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Paul Benjamin

Paul Benjamin (born 1938) is an American actor. Benjamin was born in Pelion, South Carolina. He made his film debut in 1969 as a bartender in Midnight Cowboy. After a small role in Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes, he did extensive television work in the 1970s. A few notable exceptions were a major role in Barry Shear's Across 110th Street, and smaller parts in Gordon Parks' biopic Leadbelly, Arthur Marks' Friday Foster, and Don Siegel's prison film Escape from Alcatraz. He gave exceptional performances in the TV adaptations of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and Gideon's Trumpet. He later starred in the HBO movie The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, based on the novel by Robert E. Burns. On the big screen in the 1990s, Benjamin worked with some well known directors. He appeared in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats, Bill Duke's Hoodlum, and John Singleton's Rosewood. On television, he appeared in the 1994 pilot episode of ER, which led to his recurring role of homeless man Al Ervin during the next few seasons. Benjamin also worked on the American Masters documentary of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ralph Ellison, which aired on PBS. After 2000, he appeared primarily in small independent films like Stanley's Gig, The Station Agent, Deacons For Defense, and James Hunter's 2004 drama Back in the Day. He recently made a special appearance in the independent film The Talk Man, directed by Gene Gallerano. Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul Benjamin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Born:
In Pelion, South Carolina, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
43
First Appeared:
In the series Hallmark Hall of Fame 1951-12-24
Latest Project:
Movie Straight Outta Tompkins 2015-03-06
Known For
Poster of Law & Order
Poster of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Poster of One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
Poster of The Education of Sonny Carson
Filmography
Movie Straight Outta Tompkins Perc Daddy 2015-03-06
Movie Ascension Day Sam 2007-02-02
Movie Back in the Day Cody 2005-05-24
Movie Deacons for Defense Otis 2003-01-01
Movie The Station Agent Henry Styles 2003-12-05
Series The Shield Unknown 2002-03-12
Movie Stanley's Gig Teddy Branson 2000-06-19
Movie The Breaks Clerk 1999-02-26
Series Angel Unknown 1999-10-05
Movie Rosewood James Carrier 1997-02-21
Movie Hoodlum Whispers 1997-08-27
Series ER Unknown 1994-09-19
Movie Back to the Streets of San Francisco Henry Brown 1992-01-27
Series Law & Order Unknown 1990-09-13
Movie Do the Right Thing ML 1989-06-14
Movie A Stranger Waits Cooper 1987-03-29
Movie Nuts Harry Harrison 1987-11-20
Movie The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains Big Sam 1987-10-31
Series The Atlanta Child Murders Homer Williams 1985-02-10
Movie Deadly Force Lester 1983-07-08
Movie Some Kind of Hero Leon 1982-04-02
Movie Gideon's Trumpet Artis 1980-04-30
Movie I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Freeman 1979-04-28
Movie Escape from Alcatraz English 1979-06-22
Series Knots Landing Unknown 1979-12-27
Movie One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story John LeFlore 1978-09-26
Movie Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys Ramsey 1976-04-22
Movie Leadbelly Wes Ledbetter 1976-05-28
Movie Friendly Persuasion Swan Stebeney 1975-05-18
Series Starsky & Hutch Unknown 1975-09-10
Movie Distance Sgt. Elwood Horne 1975-12-22
Movie Friday Foster Senator David Lee Hart 1975-12-25
Movie The Education of Sonny Carson Pops 1974-07-17
Series Police Woman Unknown 1974-09-13
Movie Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside Lt. Valentine 1973-03-14
Series Police Story Unknown 1973-03-20
Series Kojak Unknown 1973-10-24
Movie The Deadly Trackers Jacob 1973-12-21
Movie Across 110th Street Jim Harris 1972-12-19
Movie Born to Win Fixer 1971-12-01
Movie The Anderson Tapes Jimmy 1971-06-17
Movie Midnight Cowboy Bartender 1969-05-25
Series Hallmark Hall of Fame Unknown 1951-12-24