Max Benitz (born 14 March 1985) is a British writer, journalist, and former film and television actor.
Education
Benitz was born in London. He attended
Harrow School from 1998 to 2003, where he appeared in student productions of
As You Like It,
Hamlet,
The Pirates of Penzance, and
Me and My Girl. He completed two weeks' work experience as a filing clerk at the offices of
The Spectator magazine. After seeing his performance as Midshipman Calamy in the film
,
Boris Johnson, then editor of the
Spectator, wrote that Benitz had shown "much the same dash and dispatch as in rescuing my Toyota from the car pound."
Benitz went on to study history at the University of Edinburgh. As an undergraduate, he completed a nine-month programme at University of Calcutta, after which, in 2007, he embarked, with friend and fellow University of Edinburgh student George Vlasto, in a journey from Calcutta to London by car.[Patrick Pringle, "A drive to London - Students choose Ambassador for trip", The Telegraph (Calcutta), 5 June 2007] The trip, undertaken in a Hindustan Ambassador car, took ten weeks and covered in a route that passed through India, Pakistan, China, Central Asia, Turkey and Europe. As a part of journey, they raised more than £12,000 for the charities Future Hope in Calcutta and Royal Marsden Hospital on behalf of disadvantaged children.[Peter Foster, "Ambassador makes light of epic drive", Daily Telegraph (U.K.), 25 August 2007.]
Acting career
Benitz was a
teenager when acting in what may be his best known role, as
Midshipman Peter Calamy in the 2003 film
. Still a teenager, he next appeared in a small role as Huband in the 2005 TV movie of
Thomas Hughes novel
Tom Brown's Schooldays. In 2007, Benitz featured prominently as James Harrogate in the two-part episode "Sins of the Father" of the tenth series of
Trial & Retribution.
After 2007, concentrating on his journalism career, Benitz, as of 2023, has only appeared in two films The Water Diviner (2014) and Mara (2018).
Journalism
In 2008–2009, Benitz worked as an unpaid journalist for the
MOBY Group and as a freelancer in Afghanistan, covering the activities of the
British Army in that country.
[Max Benitz, "Kabul's Eye," Tatler, March 2009.][Max Benitz, "On patrol with Generation Xbox," New Statesman, 2 May 2011.] His book,
Six Months Without Sundays: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan, was published by
Birlinn Limited in November 2011.
[ Author page at Birlinn]
Personal life
Benitz has one son with actress and his former partner
Olga Kurylenko, born on 3 October 2015.
Max Benitz married Celia Weinstock, granddaughter of Lord Weinstock, at the Savoy Chapel in London on 10 March 2023.
External links
