Benjamin Johnson (1742) was an English actor. Bibliography Johnson was first a scene painter, then acted in the provinces, and appeared in London in 1695 at Drury Lane after Thomas Betterton's defection. He was the original Captain Driver in Oronooko (1696), Captain Fireball in George Farquhar's Sir Harry Wildair (1701) and Sable in Richard Steele's The Funeral (1702); he was particularly well regarded as the First Gravedigger in Hamlet and as several characters in the plays of Ben Jonson. He also succeeded to Thomas Doggett's roles. In 1715 he starred in John Gay's hit comedy The What D'Ye Call It at Drury Lane. References 1665 births 1742 deaths 17th-century English male actors 18th-century English male actors 17th-century English painters English male painters 18th-century English painters English scenic designers English male stage actors 18th-century English male artists