received The Wally Russell Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Entertainment Technology. and a memorial service was held at the London Palladium in June 2001.