Biography
Paul Benjamin (born 1938) 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 did extensive 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 p...
Known For
Complete Filmography
Ascension Day
2007
as Sam
A drama focused on Nat Turner and the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia.
Back in the Day
2005
as Cody
A young man slides back into a life of crime after reuniting with a shady acquaintance from his past.
Deacons for Defense
2005
as Otis
Inspired by a true story, this drama is set in 1965, not long after passage of the Civil Rights Act. Despite the Act, the African-American citizens of...
The Station Agent
2003
as Henry Styles
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a w...
DMX: Angel
2001
as Minister
Angel is a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of rap's most conflicted and charismatic MC. DMX commands arena stages, wrecks his competition in battl...
Stanley's Gig
2000
as Teddy Branson
An emotionally dysfunctional ukulele minstrel lands a gig at a nursing home where he strikes up an unlikely relationship with an ancient jazz chanteus...
The Breaks
1999
as Clerk
Derrick, a racially-confused Irishman raised in the hood by a black family is having the worst day ever. Determined to prove to his fed-up mother and ...
Hoodlum
1997
as Whispers
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harle...
Rosewood
1997
as James Carrier
Spurred by a white woman's lie, vigilantes destroy a black Florida town and slay inhabitants in 1923.
Back to the Streets of San Francisco
1992
as Henry Brown
Mike Stone's back and his old partner, Steve Keller, is missing. So Mike heads up an investigation. At the same time, he is investigating another brut...
Do the Right Thing
1989
as ML
Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzer...
The Meeting
1989
as Rashad
Fictional meeting between Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in Harlem in the early '60's.
Nuts
1987
as Harry Harrison
A high-class call girl accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains
1987
as Big Sam
The true story of Robert Elliot Burns, the prisoner who, after being sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, attempted two daring escapes.
A Stranger Waits
1987
as Cooper
Most men consider the widow Kate Bennington to be irresistible, but when she dives into a madly passionate love affair with a mysterious younger man, ...
Deadly Force
1983
as Lester
Stoney Cooper, a former Los Angeles police officer, is at a low point in his life. Kicked off the force because of his anti-authority attitude, he now...
Some Kind of Hero
1982
as Leon
A Vietnam vet returns home from a prisoner of war camp and is greeted as a hero, but is quickly forgotten and soon discovers how tough survival is in ...
Gideon's Trumpet
1980
as Artis
True story of Clarence Gideon's fight to be appointed counsel at the expense of the state. This landmark case led to the Supreme Court's decision whic...
Escape from Alcatraz
1979
as English
San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one...
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
1979
as Freeman
Based on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing up in the South during the Depression years where she ...
One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
1978
as John LeFlore
The true story of baseball star Ron LeFlore, from his days as a street-corner punk with no future to his days behind bars on a petty robbery convictio...
Leadbelly
1976
as Wes Ledbetter
The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of th...
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
1976
as Ramsey
In 1930s Alabama, nine young black men are accused of raping two white women. The judge in the case, unlike the rest of the town, comes to believe tha...
Friday Foster
1975
as Senator David Lee Hart
Friday Foster, a magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr, the richest black man in Am...
Distance
1975
as Sgt. Elwood Horne
’Distance’ is an award-winning, independent feature film exploring the distance between men and women through the intertwined stories of two couples. ...
Friendly Persuasion
1975
as Swan Stebeney
During the Civil War, a Quaker couple risks their lives by helping runaway slaves.
The Education of Sonny Carson
1974
as Pops
A 1974 film based on the best-selling autobiography of Sonny Carson who joined a gang and committed petty crime before being sent to prison. After his...
The Deadly Trackers
1973
as Jacob
Sheriff Sean Kilpatrick is a pacifist. Frank Brand is the leader of a band of killers. When their paths cross Kilpatrick is compelled to go against ev...
Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside
1973
as Lt. Valentine
Two New York City cops investigate a drug-smuggling ring that they believe is run by New York-based foreign diplomats.
Across 110th Street
1972
as Jim Harris
In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are tw...
Born to Win
1971
as Fixer
A smart-mouthed junkie and a former hairdresser spends his days looking for just "one more fix".
The Anderson Tapes
1971
as Jimmy
Thief Duke Anderson—just released from ten years in jail—takes up with his old girlfriend in her posh apartment block, and makes plans to rob the enti...
Midnight Cowboy
1969
as Bartender
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an aili...