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{{Short description|American actor (1938–2008)}}
{{for|the historical linguist|Paul K. Benedict}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Paul Benedict
| name = Paul Benedict
| caption =
| image = Paul Benedict The Jeffersons 1975.JPG
| caption = Paul Benedict as Harry Bentley, 1975
| birthname =
| birth_name = Paul Bernard Benedict
| birth_date = {{birthdate|1938|9|17}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|9|17}}
| birth_place = [[Silver City, New Mexico]],<br>[[United States]]
| death_date = {{dda|2008|12|1|1938|9|17}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|12|1|1938|9|17}}
| death_place = [[Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts]],<br>[[United States]]
| death_place = [[Martha's Vineyard]], Massachusetts, U.S.
| occupation = [[Film]], [[television]] [[actor]]
| alma_mater = [[Suffolk University]]
| known_for = ''[[The Jeffersons]]''<br>''[[Sesame Street]]''
| yearsactive = 1960s–2008
| spouse =
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1965–2008
}}
}}
'''Paul Bernard Benedict''' (September 17, 1938 – December 1, 2008)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.macdonaldrockwell.com/obituary/Paul-Benedict|title=Obitary for Paul Bernard Benedict|publisher=MacDonald, Rockwell & MacDonald Funeral Service|date=December 9, 2008}}</ref> was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and films, beginning in 1965. He was known for his roles as [[The Number Painter]] on the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] children's show ''[[Sesame Street]]'' and as the English neighbor [[List of The Jeffersons supporting characters#Harry Bentley|Harry Bentley]] on the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[The Jeffersons]]''.


'''Paul Benedict''' (September 17, 1938 – December 1, 2008) was an [[United States|American]] [[actor]] who made numerous appearances in television and movies beginning in the 1960s. He was known for his roles as [[The Number Painter]] on the popular [[PBS]] children's show ''[[Sesame Street]]'', and as the quirky [[England|English]] neighbor "[[List of The Jeffersons supporting characters|Harry Bentley]]" on the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[The Jeffersons]]''. Often mistakenly credited as Charlie Bucket's school teacher (the uncredited role of Mr. Turkentine), in the cult classic Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, who was actually played by [[David Battley]]
.
== Early life ==
== Early life ==
Benedict was born in [[Silver City, New Mexico]], the son of Alma Marie ([[married and maiden names|née]] Loring), a [[journalist]], and Mitchell M. Benedict, a doctor.<ref name="FilmRef">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/Paul-Benedict.html|title=Paul Benedict Biography (1938–)|work=Film Reference|accessdate=2008-12-16}}</ref> He grew up in Massachusetts. As a young man, he suffered from [[acromegalia]], a [[pituitary]] disorder that affects the [[extremities]] and face, which accounted for his slightly oversized jaw and large nose.
Benedict was born in the south west the son of Alma Marie (née Loring), a journalist, and Mitchell M. Benedict, a doctor,<ref name="FilmRef">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/Paul-Benedict.html|title=Paul Benedict Biography (1938–)|work=Film Reference|access-date=2008-12-16}}</ref> and grew up in Massachusetts, where he graduated from [[Boston College High School]] and [[Suffolk University]]. Benedict served a tour of duty in the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]].<ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/benedict-paul-1938 Benedict, Paul 1938–] [[Encyclopedia.com]]. Retrieved November 7, 2023.</ref> His oversized jaw and large nose were partially attributed to [[acromegaly]]; he was first diagnosed with it by an endocrinologist who saw Benedict in a theatrical production.<ref name=Obit>{{cite news|last1=Times Staff And Wire Reports|title=Paul Benedict dies at 70; actor from 'The Jeffersons' and 'Sesame Street'|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-benedict5-2008dec05-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=Dec 5, 2008|access-date=September 24, 2016}}</ref>


==Film & TV work==
==Film and TV work==
[[Norman Lear]] cast Benedict as a [[Zen|Zen Buddhist]] in ''[[Cold Turkey (1971 film)|Cold Turkey]]'', which was completed in late fall 1969 but not released until February 1971.<ref name=Lear>{{cite web| url= http://www.biography.com/people/norman-lear-9376137| title= Norman Lear Biography: Screenwriter, Television Producer, Pilot (1922–)|publisher=[[Biography.com]] ([[FYI (TV network)|FYI]] / [[A&E Networks]])| access-date= July 8, 2016| archive-date= April 30, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160430084235/http://www.biography.com/people/norman-lear-9376137 | url-status=live}}</ref> Benedict would go on to work with Lear in the coming years on various television projects.<ref name=Obit/><ref name=Lear/>
Benedict was best known for his role as Harry Bentley on the television show ''[[The Jeffersons]]''. He played this role from 1975 when the show began until 1981, and then returned in 1983 and remained until the end of the show in 1985. His character was an Englishman who lived in the apartment next door to George and Louise Jefferson. He worked at the United Nations as a translator and was a bachelor. He was liked by all of the other characters on the show except for George Jefferson, who found him annoying, but they became more friendly as the show progressed. Harry was also known for telling long, and often boring stories, about his past particularly about his childhood and relatives in England. He played his role so convincingly most people in real life assumed he really was British, but in fact he was not, having spent most of his life in eastern Massachusetts.


Benedict was best known for his role as Harry Bentley on the television series ''[[The Jeffersons]]''. He played this role from the series' inception in 1975 until 1981, and then returned in 1983 and remained until the end of the series in 1985. His character was a well-mannered Englishman who lived in the apartment next door to George and Louise Jefferson. He worked at the United Nations as a translator and was a bachelor. He was liked by all of the characters on the show except George Jefferson, who found him annoying, but they eventually became friends as the show progressed. Harry was also known for telling boring, pointless stories about his past, particularly about his childhood and relatives in England.
Benedict also played the recurring character [[The Number Painter]] on the long-running children's PBS show, Sesame Street.
[[File:Paul Benedict Zara Cully The Jeffersons 1975.JPG|thumb|200px|left|Paul Benedict and Zara Cully, ''The Jeffersons'', 1975]]
Benedict played the recurring character [[The Number Painter]] on the children's PBS show ''[[Sesame Street]]''.


Benedict played the father of a fugitive teen runaway in the 1971 film ''[[Taking Off (film)|Taking Off]]'', which was Miloš Forman’s first American film. In the same year he had a small role as a food vendor in ''[[They Might Be Giants (film)|They Might Be Giants]]'', starring [[George C. Scott]]. Perhaps his best-known movie role from that period was that of Reverend Lindquist in [[Sydney Pollack]]'s 1972 film ''[[Jeremiah Johnson (film)|Jeremiah Johnson]]'', starring [[Robert Redford]].
In the movie ''[[The Goodbye Girl]]'' (1977) starring [[Richard Dreyfuss]], Benedict played the stage director of a production of ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' in which Richard III was to be portrayed in the play as a stereotypical gay man. He was in a short scene in the [[mockumentary]] ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' (1984), playing Tucker Smitty Brown, the awkward desk clerk who checks in the band. Called a "twisted old fruit" by the band's manager Ian, he replies, "I'm just as God made me, sir." In the 1990 film ''[[The Freshman (1990 film)|The Freshman]]'', he played the condescending NYU film school professor of [[Matthew Broderick]]'s main character. He also made a memorable appearance as the incorrectly assumed title character in the 1996 film ''[[Waiting for Guffman]]'', another mockumentary involving many of the same writers and actors as This Is Spinal Tap.


In the 1974 film ''[[The Front Page (1974 film)|The Front Page]]'', Benedict appeared as Plunkett, the emissary of the governor. In [[Dino De Laurentiis]]' ''[[Mandingo (film)|Mandingo]]'' (1975), he played a slave trader opposite James Mason and Perry King. In the movie ''[[The Goodbye Girl]]'' (1977) starring [[Richard Dreyfuss]] and [[Marsha Mason]], Benedict played the stage director of a production of ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' in which Richard III was to be portrayed as a stereotypical gay man. He was the patiently eccentric butler in Dr. Necessiter's Gothic-castle apartment in ''[[The Man With Two Brains]]'' (1983), and had a short scene in the [[mockumentary]] ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' (1984), playing Tucker Smitty Brown, the awkward hotel desk clerk who checks in the band. Called a "twisted old fruit" by the band's manager Ian, he replies, "I'm just as God made me, sir."
Benedict also played the role of a slave trader in [[Dino De Laurentiis]]' ''[[Mandingo (film)|Mandingo]]'' opposite James Mason and Perry King in 1975. Perhaps his best known movie role was of the reverend Lundquist in the 1972 [[Sydney Pollack]] film ''[[Jeremiah Johnson]]''. He also appeared on one episode of Seinfeld as a magazine editor with [[The New Yorker]] who was questioned by Elaine about a cartoon in the newspaper.

In 1988, Benedict played Fairchild, [[Dudley Moore]]'s butler in the movie ''[[Arthur 2: On the Rocks]]'', the sequel to the hit 1981 film ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]''. That same year, in the film ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'', he portrayed a condescending business college professor. In the 1990 film ''[[The Freshman (1990 film)|The Freshman]]'', he played a similar role, this time an [[New York University|NYU]] film school professor. In 1991, he starred in ''[[The Addams Family (1991 film)|The Addams Family]]'' as the grouchy judge George Womack. He also made an appearance as the incorrectly assumed title character in the 1996 film ''[[Waiting for Guffman]]'', another mockumentary involving many of the same writers and actors as ''This Is Spinal Tap''. He played Fay's father in the story of [[Rumpelstiltskin]] in the ''[[Between the Lions]]'' episode "Hay Day" and appeared on the TV show a Different World, season 4 episode 8 as Mr. Ludlow.

Benedict appeared in a 1998 ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode as a magazine editor with ''[[The New Yorker]]'' who was questioned by Elaine about a cartoon in the magazine. His final television appearance was a guest spot on ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'' in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0070801/|title=Paul Benedict|website=IMDb|access-date=2018-08-13}}</ref>


==Theater==
==Theater==
Following his graduation from [[Suffolk University]] in his hometown of [[Boston]], Benedict began acting at the [[Theater Company of Boston|Theatre Company of Boston]] and performed with [[Robert De Niro]], [[Dustin Hoffman]] and [[Al Pacino]].<ref name=Obit/>
In addition to his varied film and television roles, Benedict was an accomplished theater actor as well, having appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] multiple times, notably in [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s 2-character play ''[[Hughie]]'' in 1996 (performing with [[Al Pacino]]) at Circle in the Square, and more recently in ''[[The Music Man]]'' in 2000–2001.


In addition to his varied film and television roles, Benedict was an accomplished theater actor, having appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] multiple times, notably in [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s two-character play ''[[Hughie]]'' in 1996 (performing with [[Al Pacino]]) at the [[Circle in the Square Theatre|Circle in the Square Theater]], and more recently in ''[[The Music Man]]'' in 2000–2001. He appeared [[Off-Broadway]] in 1986 in [[Terrence McNally]]'s ''[[It's Only a Play]]''.<ref>[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2072 ''It's Only a Play''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503154422/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2072 |date=2014-05-03 }} Internet Off- Broadway Database, accessed May 3, 2014</ref> He had directed a production of the work [[Off-off-Broadway]] several years before.
In 2007, Benedict performed as "Hirst" in [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[No Man's Land (play)|No Man's Land]]'' at the [[American Repertory Theater]] in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref name="Amrep">{{cite web|url=http://www.amrep.org/noman/|title=Past Productions: No Man's Land|work=American Repertory Theatre|accessdate=2008-12-16 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080822232801/http://amrep.org/noman/ |archivedate = August 22, 2008}}</ref>


In 2007, Benedict performed as "Hirst" in [[Harold Pinter]]'s ''[[No Man's Land (play)|No Man's Land]]'' at the [[American Repertory Theater]] in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref name="Amrep">{{cite web|url=http://www.amrep.org/noman/|title=Past Productions: No Man's Land|work=American Repertory Theatre|access-date=2008-12-16 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080822232801/http://amrep.org/noman/ |archive-date = August 22, 2008}}</ref>
As a director, Benedict directed [[Frank D. Gilroy]]'s ''Any Given Day'' on Broadway. [[Off-Broadway]], he directed the original production of [[Terrence McNally]]'s ''[[Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune]]'', and [[Kathy Najimy]] and [[Mo Gaffney]]'s ''The Kathy and Mo Show'', which won an [[Obie Award]].<ref name="VProfiles">{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/profiles/people/AwardsByCategory/Performance/OBIE%20Award/46015/Swoosie+Kurtz.html?dataSet=1#|title=Obie Award Performance award recipients|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|accessdate=2008-12-16}} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref>

Benedict directed [[Frank D. Gilroy]]'s ''Any Given Day'' on Broadway. Off-Broadway, he directed the original production of [[Terrence McNally]]'s ''[[Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune]]'', and [[Kathy Najimy]]'s and [[Mo Gaffney]]'s ''The Kathy and Mo Show'', which won an [[Obie Award]].<ref name="VProfiles">{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/profiles/people/AwardsByCategory/Performance/OBIE%20Award/46015/Swoosie+Kurtz.html?dataSet=1# |title=Obie Award Performance award recipients |work=Variety |publisher=Reed Business Information |access-date=2008-12-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208140055/http://www.variety.com/profiles/people/AwardsByCategory/Performance/OBIE%20Award/46015/Swoosie+Kurtz.html?dataSet=1 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref>


==Death==
==Death==
On December 1, 2008, Benedict was found dead at his home in [[Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts]]. He was 70 years old.<ref name="BGlobe">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/12/04/paul_benedict_70_actor_at_home_in_tv_sitcoms_modern_and_classical_dramas/|title=Paul Benedict, 70; actor at home in TV sitcoms, modern and classical dramas|last=Siegel|first=Ed|date=2008-12-04|work=The Boston Globe|publisher=NY Times Co.|accessdate=2008-12-16}}</ref>
On December 1, 2008, Benedict was found dead of a brain hemorrhage at his home in [[Aquinnah]], [[Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts]]. He was 70 years old.<ref name="BGlobe">{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/12/04/paul_benedict_70_actor_at_home_in_tv_sitcoms_modern_and_classical_dramas/|title=Paul Benedict, 70; actor at home in TV sitcoms, modern and classical dramas|last=Siegel|first=Ed|date=2008-12-04|work=The Boston Globe|publisher=NY Times Co.|access-date=2008-12-16}}</ref>


He was awarded a [[posthumous award|posthumous Elliot Norton Award]] by the Boston Theater Critics Assn. in 2009.<ref name="ENorton">{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002523.html?categoryId=15&cs=1|title=Benedict honored with Boston award|last=Rizzo|first=Frank|date=April 16, 2009|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Elsevier|accessdate=April 22, 2009}}</ref>
Benedict was awarded a [[posthumous award|posthumous]] [[Elliot Norton Award]] by the [[Boston Theater Critics Association]] in 2009.<ref name="ENorton">{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002523.html?categoryId=15&cs=1|title=Benedict honored with Boston award|last=Rizzo|first=Frank|date=April 16, 2009|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Elsevier|access-date=April 22, 2009}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1965|| ''The Double-Barrelled Detective Story'' || Wells Fargo Ferguson ||
|-
|1969|| ''The Virgin President'' || Rutherford Melon ||
|-
|1971|| ''[[Cold Turkey (1971 film)|Cold Turkey]]'' || Zen Buddhist ||
|-
|1971|| ''[[Taking Off (film)|Taking Off]]'' || Ben Lockston ||
|-
|1971|| ''[[They Might Be Giants (film)|They Might Be Giants]]'' || Chestnut Man ||
|-
|1971|| ''[[The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (film)|The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight]]'' || Shots O'Toole ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Deadhead Miles]]'' || Hitchhiker ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Jeremiah Johnson (film)|Jeremiah Johnson]]'' || Reverend Lindquist ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Up the Sandbox]]'' || Dr. Beineke ||
|-
|1974|| ''[[The Front Page (1974 film)|The Front Page]]'' || Plunkett ||
|-
|1975|| ''[[Mandingo (film)|Mandingo]]'' || Brownlee ||
|-
|1975|| ''[[Smile (1975 film)|Smile]]'' || Orren Brooks ||
|-
|1977|| ''[[The Goodbye Girl]]'' || Mark ||
|-
|1977|| ''Billy in the Lowlands'' || Billy's Father ||
|-
|1981|| ''Steigler and Steigler'' || Cosmo ||
|-
|1982|| ''[[The Electric Grandmother]]'' || Guido Fantoccini <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083876/characters/nm0070801 |website=IMDB |access-date=15 October 2020|title=The Electric Grandmother (TV Movie 1982) - IMDb }}</ref> ||
|-
|1983|| ''[[The Man with Two Brains]]'' || Butler ||
|-
|1984|| ''[[The Lonely Guy]]'' || Dr. Zook || Voice, Uncredited
|-
|1984|| ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' || Tucker 'Smitty' Brown ||
|-
|1988|| ''[[Arthur 2: On the Rocks]]'' || Fairchild ||
|-
|1988|| ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' || Finance Teacher ||
|-
|1988|| ''The Chair'' || Warden Edward Dwyer ||
|-
|1990|| ''[[The Freshman (1990 film)|The Freshman]]'' || Arthur Fleeber ||
|-
|1990|| ''[[Sibling Rivalry (film)|Sibling Rivalry]]'' || Dr. Plotner ||
|-
|1991|| ''[[The Addams Family (1991 film)|The Addams Family]]'' || Judge Womack ||
|-
|1993|| ''[[Attack_of_the_50_Ft._Woman_(1993_film)|Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman]]'' || Dr. Victor Loeb ||
|-
|1995|| ''Guns and Lipstick'' || Mickey ||
|-
|1996|| ''[[Waiting for Guffman]]'' || Roy Loomis ||
|-
|1997|| ''[[The Devil's Advocate (1997 film)|The Devil's Advocate]]'' || Walter Krasna || Uncredited
|-
|1998|| ''[[A Fish in the Bathtub]]'' || Milo ||
|-
|2000|| ''[[Isn't She Great]]'' || Prof. Brainiac ||
|-
|2003|| ''[[A Mighty Wind]]'' || Martin Berg ||
|-
|2004|| ''[[After the Sunset]]'' || Night Shift Guard ||
|-
|2008|| ''Side by Each'' || Chief Rodrocks || (final film role)
|}


== References ==
== References ==
Line 42: Line 128:


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|0070801}}
* {{IMDb name|0070801}}
* {{tcmdb name|id=13602|name=Paul Benedict}}
* {{Amg name|5311}}
* {{Amg name|5311}}
* {{IBDB name|14156}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{iobdb|Paul|Benedict}}
* {{iobdb name|9818}}
* [http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x1349971618 Paul Benedict] article at Somerville, MA "Wicked Local" Off-Broadway weblink about [[No Man's Land (play)|No Man's Land]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081208074014/http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x1349971618 Paul Benedict] article at Somerville, MA "Wicked Local" Off-Broadway weblink about [[No Man's Land (play)|No Man's Land]]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Benedict, Paul
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = September 17, 1938
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Silver City, New Mexico]],<br>[[United States]]
| DATE OF DEATH = December 1, 2008
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts]],<br>[[United States]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Paul}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Paul}}
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American television actors]]
[[Category:Actors from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Sesame Street human cast]]
[[Category:People from Grant County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:People with acromegaly]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century American male actors]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American theatre directors]]
[[Category:Boston College High School alumni]]
[[Category:Male actors from Boston]]
[[Category:Male actors from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New Mexico]]
[[Category:People from Silver City, New Mexico]]
[[Category:People with acromegaly]]
[[Category:Suffolk University alumni]]
[[Category:Suffolk University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War]]

[[Category:United States Marines]]
[[fr:Paul Benedict]]
[[it:Paul Benedict]]
[[nl:Paul Benedict]]

Revision as of 01:28, 9 May 2024

For the historical linguist, see Paul K. Benedict.
Paul Benedict
Paul Benedict as Harry Bentley, 1975
Born
Paul Bernard Benedict

(1938-09-17)September 17, 1938
DiedDecember 1, 2008(2008-12-01) (aged 70)
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materSuffolk University
OccupationActor
Years active1965–2008
Known forThe Jeffersons
Sesame Street

Paul Bernard Benedict (September 17, 1938 – December 1, 2008)[1] was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and films, beginning in 1965. He was known for his roles as The Number Painter on the PBS children's show Sesame Street and as the English neighbor Harry Bentley on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons.

Early life

Benedict was born in the south west the son of Alma Marie (née Loring), a journalist, and Mitchell M. Benedict, a doctor,[2] and grew up in Massachusetts, where he graduated from Boston College High School and Suffolk University. Benedict served a tour of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps.[3] His oversized jaw and large nose were partially attributed to acromegaly; he was first diagnosed with it by an endocrinologist who saw Benedict in a theatrical production.[4]

Film and TV work

Norman Lear cast Benedict as a Zen Buddhist in Cold Turkey, which was completed in late fall 1969 but not released until February 1971.[5] Benedict would go on to work with Lear in the coming years on various television projects.[4][5]

Benedict was best known for his role as Harry Bentley on the television series The Jeffersons. He played this role from the series' inception in 1975 until 1981, and then returned in 1983 and remained until the end of the series in 1985. His character was a well-mannered Englishman who lived in the apartment next door to George and Louise Jefferson. He worked at the United Nations as a translator and was a bachelor. He was liked by all of the characters on the show except George Jefferson, who found him annoying, but they eventually became friends as the show progressed. Harry was also known for telling boring, pointless stories about his past, particularly about his childhood and relatives in England.

Paul Benedict and Zara Cully, The Jeffersons, 1975

Benedict played the recurring character The Number Painter on the children's PBS show Sesame Street.

Benedict played the father of a fugitive teen runaway in the 1971 film Taking Off, which was Miloš Forman’s first American film. In the same year he had a small role as a food vendor in They Might Be Giants, starring George C. Scott. Perhaps his best-known movie role from that period was that of Reverend Lindquist in Sydney Pollack's 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson, starring Robert Redford.

In the 1974 film The Front Page, Benedict appeared as Plunkett, the emissary of the governor. In Dino De Laurentiis' Mandingo (1975), he played a slave trader opposite James Mason and Perry King. In the movie The Goodbye Girl (1977) starring Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason, Benedict played the stage director of a production of Richard III in which Richard III was to be portrayed as a stereotypical gay man. He was the patiently eccentric butler in Dr. Necessiter's Gothic-castle apartment in The Man With Two Brains (1983), and had a short scene in the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap (1984), playing Tucker Smitty Brown, the awkward hotel desk clerk who checks in the band. Called a "twisted old fruit" by the band's manager Ian, he replies, "I'm just as God made me, sir."

In 1988, Benedict played Fairchild, Dudley Moore's butler in the movie Arthur 2: On the Rocks, the sequel to the hit 1981 film Arthur. That same year, in the film Cocktail, he portrayed a condescending business college professor. In the 1990 film The Freshman, he played a similar role, this time an NYU film school professor. In 1991, he starred in The Addams Family as the grouchy judge George Womack. He also made an appearance as the incorrectly assumed title character in the 1996 film Waiting for Guffman, another mockumentary involving many of the same writers and actors as This Is Spinal Tap. He played Fay's father in the story of Rumpelstiltskin in the Between the Lions episode "Hay Day" and appeared on the TV show a Different World, season 4 episode 8 as Mr. Ludlow.

Benedict appeared in a 1998 Seinfeld episode as a magazine editor with The New Yorker who was questioned by Elaine about a cartoon in the magazine. His final television appearance was a guest spot on The Drew Carey Show in 2002.[6]

Theater

Following his graduation from Suffolk University in his hometown of Boston, Benedict began acting at the Theatre Company of Boston and performed with Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino.[4]

In addition to his varied film and television roles, Benedict was an accomplished theater actor, having appeared on Broadway multiple times, notably in Eugene O'Neill's two-character play Hughie in 1996 (performing with Al Pacino) at the Circle in the Square Theater, and more recently in The Music Man in 2000–2001. He appeared Off-Broadway in 1986 in Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play.[7] He had directed a production of the work Off-off-Broadway several years before.

In 2007, Benedict performed as "Hirst" in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[8]

Benedict directed Frank D. Gilroy's Any Given Day on Broadway. Off-Broadway, he directed the original production of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, and Kathy Najimy's and Mo Gaffney's The Kathy and Mo Show, which won an Obie Award.[9]

Death

On December 1, 2008, Benedict was found dead of a brain hemorrhage at his home in Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. He was 70 years old.[10]

Benedict was awarded a posthumous Elliot Norton Award by the Boston Theater Critics Association in 2009.[11]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1965 The Double-Barrelled Detective Story Wells Fargo Ferguson
1969 The Virgin President Rutherford Melon
1971 Cold Turkey Zen Buddhist
1971 Taking Off Ben Lockston
1971 They Might Be Giants Chestnut Man
1971 The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight Shots O'Toole
1972 Deadhead Miles Hitchhiker
1972 Jeremiah Johnson Reverend Lindquist
1972 Up the Sandbox Dr. Beineke
1974 The Front Page Plunkett
1975 Mandingo Brownlee
1975 Smile Orren Brooks
1977 The Goodbye Girl Mark
1977 Billy in the Lowlands Billy's Father
1981 Steigler and Steigler Cosmo
1982 The Electric Grandmother Guido Fantoccini [12]
1983 The Man with Two Brains Butler
1984 The Lonely Guy Dr. Zook Voice, Uncredited
1984 This Is Spinal Tap Tucker 'Smitty' Brown
1988 Arthur 2: On the Rocks Fairchild
1988 Cocktail Finance Teacher
1988 The Chair Warden Edward Dwyer
1990 The Freshman Arthur Fleeber
1990 Sibling Rivalry Dr. Plotner
1991 The Addams Family Judge Womack
1993 Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman Dr. Victor Loeb
1995 Guns and Lipstick Mickey
1996 Waiting for Guffman Roy Loomis
1997 The Devil's Advocate Walter Krasna Uncredited
1998 A Fish in the Bathtub Milo
2000 Isn't She Great Prof. Brainiac
2003 A Mighty Wind Martin Berg
2004 After the Sunset Night Shift Guard
2008 Side by Each Chief Rodrocks (final film role)

References

  1. ^ "Obitary for Paul Bernard Benedict". MacDonald, Rockwell & MacDonald Funeral Service. December 9, 2008.
  2. ^ "Paul Benedict Biography (1938–)". Film Reference. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  3. ^ Benedict, Paul 1938– Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Times Staff And Wire Reports (Dec 5, 2008). "Paul Benedict dies at 70; actor from 'The Jeffersons' and 'Sesame Street'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Norman Lear Biography: Screenwriter, Television Producer, Pilot (1922–)". Biography.com (FYI / A&E Networks). Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  6. ^ "Paul Benedict". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  7. ^ It's Only a Play Archived 2014-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Internet Off- Broadway Database, accessed May 3, 2014
  8. ^ "Past Productions: No Man's Land". American Repertory Theatre. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  9. ^ "Obie Award Performance award recipients". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  10. ^ Siegel, Ed (2008-12-04). "Paul Benedict, 70; actor at home in TV sitcoms, modern and classical dramas". The Boston Globe. NY Times Co. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
  11. ^ Rizzo, Frank (April 16, 2009). "Benedict honored with Boston award". Variety. Reed Elsevier. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  12. ^ "The Electric Grandmother (TV Movie 1982) - IMDb". IMDB. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

External links

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