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Paul Benjamin
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 ba…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2016
Occupy, Texas
Movie Mr. Goodman
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2007
Ascension Day
Movie Sam
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2005
Back in the Day
Movie Cody
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2005
Deacons for Defense
Movie Otis
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2003
The Station Agent
Movie Henry Styles
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2002
The Shield
TV show Perry
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2001
DMX: Angel
Movie Minister
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2000
Stanley's Gig
Movie Teddy Branson
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1999
Angel
TV show Fellow Resident
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1999
Last Rites
Movie Fez
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1999
The Breaks
Movie Clerk
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1997
Hoodlum
Movie Whispers
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1997
Rosewood
Movie James Carrier
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1997
Vanishing Point
Movie Mose, Snake Wrangler
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1994
Drop Squad
Movie Wellington Cosbie
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1994
ER
TV show Al Ervin
More credits
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1994
The Fence
Movie Del Reston
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1992
Back to the Streets of San Francisco
Movie Henry Brown
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1991
The Super
Movie Gilliam
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1991
The Five Heartbeats
Movie Mr. King
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1990
Law & Order
TV show Lonnie Jackson
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1989
Do the Right Thing
Movie ML
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1989
The Meeting
Movie Rashad
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1987
Nuts
Movie Harry Harrison
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1987
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains
Movie Big Sam
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1987
A Stranger Waits
Movie Cooper
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1985
The Atlanta Child Murders
TV show Homer Williams
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1985
Night Heat
TV show
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1983
Deadly Force
Movie Lester
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1982
Some Kind of Hero
Movie Leon
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1982
American Playhouse
TV show Rashad
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1980
Gideon's Trumpet
Movie Artis
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1979
Knots Landing
TV show Mr. Carter
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1979
Escape from Alcatraz
Movie English
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1979
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Movie Freeman
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1978
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
Movie John LeFlore
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1976
Leadbelly
Movie Wes Ledbetter
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1976
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
Movie Ramsey
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1975
Friday Foster
Movie Senator David Lee Hart
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1975
Distance
Movie Sgt. Elwood Horne
