Paul Benjamin
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.
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Acting
Movie
Escape from Alcatraz
as English
1979
Movie
Do the Right Thing
as ML
1989
Movie
Midnight Cowboy
as Bartender
1969
TV
Angel
as Fellow Resident
1999
TV
ER
as Al Ervin
1994
TV
The Shield
as Perry
2002
Movie
The Station Agent
as Henry Styles
2003
TV
Law & Order
as Lonnie Jackson
1990
Movie
Hoodlum
as Whispers
1997
TV
Starsky & Hutch
1975
Movie
The Anderson Tapes
as Jimmy
1971
TV
Kojak
as Willie Daniels
1973
Movie
Across 110th Street
as Jim Harris
1972
Movie
Nuts
as Harry Harrison
1987
Movie
The Super
as Gilliam
1991
Movie
Rosewood
as James Carrier
1997
Movie
The Five Heartbeats
as Mr. King
1991
Movie
Vanishing Point
as Mose, Snake Wrangler
1997
Movie
Friday Foster
as Senator David Lee Hart
1975
Movie
Some Kind of Hero
as Leon
1982
TV
Knots Landing
as Mr. Carter
1979
Movie
Born to Win
as Fixer
1971
TV
Police Woman
1974
Movie
The Breaks
as Clerk
1999