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.
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.
Known for
Ascension Day
Back in the Day
The Station Agent
Deacons for Defense
The Shield
DMX: Angel
Angel
The Breaks
Hoodlum
Rosewood
ER
Back to the Streets of San Francisco
Law & Order
Do the Right Thing
The Meeting
Nuts
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains
A Stranger Waits
The Atlanta Child Murders
Night Heat
Deadly Force
Some Kind of Hero
Gideon's Trumpet
Knots Landing
Escape from Alcatraz
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
Leadbelly
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
Friday Foster
Distance
Starsky & Hutch
Friendly Persuasion
Police Woman
The Education of Sonny Carson
The Deadly Trackers
Kojak
Police Story
Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside
Across 110th Street
Born to Win
The Anderson Tapes
Midnight Cowboy
Hallmark Hall of Fame