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Ben Glenroy was a guest character in Season 2 and a main character in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. He was an actor in Oliver Putnam's show, Death Rattle, who died during the show's premiere, and the mystery of his death was the main focus of Season 3.
He is portrayed by Paul Rudd.
History[]
Early life[]
At eight years old, Glenroy was cast to appear as a series regular on Brazzos, but after his first table read Charles-Haden Savage got him fired from the show.[1]
Starring in Death Rattle[]
Ben was cast opposite Charles in Oliver's new play. At the first read-through, Ben arrived late, which he blamed on his brother, Dickie, taking them to the wrong street. He had everyone in the room sign NDAs and authorize the filming, since Ben had hired Tobert to document his Broadway debut. When Loretta Durkin caused delays by trying two different accents and then not noticing when the next line was hers, Ben went to Oliver and tried to get her fired, but Oliver refused.[4]
Ben struggled with getting things right for the play and not feeling like a phony. He worked one-on-one with Oliver and finally nailed it. Charles came in, having seen Ben's work, and told him he did great. Ben thought Charles was mocking him, but found out that Charles didn't remember getting Ben fired as a child.[1]
The night before opening night, Ben stayed up all night with his sewing group making hankies for the cast and crew, as he wanted to do something nice for them after treating some of them poorly. They finished just in time for him to make it to the theater late. K.T. yelled at him and sent him to get into costume. He went to his dressing room, where Cliff was waiting with cookies his mom had ordered. Ben refused to take one, but decided to smell it and asked Cliff to check on his guests, his sewing room, who were supposed to come to the show. After getting into costume, Ben went to rehearse his fight scene with Loretta, but found out that Dickie was planning to stop being his manager, something Ben blamed on Loretta. He told Dickie he didn't have a bother anymore and then went to rehearse, where he told Loretta to stay away from Dickie. Charles found them fighting and punched Ben, leaving a mark on his face, which Joy covered with make-up. Ben went back to Cliff and learned that his guests were probably stuck in traffic as there was an event going on at the UN. Donna told Ben that he looked awful and advised him to go to his dressing room and take care of himself so he'd be ready for the show. Tobert tried to film Ben backstage for his documentary, but Ben took the camera and told Tobert they were done. The camera stayed on as Ben entered his dressing room and noticed a cookie on his vanity. He told the cookie it would ruin his career and he would enjoy it, then gave into temptation and ate it. Afterward, he berated himself for being a "fucking pig" and drew a pig and those words on his mirror.[5]
Charles and Ben fought backstage right before the show started, culminating in Charles telling Ben to stay away from Loretta and that he knows what Ben did. Ben went on the stage to start the show, but shortly after the curtain lifted, he collapsed.[6] Ben was pronounced dead and taken to the hospital. The doctors were able to pump his stomach and he regained consciousness. They told him to stay, but he insisted that he needed to leave as his experience had made him realize how he'd wronged other people, and he wanted to apologize immediately. He went to Oliver's opening night party, where he apologized to everyone. Then his phone rang and Dickie told him he needed to take the call. Ben excused himself back to his apartment, so he could do that.[4] The call was from his doctor, who informed Ben that he'd ingested rat poison, but the combination of the other drugs in his system likely saved his life. A bewildered Ben ran into Cliff. Through his conversation with Cliff, Ben realized the cookie he'd eaten had to be the source of the poison. He blamed Cliff for it, as Cliff was offering the cookies around, but Cliff said the cookies were actually from his mother. A fight ensued, with Ben calling Cliff "boy" instead of his name and Cliff calling Ben a phony and saying he had told Donna that Ben was wrong for the part and didn't want to hire him in the first place. The argument turned physical and in the struggle, Cliff pushed Ben into the open elevator shaft, where he fell to his death.[7]
Personality[]
An incident in Glenroy's childhood was a catalyst in his antagonistic personality, and he confessed his hidden insecurities to Oliver Putnam.[1] After his close brush with death, Glenroy apologized to his fellow cast members for his previous actions.[4]
Relationships[]
Dickie Glenroy[]
Dickie was Ben's older brother and worked as his agent presumably for his entire acting career. Though it is implied that they grew up close, Ben and Dickie had a tempestuous relationship, with Ben taking Dickie for granted for everything he did for him, and Dickie deeply resenting Ben. It is implied that Ben knew Dickie was adopted, since Dickie offered the information freely to Mabel.[3] Despite this, Ben never used this against Dickie in arguments, and admitting to both supporting his brother through his acting and introducing him as his brother.
When they were children, it is implied they had somewhat of a close relationship. Ben admitted to Charles he was supporting his brother with his acting.[1] However, Dickie always resented Ben for having all the attention, and being forced to look out for him, no matter how badly Ben treated him. This was heightened by the fact that Ben passed off Dickie's childhood comic - CoBro - off as his own. Ben took Dickie for granted, since Dickie never left him, no matter how poorly he was treated. It is possible that Ben didn't realize the extent to which he was hurting his brother, since he was genuinely shocked and angry to hear he wanted to leave.
On the night he died, Ben found out that Dickie intended to leave his job as Ben's manager. Despite being outwardly dismissive and blaming of Dickie, he seemed genuinely hurt that his brother wanted to leave. He disowned Dickie, though Dickie later confessed to Loretta that he knew Ben would have roped him back in the next day.[8] Though they did not part amicably, it was clear they did still care about one another.
Charles-Haden Savage[]
He and his co-star, Charles, did not get along. As they prepared backstage for their show to premiere, they fought. Glenroy wanted Charles to apologize for something. Charles also warned Ben to stay away from "her."
Career[]
He was an actor until his death. He made his Broadway debut in Death Rattle. His career supported his mother and brother.[1]
Notes and Trivia[]
- He has a weakness for cookies.[4]
- Ben loved boba.[3]
- He liked to watch funny dog videos on Instagram.[3]
- He set his watch 20 minutes early so he'd always arrive fashionably late.[3]
- Since the character is played by actor Paul Rudd, this is the first character he has played on the show. The other two are:
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
.jpg "Ben Glenroy (Alive).jpg (79 KB)")
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Season Two | |||||
| #01 | "Persons of Interest" | #05 | "The Tell" | #09 | "Sparring Partners" |
| #02 | "Framed" | #06 | "Performance Review" | #10 | "I Know Who Did It" |
| #03 | "The Last Day of Bunny Folger" | #07 | "Flipping the Pieces" | ||
| #04 | "Here's Looking at You" | #08 | "Hello, Darkness" | ||
| Season Three | |||||
| #01 | "The Show Must..." | #05 | "Ah, Love!" | #09 | "Thirty" |
| #02 | "The Beat Goes On" | #06 | "Ghost Light" | #10 | "Opening Night" |
| #03 | "Grab Your Hankies" | #07 | "CoBro" | ||
| #04 | "The White Room" | #08 | "Sitzprobe" | ||
References[]
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