Terry Sue-Patt obit

Terry Sue-Patt found dead: Grange Hill's Benny Green dies aged 50

The British actor is believed to have been found dead at his home and his fellow co-stars have paid tribute to him

 

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With a red duffel bag over his shoulder, viewers watched as the school caretaker remonstrated with him for kicking his football against the wall.

For Terry Sue-Patt, the actor who played Benny, it was the start of a childhood career which saw him become one of Grange Hill’s most-loved characters.

After four years he left the series and went on to appear in pop music videos. Minor TV and film roles followed, including 1989’s The Firm but he was never able to better the role of Benny and it proved to be the pinnacle of his acting career.

Born in Islington, north London, Sue-Patt was one of six children born to African parents and went to Sir William Collins Comprehensive School.

At the same time he studied at the Anna Scher Theatre School.

Sue-Patt appeared in various Children’s Film Foundation productions before his teens and got his big break as Benny when Colin Cant, the original director of Grange Hill, spotted him practising his football skills.

Benny Green is really like me so there’s little acting required,” the actor said. “I love football and as a kid I was a bit of a sheep and liked knocking around in a group. The character sums me up. Sensitive, a bit shy but determined to succeed, come what may.”

The idea for the show, set in a London comprehensive, was to reflect the realities of school life and tackle the issues that children faced, such as bullying and drugs.

Creator Phil Redmond, who was also behind Brookside and Hollyoaks, said: “The reason it worked so well is because it’s about school – something everyone has to face in one shape or form.

“I always thought that television could do more for children than tame things like ‘Robin Hood’ or endless period dramas.”

For Sue-Patt the success of Grange Hill came as a total surprise but in 1982 he decided to leave, despite being offered a part on the spin-off show Tucker’s Luck. “I turned it down. I felt that the character had gone far enough and I wanted to do other things,” he said.

At the time of his death he was working as a stencil artist but more recently had been plagued by debts and drink problems.

According to his father Alston, he had never come to terms with his brother Michael’s death in a car crash in 1989 in which he was the front-seat passenger and Michael was the driver.

Sue-Patt was found lying face down in bed in his housing association flat in Walthamstow, east London, after a worried friend raised the alarm.

Sue-Patt began his acting career with small parts in various Children's Film Foundation productions including Blind Man's Bluff (1977), a part in the 1973 public information film Lonely Water, and an appearance in General Hospital for ATV. He was given the part of Benny Green in Grange Hill after being spotted at his local drama group and playing football in the local park by Colin Cant, the series' original director. His character was the first pupil seen on screen in the first episode. "I basically played myself in Grange Hill", he later recalled. "There weren't many black actors about on TV at that time. I had a great time, getting time off school to play football. It was a bit of a dream come true, really."

After leaving Grange Hill, he turned down a reprisal of his role in the spin-off series Tucker's Luck, having had enough of playing Benny and wanting to broaden his acting horizons.

Sue-Patt played the role of Yusef in Alan Clarke's The Firm (1989). He also played a gunman in the Channel 4 series Desmond's in 1990 (which featured an in-joke about his role in Grange Hill), and he appeared in the BBC Schools programme, Scene (1990s).

Actor

Laura Aikman, Martin Delaney, Rez Kempton, Goldy Notay, Meera Syal, Nina Wadia, Karen David, and Sam Vincenti in Amar Akbar & Tony (2015)

Amar Akbar & Tony

5.3

Priest (as Terry Sue Patt)

2015

 

Cherps

4.8

Josh (as Terry Sue Patt)

2005

 

Helen Baxendale, Ace Bhatti, Jo Dow, Andrew Lancel, and Peter O'Brien in Cardiac Arrest (1994)

Cardiac Arrest

8.1

TV Series

Student Nurse Luke HarrisSN Luke (as Terry Sue Patt)

1994–1996

3 episodes

 

Little Napoleons (1994)

Little Napoleons

5.9

TV Mini Series

Albert Dyer (as Terry Sue Patt)

1994

1 episode

 

Crimewatch File

7.7

TV Series

Mark Johnson (as Terry Sue Patt)

1994

1 episode

 

Screen One (1985)

Screen One

7.0

TV Series

Car Breaker (as Terry Sue Patt)

1992

1 episode

 

The Comic Strip Presents (1982)

The Comic Strip Presents

7.8

TV Series

Footballer (as Terry Sue Patt)

1992

1 episode

 

Desmond's (1989)

Desmond's

7.9

TV Series

Lloyd (as Terry Sue Patt)

1990

2 episodes

 

Ball-Trap on the Cote Sauvage (1989)

Ball-Trap on the Cote Sauvage

7.2

TV Movie

Young Fitness (as Terry Sue Patt)

1989

 

Screen Two (1984)

Screen Two

6.7

TV Series

Yusef (as Terry Sue Patt)

1989

1 episode

 

Colin Blumenau, Nula Conwell, Peter Ellis, Trudie Goodwin, Jon Iles, Gary Olsen, Eric Richard, John Salthouse, Tony Scannell, Jeff Stewart, and Mark Wingett in The Bill (1984)

The Bill

6.7

TV Series

Squire (as Terry Sue Patt)

1988

1 episode

 

AIDS: Your Choice for Life (1987)

AIDS: Your Choice for Life

Short

Stills Sequence Models

1987

 

The Best Ever Nuclear Fall Out Shelter

Short

Cheeky Kid

1987

 

Alphonsia Emmanuel, Ian Hogg, and Joe McGann in Rockliffe's Babies (1987)

Rockliffe's Babies

7.3

TV Series

Patrick (as Terry Sue Patt)

1987

1 episode

 

Ray Brooks in Big Deal (1984)

Big Deal

8.1

TV Series

AaronBoy (as Terry Sue Patt)

1984–1986

4 episodes

 

Lenny Henry Tonite (1986)

Lenny Henry Tonite

6.0

TV Series

(as Terry Sue Patt)

1986

1 episode

 

Screenplay (1986)

Screenplay

6.5

TV Series

Snapper (as Terry Sue Patt)

1986

1 episode

 

Black Silk

TV Series

Ayo-Gidi Ojo (as Terry Sue Patt)

1985

1 episode

 

Dramarama (1983)

Dramarama

6.8

TV Series

Gunge (as Terry Sue Patt)

1985

1 episode

 

Lytton's Diary (1985)

Lytton's Diary

7.0

TV Series

Thug (uncredited)

1985

1 episode

 

Scene (1968)

Scene

6.8

TV Series

Floyd (as Terry Sue Patt)

1984

1 episode

 

Grange Hill (1978)

Grange Hill

7.2

TV Series

Benny Green

1978–1982

29 episodes

 

Blind Man's Bluff (1977)

Blind Man's Bluff

6.6

Steve (as Terry Sue Patt)

1977

 

The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water (1973)

The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water

7.1

TV Short

Child (as Terry Sue Patt)

1973

 

Thanks

Wings of Death (1985)

Wings of Death

6.2

Short

special thanks (as Terry Sue Patt)

1985

 

Self

George Armstrong, Lee MacDonald, Erkan Mustafa, Wayne Norman, and Terry Sue-Patt in ME1 TV At The Grange Hill Art Exhibition (2014)

ME1 TV At The Grange Hill Art Exhibition

Video

Self

2014

 

John Hannah and Suranne Jones in A Touch of Cloth (2012)

A Touch of Cloth

7.8

TV Series

Self (as Terry Sue Patt)

2013

1 episode

 

Eamonn Andrews in This Is Your Life (1955)

This Is Your Life

6.4

TV Series

Self

2000

1 episode

 

Cat Deeley, Alison Hammond, Dermot O'Leary, and Ben Shephard in This Morning (1988)

This Morning

4.3

TV Series

Self

1998

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

Konnie Huq in Kids' TV: The Surprising Story (2022)

Kids' TV: The Surprising Story

6.8

TV Special

Benny Green (archive footage, uncredited)

2022

 

Jeremy Clarkson in You Don't Want to Do That (2001)

You Don't Want to Do That

TV Movie

Child (archive footage)

2001