Paul Benjamin Biography
Originally from South Carolina, actor Paul Benjamin 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 television work throughout the '70s. A few notable exceptions involved small parts in Gordon_Parks' biopic Leadbelly and Don_Siegel's prison film Escape_From_Alcatraz. He fared better on CBS in the TV adaptations I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gideon's_Trumpet. He got his first major starring role in the HBO movie The_Man_Who_Broke_1,000_Chains, based on the novel by Robert_E._Burns. On the big screen during the '90s, 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. Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
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