Paul Benjamin
Acting
Born February 4, 1935, Pelion, South Carolina, USA
Paul Benjamin (February 4, 1935 – June 28, 2019) was an American actor. 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 primarily did 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.
Filmography
- 2016Occupy, Texas — Mr. Goodman
- 2007Ascension Day — Sam
- 2005Back in the Day — Cody
- 2005Deacons for Defense — Otis
- 2003The Station Agent — Henry Styles
- The Shield — Perry
- 2001DMX: Angel — Minister
- 2000Stanley's Gig — Teddy Branson
- Angel — Fellow Resident
- 1999Last Rites — Fez
- 1999The Breaks — Clerk
- 1997Hoodlum — Whispers
- 1997Rosewood — James Carrier
- 1997Vanishing Point — Mose, Snake Wrangler
- 1994Drop Squad — Wellington Cosbie
- ER — Al Ervin
- 1994The Fence — Del Reston
- 1992Back to the Streets of San Francisco — Henry Brown
- 1991The Five Heartbeats — Mr. King
- 1991The Super — Gilliam
- Law & Order — Lonnie Jackson
- 1989Do the Right Thing — ML
- 1989The Meeting — Rashad
- 1987A Stranger Waits — Cooper
- 1987Nuts — Harry Harrison
- 1987The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains — Big Sam
- Night Heat
- The Atlanta Child Murders — Homer Williams
- 1983Deadly Force — Lester
- American Playhouse — Rashad
- 1982Some Kind of Hero — Leon
- 1980Gideon's Trumpet — Artis
- 1979Escape from Alcatraz — English
- 1979I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — Freeman
- Knots Landing — Mr. Carter
- 1978One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story — John LeFlore
- 1976Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys — Ramsey
- 1976Leadbelly — Wes Ledbetter
- 1975Distance — Sgt. Elwood Horne
- 1975Friday Foster — Senator David Lee Hart
- 1975Friendly Persuasion — Swan Stebeney
- Starsky & Hutch
- Police Woman
- 1974The Education of Sonny Carson — Pops
- Kojak — Willie Daniels
- 1973Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside — Lt. Valentine
- Police Story
- 1973The Deadly Trackers — Jacob
- 1972Across 110th Street — Jim Harris
- 1971Born to Win — Fixer
- 1971The Anderson Tapes — Jimmy
- 1969Midnight Cowboy — Bartender
- Hallmark Hall of Fame — Arlis