Played by Tom Christopher, 1999 to 2008.
Chief of Police. Ethan's father.
He does not know yet.
| Full Name | Samuel Joseph Bennett |
| Born | Jul. 7, 1954, Harmony |
| Wife | Grace Bennett |
| Children | Noah, Kay, Jessica Bennett; Ethan Winthrop (biological, unknown) |
| Played by | Tom Christopher, 1999 to 2008 |
| Occupation | Chief of Police, Harmony |
| Great love | Grace. Also, historically, Ivy Winthrop. |
Bennett Family · Chief of Police · Ethan's Father
Sam Bennett
Harmony's Chief of Police. Husband of Grace. Father of Noah, Kay, and Jessica. Also, as of this week, the biological father of Ethan Winthrop, which he does not yet know. The Gazette is watching how this develops.
Active · Harmony PDPresent Situation
Sam Bennett is, at press time, Chief of Police in Harmony and unaware that the paternity revelation at Rebecca Hotchkiss's soiree this week confirmed him as Ethan Winthrop's biological father. He had a relationship with Ivy Winthrop before she married Julian Crane. She was pregnant. He did not know. The Gazette is aware that Sam's learning of this will be a significant event.
His wife Grace fell down the stairs this week after experiencing symptoms of pregnancy. His daughter Kay opened a portal to hell in her bedroom. His niece Charity is in that portal. Sam is, to the Gazette's knowledge, unaware of most of what is currently happening in his own household, which is a structural feature of being Sam Bennett.
Background
Sam Bennett grew up in Harmony, the son of working-class parents, and rose to become Chief of Police through diligence rather than connection. He met and fell in love with Ivy Winthrop as a young man, when she was the daughter of the governor and he was a lifeguard working for her father's company. They were engaged. Her father intervened, their letters were intercepted, and each believed the other had ended things. Ivy married Julian Crane. Sam, heartbroken, eventually moved on.
He later rescued a woman from a fire in Boston. She had no memory. He gave her the name Grace, from a piece of paper in her pocket. They married, and he brought her to Harmony. They built a life together and had three children. Sam Bennett loves Grace with the specific devotion of a man who found something extraordinary in ordinary circumstances and has never stopped being grateful for it.
The Ivy Problem
Ivy Crane has never stopped loving Sam. She has attended every charitable event that puts her near him. She has made advances. Sam has, to his credit, resisted. He loves Grace. He is also aware that Ivy is married to Julian Crane and regards this as a categorical reason not to engage further. What Sam does not know is that Ivy has been actively scheming to put herself in his life in ways he cannot easily identify as scheming.
Chief of Police
Sam is a capable police chief in a town that routinely confronts him with situations outside the scope of conventional law enforcement. He has investigated things no criminal justice training prepared him for. He has done so with the pragmatism of a man who decided at some point that Harmony is what it is and that his job is to keep people safe regardless of the supernatural circumstances.
His investigative record within his own household is, the Gazette acknowledges, less impressive. Kay has been scheming for years within the Bennett home and Sam has not detected it. The Gazette does not hold this against him. It holds it against Harmony.