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](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/eHJ7tUnaqCKgrJuNvrzBLU6lKDc.jpg)
Ascension Day
![Back in the Day](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/qVTworfR92MFfjqkzYMMGV2yoGh.jpg)
Back in the Day
![The Station Agent](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/kjJg6eJa9I9flfHaJG67ecEv8YX.jpg)
The Station Agent
![Deacons for Defense](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/8aje30MoZoDhEzyxbXBNwS7Yh5l.jpg)
Deacons for Defense
![The Shield](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/AfdZXqqlFsPUEfi6kWWWthxw7Nz.jpg)
The Shield
![DMX: Angel](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/nXSgiUDcH9ZJLcSvabJAWRsYIK3.jpg)
DMX: Angel
![Angel](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/7dRU3wdMJba3PedicxEYSks0oJx.jpg)
Angel
![The Breaks](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/teNV6wHnhFQApC7F2HjixWfdffx.jpg)
The Breaks
![Hoodlum](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/hZrwqVXLyxxsNJHVc6bJKSUDkXA.jpg)
Hoodlum
![Rosewood](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/5EeTYDXdrpD9mZSSwsrFbqgok9U.jpg)
Rosewood
![ER](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/rAxd8H0zGH61RWMPVZiR9zT4Nqk.jpg)
ER
![Back to the Streets of San Francisco](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/wFeRCxmh3G8c32qnbjx2uLqjwzp.jpg)
Back to the Streets of San Francisco
![Law & Order](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/m9zTQr4TYS98UFSiA1k0mMfECPe.jpg)
Law & Order
![Do the Right Thing](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/63rmSDPahrH7C1gEFYzRuIBAN9W.jpg)
Do the Right Thing
![The Meeting](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/xc2AqTwYQ5CglaP3u11cNhM8e4B.jpg)
The Meeting
![Nuts](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/3OW1JuLly9Z6wGZPiHgKpnlRo6s.jpg)
Nuts
![The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/bqwbrVEdrhnw8xsb3qSDoCWLnUb.jpg)
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains
![A Stranger Waits](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/kM52pVk6mskMU7IDZt2Ms55kDRC.jpg)
A Stranger Waits
![The Atlanta Child Murders](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/5lH0Jcil77pw8HzIl6N16aXbpa8.jpg)
The Atlanta Child Murders
![Night Heat](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/53kw6UYgbQi0hDdZ53hKg33FhnR.jpg)
Night Heat
![Deadly Force](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/l7DyZn6LN0hQUpqvoaIYpCgolxA.jpg)
Deadly Force
![Some Kind of Hero](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/4TV2IIkGsRj3r1YzQtJ5BR6c3X0.jpg)
Some Kind of Hero
![Gideon's Trumpet](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/eaquX0IKVaeRujPBQFlaspE0fDg.jpg)
Gideon's Trumpet
![Knots Landing](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/rCY6zn2O9gZcvyVrraUp5V7UtzE.jpg)
Knots Landing
![Escape from Alcatraz](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/uORr2GXQnyqgBOg6tVsRCJD2qxc.jpg)
Escape from Alcatraz
![I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/gfnyYrqh7k7cYtdsd5tXV8EdS8h.jpg)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
![One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/weGFduQgSlj3XdALdmgLiELMUni.jpg)
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
![Leadbelly](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/8QcrO6gmkfYgMOGFASBrYmQmG4a.jpg)
Leadbelly
![Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/hPp1YFV7WLyCAI3wSxsgW2yXSYC.jpg)
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
![Friday Foster](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/dGADshou0bUIGGt0vompPORdKtn.jpg)
Friday Foster
![Distance](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/6u8aimLQGr4a2AMmcfYmDpoX4ca.jpg)
Distance
![Starsky & Hutch](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/aBj5oTi1uibVcXDoCJeKseJNY2d.jpg)
Starsky & Hutch
![Friendly Persuasion](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/muapAtvcRn1Rjs7OB1wIc2tTcpr.jpg)
Friendly Persuasion
![Police Woman](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/leF62WHfjJS4Su9AjDoz4cuqO7k.jpg)
Police Woman
![The Education of Sonny Carson](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/8dfRfzdqfrPD99cpdni69h3rx5r.jpg)
The Education of Sonny Carson
![The Deadly Trackers](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/spE5fZl9pMz0Ou9X0E3jjdbd49Q.jpg)
The Deadly Trackers
![Kojak](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/7F1eH97Bpi8zQbc172drbJCsOsG.jpg)
Kojak
![Police Story](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/wfhiGakYfjk8XeDKRpya9P4tNu9.jpg)
Police Story
![Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/7OTqeTTw2TionlpmtbdspkjpLJP.jpg)
Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside
![Across 110th Street](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/e8RoE4f8Z2vvyQKoQrOotu5MtAA.jpg)
Across 110th Street
![Born to Win](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/rlTYAuaBN753j9tZYjROusaNCUj.jpg)
Born to Win
![The Anderson Tapes](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/6pjMMwqnL4qkl5pFnlfAqp0cNn9.jpg)
The Anderson Tapes
![Midnight Cowboy](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/f7YLzOxwWzeEdo7RhAlPSBTYa8.jpg)
Midnight Cowboy
![Hallmark Hall of Fame](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/dSeAHZYT2JLidmA9hfH15Ae3NPk.jpg)
Hallmark Hall of Fame