Richard Benedict

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Richard Benedict (* 8. January 1920 in Palermo , Sicily , maiden name dispute either Joseph Sciurba or Ricardo Benedetto ; † 25. April 1984 in Studio City , California ) was an Italian - American actor , television and film director and screenwriter .

life and career

Born in Sicily, Richard Benedict came to the United States with his family at the age of seven. In his youth he tried quite successfully as a prize boxer before joining the army. Eventually he came to Hollywood with relatively little acting experience, where he made his film debut in the war film Winged Victory in the small role of a drunken sailor. In the following years he was often seen in the second leading role, but he also sometimes played grim henchmen or villains because of his distinctive stature. His portrayal of Leo Minosa trapped in a cave , whose attempted liberation is exploited to his sensation, became known in Billy Wilder's classic film Reporter des Satans (1951). In 1960, he played alongside Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin and Sammy Davis junior in the crime comedy Frankie and his cronies, one of the eleven "cronies" who rob five casinos in Las Vegas.

From the beginning of the 1960s, Benedict worked mainly as a director and occasionally as a screenwriter, but as an actor he only appeared occasionally in front of the camera. Until 1982 he directed episodes of a total of over 50 television series, including such well-known series classics as The People of Shiloh Ranch , Solo for ONCEL , Hawaii Five-Zero , Charlie's Angels and Quincy . Benedict has directed a number of television and feature films, the best known of which is probably the adventure film On the Hunt for Lost Gold (1969) starring Burt Reynolds and Anne Francis .

Richard Benedict died of a heart attack in April 1984 at the age of 64. He was married to Paula Lindenbaum until his death and they had three children, including the actor Nick Benedict (* 1947), who became famous through the soap opera Zeit der Sehnsucht .

Filmography (selection)

As an actor

As a director

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Benedict (IMDb). Retrieved January 27, 2019 .
  2. ^ Adrian Room: Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. McFarland, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7864-5763-2 ( google.de [accessed January 27, 2019]).
  3. ^ Richard Benedict | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved January 27, 2019 (American English).
  4. ^ Richard Benedict | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos. Retrieved January 27, 2019 (American English).
  5. ↑ Nick Benedict. Retrieved January 28, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Benedict, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sciurba, Joseph; Benedetto, Ricardo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American actor and director
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo , Sicily , Italy
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1984
Place of death Studio City , California , United States