Michael Pickersgill Benthall CBE (8 February 1919 – 6 September 1974) was an English theatre director. As an undergraduate at Oxford University, Benthall met Robert Helpmann, who had been fulfilling an invitation to dance there. The two men formed a romantic relationship that was to last for 36 years. The couple lived and worked together quite openly, until Benthall's death at age 55 in 1974. Benthall was a close friend of Vivien Leigh for many years.