Delaney Benson is an American singer, dancer, actor, and musical-theatre performer. She is also publicly known as the daughter of Jodi Benson, the actress and singer who provided the original voice of Ariel in Disney’s 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid.

Although her family connection has attracted media attention, Delaney has developed a professional identity through formal conservatory training, regional theatre productions, concert appearances, and national touring work. Her documented credits include Ariel in an immersive production of The Little Mermaid, Louise in Gypsy, Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain, and ensemble work in the North American tour of Spamalot.

Public information about her professional career is available through universities, theatres, and production companies. However, many details about her personal life remain private. This biography focuses on verified facts and avoids unsupported claims commonly repeated by celebrity-profile websites.

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Who Is Delaney Benson?

Delaney Benson is an American musical-theatre performer known for her work as an actor, singer, and dancer. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she has performed in The Little Mermaid, Gypsy, Singin’ in the Rain, and the North American tour of Spamalot. She is the daughter of Jodi and Ray Benson.

How Old Is Delaney Benson?

Delaney Benson was born on June 19, 2001. As of June 17, 2026, she is 24 years old and will turn 25 on June 19, 2026. Her birth year is also supported by public family coverage identifying her as Jodi and Ray Benson’s daughter born in 2001.

Who Are Delaney Benson’s Parents?

Delaney Benson’s parents are Jodi Benson and Ray Benson. Jodi Benson is an actress and singer best known as the original animated voice of Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Ray Benson has also worked as a performer. Delaney has an older brother, McKinley Benson.

What Did Delaney Benson Study?

Delaney Benson studied at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, commonly called CCM. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre in 2023 and studied psychology as a minor. Her conservatory education provided professional preparation in acting, singing, dancing, and live stage performance.

What Is Delaney Benson Known For?

Delaney Benson is known for portraying Ariel in Area Stage’s 2024 immersive production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. She has also played Louise in Gypsy, performed leading roles in regional musicals, appeared as a concert soloist, and made her national touring debut in the ensemble of Spamalot.

Delaney Benson Profile Summary

Early Life and Background

Delaney Benson was born in Los Angeles and raised in North Georgia. Her University of Cincinnati profile identifies her as being from Gainesville, Georgia.

She grew up in a household with strong connections to acting, singing, and theatre. Her mother, Jodi Benson, built a distinguished career in Broadway theatre, animation, film, and concert performance. Jodi is particularly associated with Ariel, whom she voiced in Disney’s original animated production of The Little Mermaid.

Delaney’s father, Ray Benson, also had experience as a performer. In a 2026 interview, Delaney explained that having two performing parents created a household in which members of the family could share an understanding of theatrical work.

She participated in community theatre during middle school while also spending several years playing sports. According to her account, performing for an audience eventually became more personally meaningful than continuing with soccer. By high school, she had decided to focus more seriously on theatre.

This background offers useful context for her career, but it should not be treated as evidence that family connections alone created her professional opportunities. Her later education, auditions, regional credits, and touring work demonstrate a more conventional progression through musical-theatre training and employment.

Delaney Benson’s Parents and Brother

Jodi Benson

Jodi Benson is an American actress and singer whose credits include Broadway productions, animated films, television, and concert appearances. She received a Tony Award nomination for playing Polly Baker in the Broadway musical Crazy for You.

Her most widely recognized role is Ariel in Disney’s 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. She continued voicing the character in later Disney productions and was named a Disney Legend in 2011.

Ray Benson

Ray Benson is Delaney’s father and Jodi Benson’s husband. Although he has a performing background, he has maintained a considerably lower public profile than his wife.

He should not be confused with other public figures who share the name Ray Benson. Reliable profiles of the family generally provide limited information about his individual career.

McKinley Benson

Delaney has an older brother named McKinley Benson, born in 1999. Jodi Benson’s official website identifies Delaney and McKinley as the couple’s two children.

McKinley has pursued work in creative fields, but he is not central to Delaney’s theatrical biography. Details about his private life are therefore best limited to information that the family has publicly confirmed.

Education at the University of Cincinnati

Delaney Benson attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, one of the university’s performing-arts schools. She was a member of CCM’s Musical Theatre Class of 2023.

Her published professional biography states that she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre and completed a minor in psychology. The program prepared her for work requiring a combination of acting, vocal performance, dance, movement, and interpretation.

Her senior showcase profile listed several roles she had already performed by the end of her education. These included Louise in Gypsy, Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain, Gabrielle in Cinderella, Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and Celeste #1 in Sunday in the Park with George.

The range of credits indicates that her training was not limited to one type of character. It included classic musical comedy, dramatic material, ensemble performance, and roles requiring substantial vocal and movement skills.

Theatre Career and Professional Journey

Early and Regional Theatre Roles

Before beginning a national tour, Benson built her résumé through university and regional productions.

She played Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain at The Carnegie in Kentucky. The role requires singing, dancing, comic timing, and the ability to carry a major part of a traditional musical.

Her other regional credits have included Gabrielle in Cinderella with Red Mountain Theatre Company and Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Starlight Theatre. She also performed as Lucy Van Pelt in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

These productions established a professional foundation outside her connection to Jodi Benson. They also show a career pattern common among trained musical-theatre performers: conservatory education followed by regional work, concerts, auditions, and touring opportunities.

Concert Performances

Benson has appeared as a concert soloist with the Utah Symphony and Gulf Coast Symphony. Her official Spamalot biography also credits her with solo work for the Walt Disney Company.

Concert performances differ from fully staged musicals because they place greater emphasis on vocal delivery and direct engagement with an audience. These appearances added another area of experience to her theatre résumé.

Playing Louise in Gypsy

One of Delaney Benson’s most notable theatrical roles has been Louise in Gypsy, the landmark musical written by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne, and Stephen Sondheim.

In 2023, she played Louise opposite Jodi Benson as Mama Rose in a Gulf Coast Symphony production in Florida. Louise is the character who eventually becomes the celebrated performer Gypsy Rose Lee.

The casting received attention because Delaney and Jodi played a fictional daughter and mother while also sharing that relationship in real life. However, Louise is a demanding dramatic role independent of that connection. The character develops from a comparatively overlooked young performer into a more confident adult entertainer.

Delaney and Jodi returned to the roles for OFC Creations Theatre Center’s production of Gypsy in Rochester, New York. The production ran from January 30 through February 16, 2025.

Their collaboration provided a significant professional credit for Delaney while also placing her in a role that required sustained acting, singing, and character development.

Delaney Benson as Ariel in The Little Mermaid

In 2024, Delaney Benson portrayed Ariel in Area Stage and Loxen Productions’ immersive adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid in South Miami.

The production opened in July and was later extended through August 25. It presented a shortened, 90-minute version of the stage musical in a space designed to place the action around the audience.

The casting attracted national attention because Jodi Benson had voiced Ariel in Disney’s 1989 animated film. Delaney’s performance, however, was not a voice role or a recreation of the original film recording. It was a live theatrical interpretation requiring her to act, sing, move through an immersive environment, and interact closely with audience members.

The distinction is important. Jodi created Ariel’s original animated voice performance, while Delaney played the character in a separate stage adaptation more than three decades later.

Delaney stated in interviews that the production’s immersive format allowed her to develop her own interpretation. Jodi also publicly emphasized that her daughter had made the character her own rather than simply copying the earlier performance.

The role became Delaney’s most widely covered credit at that point in her career. It linked her to an important part of her family’s theatrical history while giving her responsibility for leading a professional production.

Spamalot North American Tour

Delaney Benson reached another career milestone when she joined the North American tour of the Broadway revival of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

The touring production was announced in October 2025 and began performances in Cleveland in December. Its first-year schedule included more than 30 North American cities.

Benson joined the company as an ensemble performer, marking her national tour debut. The official production biography also listed her previous credits in The Little Mermaid, Gypsy, Singin’ in the Rain, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and Crazy for You.

A June 2026 interview reported that she also understudied the Lady of the Lake. By that stage of the tour, she said she had performed in approximately 200 shows and had appeared in the leading role several times.

Touring work requires performers to maintain consistent professional standards while travelling between venues and adapting to different stages. For Benson, Spamalot represented a move from individual regional engagements to sustained employment in a major touring production.

A national tour should not be described as a Broadway debut. Although the production was based on a Broadway revival, its performances took place in theatres across North America rather than in a Broadway venue.

Major Achievements and Recognition

Delaney Benson’s principal career achievements are connected to performance opportunities rather than major individual awards.

Her documented milestones include graduating from CCM’s musical-theatre program, playing substantial roles in regional productions, portraying Ariel in a nationally covered production, performing Louise opposite Jodi Benson in two productions of Gypsy, and making her national touring debut in Spamalot.

Her Ariel performance received considerable entertainment-media coverage because of Jodi Benson’s history with the character. That attention increased her public recognition, although the performance itself remained part of a professional regional theatre production.

No major individual theatre award or national acting nomination for Delaney Benson was identified in the reliable public sources reviewed for this biography. Claims that she has won significant awards should not be published without supporting documentation.

Personal Life

Delaney Benson has shared selected information about her upbringing, education, family, and professional interests. She has not made her private life the main subject of her public profile.

There is no reliable public confirmation of her current relationship status. Identifying a boyfriend, partner, or spouse based only on photographs or social-media interactions would be speculative.

She has discussed visiting independent coffee shops, art museums, and walkable areas while travelling on tour. These comments provide limited insight into how she explores new cities but do not justify broader assumptions about her lifestyle.

Information about her current home, income, property, or personal routines has not been established through authoritative public sources.

Philanthropy and Public Engagement

No substantial, independently documented philanthropic organization, charitable foundation, or long-term advocacy campaign led by Delaney Benson was identified in the available public record.

Her public engagement has primarily involved theatrical performances, concerts, cast interviews, promotional appearances, and communication with audiences through professional social-media accounts.

Participation in public performances should not automatically be described as philanthropy. A charitable role should be included in future biographies only when it is confirmed by an organization, event announcement, or direct statement.

Public Perception

Public discussion of Delaney Benson often begins with her relationship to Jodi Benson. This was especially noticeable during coverage of The Little Mermaid and Gypsy, where their professional histories directly overlapped.

That association provides a clear reason for media interest, but it does not describe the full structure of Delaney’s career. Her conservatory degree, regional credits, symphony performances, and national tour demonstrate professional activity under her own name.

By 2026, her career record showed a progression from community and educational theatre to regional leading roles and national touring work. This pattern offers stronger evidence of her professional development than general descriptions such as “celebrity daughter” or “social-media personality.”

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Common Misconceptions About Delaney Benson

She is primarily a music content creator

Some online platforms may categorize Benson as a music content creator. However, official university, theatre, and production biographies consistently describe her as a singer, dancer, actor, or musical-theatre performer.

Social-media activity may support her professional visibility, but there is insufficient evidence to present content creation as her principal occupation.

She voiced Ariel in a Disney film

Delaney Benson did not provide Ariel’s voice in Disney’s 1989 animated film. That performance belongs to Jodi Benson.

Delaney portrayed Ariel in Area Stage’s live immersive production of the stage musical in 2024.

She has made her Broadway debut

Her participation in the Spamalot North American tour is an important professional credit, but it is not the same as appearing in a Broadway theatre.

No verified Broadway-stage credit for Delaney Benson was identified in the sources reviewed.

She was already 25 in early 2026

Benson was born on June 19, 2001. She remains 24 until June 19, 2026, when she turns 25.

Articles should calculate her age according to their publication date rather than copying an automatically generated age from another website.

Her net worth is publicly known

No verified estimate of Delaney Benson’s net worth is available. Figures published by unsourced celebrity-finance websites should not be treated as established facts.

Privacy and Limited Public Information

Delaney Benson has a developing public career but does not maintain the level of media exposure associated with a long-established film or television celebrity.

Reliable information is concentrated in cast biographies, theatre announcements, university profiles, production interviews, and selected family posts. There is comparatively little authoritative information about her personal relationships, finances, detailed childhood experiences, or long-term private plans.

This lack of information should not be filled with assumptions. Responsible biographies should distinguish between facts confirmed by institutions or direct interviews and claims copied from entertainment databases.

Details such as her height, exact current residence, relationship history, salary, and net worth should be described as unavailable unless credible documentation emerges.

Legacy and Influence

It is too early to describe Delaney Benson as having a settled theatrical legacy. She is still in the early stages of her professional career.

Her most visible cultural contribution so far is her interpretation of Ariel, which created an unusual intergenerational connection with Jodi Benson’s famous animated performance. The importance of that moment lies not in treating the two performances as identical, but in showing how the same character was interpreted by a mother and daughter in different theatrical formats.

Her career also demonstrates how family exposure to the arts can exist alongside formal education and professional development. Available evidence shows that she followed conservatory training with regional roles, concert performances, and a national tour.

The most accurate assessment of her influence therefore remains limited: she has attracted attention through a well-known family connection while gradually establishing a separate record as a trained musical-theatre performer.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Delaney Benson’s birthday?

Delaney Benson’s birthday is June 19. A public post from Jodi Benson celebrated her 20th birthday on June 19, 2021, establishing her birth year as 2001.

Is Delaney Benson Jodi Benson’s biological daughter?

Public family and media sources identify Delaney as the daughter of Jodi Benson and her husband, Ray Benson. The family also includes Delaney’s older brother, McKinley Benson.

Did Delaney Benson study psychology?

Yes. Her professional biography states that she earned a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and completed a minor in psychology.

What role does Delaney Benson play in Spamalot?

Delaney Benson joined the North American tour of Spamalot as an ensemble performer. A 2026 interview also identified her as an understudy for the Lady of the Lake.

Is Delaney Benson a Broadway actress?

No verified Broadway-stage credit was identified. She has performed in regional theatre and joined the North American tour of a production based on the Broadway revival of Spamalot. A national tour is professionally significant but is not the same as performing on Broadway.

Conclusion

Delaney Benson is a trained American actor, singer, and dancer building a career in musical theatre. Born on June 19, 2001, she is the daughter of Jodi and Ray Benson and the younger sister of McKinley Benson.

She earned a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a minor in psychology. Her verified credits include Louise in Gypsy, Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain, Ariel in Area Stage’s The Little Mermaid, and ensemble work in the North American tour of Spamalot.

Her connection to Jodi Benson remains an important part of public interest, especially because both performers have played Ariel. However, Delaney’s education, regional work, concert appearances, and national tour provide evidence of an independent professional path. Information about her relationships, finances, and other private matters remains limited and should not be presented speculatively.