Richard Benedict

Acting · Directing

Born January 8, 1920, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Richard "Pepe" Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 8, 1920 – April 29, 1984) was an Italian-American television and film actor and director. He was born in Palermo, Italy. He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from the 1940s to the 1960s, most notably Ace in the Hole (1951), directed by Billy Wilder. Benedict appeared with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the 1960 movie Ocean's 11 as one of the 11 men who rob five Las Vegas casinos on the same night. He also played the commander of the Mars rescue ship in the 1958 B sci-fi movie It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Benedict's television appearances included Adventures of Superman, The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, Zorro, Dragnet, Peter Gunn and Hawaii Five-O. His directing credits included Impasse, an adventure film starring Burt Reynolds. He died of a heart attack at Studio City, Los Angeles, on April 29, 1984, and was interred in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery, in the Churchyard section. He was the father of three children, including actor Nick Benedict.

Filmography

• 1984Disconnected — Store Customer (Uncredited)
• 1980Mark, I Love You — Mr. Powell
• Doctors' Private Lives — Director
• Code R — Director
• Man from Atlantis — Director
• The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries — Director
• The Oregon Trail — Director
• Charlie's Angels — Director
• 1976Flannery and Quilt — Milt Lesser
• Quincy, M.E. — Director
• Joe Forrester — Director
• Matt Helm — Director
• S.W.A.T. — Director
• Born Free — Director
• Police Woman — Director
• 1973Big John Morrison — Director
• Police Story — Director
• Ghost Story — Mr. Parker
• The Rookies — Director
• Alias Smith and Jones — Director
• The Partners — Director
• Dan August — Director
• 1970Move — Prescott
• Night Gallery — Director
• Hawaii Five-O — Sol the Bartender, Director
• 1969Impasse — Director
• Marcus Welby, M.D. — Director
• Medical Center — Director
• The Outsider — Director
• Ironside — Director
• Mannix — Director
• N.Y.P.D. — Director
• The High Chaparral — Director
• The Invaders — Director
• Hawk — Director
• Mission: Impossible — Director
• Get Smart — Director
• I Spy — Director
• Laredo — Director
• Run for Your Life — Director
• 1965Winter A-Go-Go — Director
• 12 O'Clock High — Director
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — Director
• The Fugitive — Director
• Combat! — Director
• The Virginian — Director
• Miami Undercover
• Tallahassee 7000
• 1960I'll Give My Life
• 1960Ocean's Eleven — "Curly" Steffans, Producer's Assistant
• Surfside 6 — Harry Noonan, Director
• The Roaring 20's — Director
• Hawaiian Eye — Eddie Coyle, Mike Armin, Director
• Bronco — Director
• 1958It! The Terror from Beyond Space — Bob Finelli
• 1958Josette of New Orleans — Vic
• Lawman — Director
• Man with a Camera
• Peter Gunn
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse — Fur Sammons
• 1957Beginning of the End — Cpl. Mathias
• Harbor Command — Arnold Freeman
• Perry Mason — Steve Daniels
• 1957Spring Reunion — Jim (uncredited)
• 1957The Midnight Story — Pool Player (uncredited)
• The Walter Winchell File — Keeger
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie
• 1956The Man Is Armed — Lew 'Mitch' Mitchell
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mike
• Highway Patrol
• Navy Log
• 1955Spy Chasers — Boris
• The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp — Briscoe
• 1955The Shrike — Gregory
• 1955Wiretapper — Romato
• 1954Superman's Peril — Cappy
• The Lone Wolf — Babe Janno
• The Whistler
• 1953Act of Love — Pete
• General Electric Theater
• I Led Three Lives
• 1953Jalopy — Tony, the driver
• 1953Murder Without Tears — Joe 'Candy Markwell' Martola
• 1953Run for the Hills — Horace 'Happy' Day
• 1953The Juggler — Police Officer Kogan
• Adventures of Superman — Tony Gambini
• 1952Breakdown — Harry 'Punchy' Adams
• Cavalcade of America
• 1952Hoodlum Empire — Silky Tanner
• 1952Okinawa — Delgado
• 1952Woman in the Dark — Gino Morello
• 1951Ace in the Hole — Leo Minosa
• Dragnet
• 1951Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
• 1951Let's Go Navy! — Red
• Racket Squad
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Ace
• Lux Video Theatre — Al, Libero
• 1950Rookie Fireman — Al Greco
• 1950State Penitentiary — Mike Gavin
• 1950Triple Trouble — Skeets O'Neil
• 1949Angels in Disguise — Henchman Miami
• 1949City Across the River — Gaggsy Steens
• 1949Homicide — Nick Foster
• 1949Omoo-Omoo the Shark God — Mate Richards
• 1949Post Office Investigator — Louis Reese
• 1949Scene of the Crime — Turk Kingby
• 1949Shockproof — 'Kid', Knife Wielder (Uncredited)
• 1949Streets of San Francisco — Henry Walker
• The Lone Ranger — Bert Ronson
• 1949The Window — Murdered Seaman (Uncredited)
• 1948Race Street — Sam
• 1948Smart Girls Don't Talk — Cliff Saunders
• 1948The Arizona Ranger — Ranger Gills
• 1947Backlash — Detective Sergeant Tom Carey
• 1947Crossfire — Bill
• 1947The Guilt of Janet Ames — Joe Burton
• 1946O.S.S. — Robert Bouchet, Tech Sgt., A.U.S. / Albert Bernardi
• 1946Somewhere in the Night — Marine Desk Sergeant
• 1946Till the End of Time — Soldier with "the shakes"
• 1945A Walk in the Sun — Pvt. Tranella
• 1945See My Lawyer — Joe Wilson