Harriet Benson

Julia Sterroll

Harriet is delighted to be back in Vienna after six years, when she played the enigmatic Mrs. Erlynne in the English Theatre’s production of Lady Windermere’s Fan.After leaving drama school, she made her professional debut as a “Hot-Box” girl in Guys and Dolls at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.

Harriet’s West End credits include: The Royal Baccarat Scandal at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket; Peter Hall’s production of An Ideal Husband at the Old Vic and she also created the role of Amy in the Noel Gay musical Radio Times at the Queen’s Theatre. In fact her singing voice has landed her many roles in some popular musicals including Grace Farrell in Annie (Sheffield Crucible and Liverpool Playhouse); Millie in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Theatre Royal, Plymouth); Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch) and Sigma in the tour of Nightingale. Several national tours, notably An Ideal Husband playing Lady Basildon and The Forsyte Saga playing June Forsyte, gave Harriet a true understanding of the geography of Britain!

She has also worked on Florentine Intermedi, a sixteenth century Italian opera for television, and worked extensively for Scandinavia making educational language recordings. Her film credits include A Ghost in Monte Carlo for Lew Grade and 2984 – a Bafta nominee.

Most recently Harriet played Mollie Ralston in The Mousetrap at St. Martin’s Theatre, London, in their record breaking 50^th year!

As well as acting, Harriet teaches drama part time at her son’s prep school and is also studying hard for her Teacher’s Diploma in drama. She is married to Spatz Crawford, a former Production Manager at Vienna’s English Theatre, and has two young sons Joshua and Louis and lives in Hampshire.