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IMDbPro

Paul Benedict(1938-2008)

  • Actor
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Paul Benedict, Franklin Cover, Zara Cully, and Roxie Roker in The Jeffersons (1975)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer3:01
The Man with Two Brains (1983)
4 Videos
38 Photos
Genial, pleasant-voiced character actor Paul Benedict was born in New Mexico on September 17, 1938, and made hosts of stage, film and TV appearances in a career lasting five decades. The son of a doctor, he was diagnosed with acromegaly by an endocrinologist who happened to catch the nascent actor in a stage play. He underwent medical treatment that successfully prevented the advancing of the disease. Following military service with the Marine Corps., Paul went on to a highly successful entertainment career using his spade-sized jaw and large nose often to humorous effect.

Following his graduation from Suffolk University, Benedict began acting at the Theatre Company of Boston and performed with such up-and-coming hopefuls as Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino before moving to New York in 1968. Decades laterk, Pacino remembered his old colleague when he revived Eugene O'Neill's one-act, two-person drama "Hughie" on Broadway in 1996. Paul was cast as the hotel night clerk who listens patiently and endlessly to the forlorn ramblings of Pacino's hustler character. Paul made his unofficial Broadway debut in 1968 with "Leda Had a Little Swan," but it closed just before it officially opened. He then went on to appear in "Little Murders" (1969), "The White House Murder Case" (1970) and "Bad Habits" (1974).

Benedict began his on-camera career with the little seen western film spoof The Double-Barrelled Detective Story (1965) and then was seen in another spoof, the political satire The Virgin President (1968). He continued in a quirky, humorous vein in Norman Lear's Cold Turkey (1971), as well as Taking Off (1971), They Might Be Giants (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Deadhead Miles (1972), Up the Sandbox (1972) and The Front Page (1974). Lear took a liking to Paul and began using him as a guest on some of his classic TV comedies, including "Maude" and "All in the Family," before casting him as Harry Bentley, the polite but put-upon white Englishman next door neighbor to affluent black couple Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley on the decade-long comedy series The Jeffersons (1975). It remains his best known oddball comedy role. Another familiar character would be The Mad Painter on the long-running children's PBS show Sesame Street (1969).

He played an fascinating assortment of erudite, toothy and tweedy characters on film, one of his best remembered being that of Reverend Lindquist in Jeremiah Johnson (1972). He also played the emissary of the governor in The Front Page (1974), a slave trader in Mandingo (1975), an untalented Shakespearean stage director in The Goodbye Girl (1977); an eccentric butler in The Man with Two Brains (1983); another butler in Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988); a business college professor in Cocktail (1988); a warden in The Chair (1988); a film school teacher in The Freshman (1990); an irritated judge in The Addams Family (1991); and a professor in Isn't She Great (2000).

Benedict made an impression as a stage director as well, including "Any Given Day," the original production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," and the Obie-winning "The Kathy and Mo Show." His final Broadway appearance was as Mayor Shinn in the 2000 revival of "The Music Man" and he took his final curtain call with Pinter's "No Man's Land" at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

On TV, Paul made appearances on some of TV's most popular shows, including "Sweepstakes," "Mama Malone," "Murder, She Wrote," "The New Twilight Zone," "A Different World," "Tales from the Crypt," "Seinfeld" and "The Drew Carey Show." On film, Paul became a stock player for Christopher Guest and his hilarious "mockumentary" features -- This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Waiting for Guffman (1996) (as the long-awaited guest) and A Mighty Wind (2003).

Unmarried, the 70-year-old actor died of natural causes on December 1, 2008, at his home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
BornSeptember 17, 1938
DiedDecember 1, 2008(70)
BornSeptember 17, 1938
DiedDecember 1, 2008(70)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 2 nominations total

Photos38

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Known for

Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Hart, Judith Malina, Carel Struycken, and Jimmy Workman in The Addams Family (1991)
The Addams Family
7.0
  • Judge Womack
  • 1991
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, R.J. Parnell, Harry Shearer, Spinal Tap, and David Kaff in This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap
7.9
  • Tucker 'Smitty' Brown
  • 1984
Steve Martin in The Man with Two Brains (1983)
The Man with Two Brains
6.4
  • Butler
  • 1983
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Jeremiah Johnson
7.6
  • Reverend Lindquist
  • 1972

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor



  • Blythe Danner and Larry Bryggman in Side by Each (2008)
    Side by Each
    5.7
    • Chief Rodrocks
    • 2008
  • Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Don Cheadle, Woody Harrelson, and Naomie Harris in After the Sunset (2004)
    After the Sunset
    6.2
    • Night Shift Guard
    • 2004
  • Parker Posey, Christopher Guest, Catherine O'Hara, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer in A Mighty Wind (2003)
    A Mighty Wind
    7.2
    • Martin Berg
    • 2003
  • Drew Carey in The Drew Carey Show (1995)
    The Drew Carey Show
    6.9
    TV Series
    • Jeremy
    • 2002
  • Jasmine Guy, Pam Arciero, Anthony Asbury, Bertice Berry, Tyler Bunch, Kim Carrell, Emilio Delgado, David Matthew Feldman, Alison Fraser, Denyce Graves, Karen Evans Kandel, James J. Kroupa, Peter Linz, Adrian Martinez, Kathryn Mullen, Fred Newman, Chris Phillips, Caroll Spinney, Matt Vogel, Ruth Westheimer, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Jennifer Barnhart, Tim Lagasse, Heather Asch, BJ Guyer, Paul McGinnis, Trevor Heins, Misha Gonz-Cirkl, Richard O'Connor, Scott Dodson, Richard Zhuravenko, Charles Reese, Joe James, Stephen Scott Scarpulla, Brynn Williams, Brianna Montgomery, Nicole Brown, and Makeeba Mooncycle in Between the Lions (1999)
    Between the Lions
    7.2
    TV Series
    • Fay's Father
    • 2002
  • Isn't She Great (2000)
    Isn't She Great
    5.3
    • Prof. Brainiac
    • 2000
  • Who Was That Man
    Short
    • 1999
  • A Fish in the Bathtub (1998)
    A Fish in the Bathtub
    6.1
    • Milo
    • 1998
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards in Seinfeld (1989)
    Seinfeld
    8.9
    TV Series
    • Mr. Elinoff
    • 1998
  • Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in The Devil's Advocate (1997)
    The Devil's Advocate
    7.5
    • Walter Krasna (uncredited)
    • 1997
  • Waiting for Guffman (1996)
    Waiting for Guffman
    7.4
    • Not Guffman
    • 1996
  • Sally Kirkland in Guns & Lipstick (1995)
    Guns & Lipstick
    3.8
    • Mickey
    • 1995
  • David Arnott, Matt Borlenghi, Timothy Fall, Brian McNamara, Sean O'Bryan, and Liz Vassey in Pig Sty (1995)
    Pig Sty
    7.4
    TV Series
    • Milt
    • 1995
  • Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993)
    Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman
    4.0
    TV Movie
    • Dr. Victor Loeb
    • 1993
  • A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out (1992)
    A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out
    6.4
    TV Movie
    • Hotel Concierge (uncredited)
    • 1992

Director



  • Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune (1988)
    Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune
    Video
    • Director
    • 1988
  • Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford in The Jeffersons (1975)
    The Jeffersons
    7.5
    TV Series
    • Director
    • 1985

Videos4

Official Trailer
Trailer 3:01
Official Trailer
The Goodbye Girl
Trailer 1:22
The Goodbye Girl
The Goodbye Girl
Trailer 1:22
The Goodbye Girl
Sesame Street: CinderElmo
Trailer 1:01
Sesame Street: CinderElmo
Sesame Street Video Collection
Trailer 1:15
Sesame Street Video Collection

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
  • Born
    • September 17, 1938
    • Silver City, New Mexico, USA
  • Died
    • December 1, 2008
    • Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA(brain hemorrhage)
  • Parents
      Mitchell M. Benedict
  • Relatives
      Charles Benedict(Sibling)
  • Other works
    He directed Terrence McNally's play, "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire De Luna", at the Comedy Theatre in London, England with Julie Walters and Brian Cox in the cast.
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In an interview, he said he was constantly mistaken for being British because of his work on The Jeffersons (1975) as Harry Bentley.
  • Quotes
    I try to make each of the characters different. I think the trick is to cement in the reality, to make it logical and real to yourself. Once there's a reality, I think you can make it as crazy as you want it to be.
  • Trademarks
      Played well-mannered characters with his face distorted by acromegaly.

FAQ

Powered by Alexa
  • When did Paul Benedict die?
    December 1, 2008
  • How did Paul Benedict die?
    Brain hemorrhage
  • How old was Paul Benedict when he died?
    70 years old
  • Where did Paul Benedict die?
    Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA
  • When was Paul Benedict born?
    September 17, 1938

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