Richard Benjamin

Richard Benjamin
Benjamin in July 1986
Born (1938-05-22) May 22, 1938
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Northwestern University
Occupation
Years active 1962–present
Spouse(s) Paula Prentiss
(1961–present; 2 children)

Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director.[1]

He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth;[2] Catch-22 (1970), from the Joseph Heller best-seller;[3] Westworld (1973), a science-fiction thriller by Michael Crichton;[4] and The Sunshine Boys (1975), written by Neil Simon.[5]

After directing for television, his first film as director was the 1982 comedy My Favorite Year,[6] for which star Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award. His other films as director include City Heat (1984), starring Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood, The Money Pit (1986) with Tom Hanks, and Made in America (1993) with Whoopi Goldberg.

Life and acting career

Benjamin was born in New York City, the son of Samuel Roger Benjamin (1910–1997), a garment industry worker.[7] His family was Jewish.[8] He attended the High School of Performing Arts and graduated from Northwestern University, where he was involved in many plays and studied in the Northwestern theater school.

He married actress Paula Prentiss on October 26, 1961; they have two children who are also actors: Ross Benjamin and Prentiss Benjamin. Richard and Paula appeared together in short-lived television series He & She (1967–68) and the movie version of Catch-22 (1970), as well as the Australian film No Room to Run (1976) and the 1981 horror spoof Saturday the 14th.[3] In 1978, he starred in the ambitious but short-lived television series Quark.[9]

Benjamin starred in Goodbye, Columbus (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth,[2] as well as Diary of a Mad Housewife, The Steagle,[10] The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker, and another film based on a famous Roth work, Portnoy's Complaint (1972), in the title role.

He played a sexually ambiguous murder suspect in The Last of Sheila (1973), a mystery conceived and co-scripted by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim. In an imaginative Michael Crichton story, Westworld (1973), Benjamin played a man vacationing as a make-believe cowboy in a theme park where he ends up being stalked by a robot gunslinger played by Yul Brynner.[4]

Then he returned to comedy, with a supporting role as a harried theatrical agent in the Neil Simon hit The Sunshine Boys opposite Walter Matthau and George Burns,[5] and as Matthau's colleague at an ineptly run hospital in House Calls (1978). Benjamin also played a frustrated fiance of a woman who falls for the vampire Count Dracula in the surprise box-office smash Love at First Bite (1979) starring George Hamilton and Susan Saint James.[11]

On April 7, 1979, Benjamin hosted Saturday Night Live.[12] His acting appearances have become less frequent. His later work includes a role in the Woody Allen comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997).[13] He directed and appeared in Marci X (2003), a comedy starring Lisa Kudrow and Damon Wayans.[14]

Directing

Benjamin's first film as a director (after helming a few productions for television) was the highly acclaimed period comedy My Favorite Year (1982), which brought an Oscar nomination to its star, Peter O'Toole.[6] Benjamin went on to direct a number of Hollywood films, mainly comedies, including City Heat (1984) with Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood[15] and The Money Pit (1986) with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.[16] He directed Cher and Winona Ryder in Mermaids (1990) and the 1993 romantic comedy Made in America that co-starred Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson.

In 2006, Benjamin directed award-winning cable television drama A Little Thing Called Murder, starring Australian Judy Davis. It was based on the true story of Sante and Kenny Kimes, mother and son grifters and killers.[17]

Acting filmography

Directing filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Richard Benjamin". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  2. 1 2 Canby, Vincent (April 4, 1969). "Goodbye Columbus (1969) GOODBYE, COLUMBUS". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 Canby, Vincent (June 25, 1970). "Catch 22 (1970) CATCH-22". The New York Times.
  4. 1 2 "Westworld". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 Canby, Vincent (November 7, 1975). "The Sunshine Boys (1975) Simon's Comic 'Sunshine Boys' Opens". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (October 1, 1982). "My Favorite Year (1982) 'FAVORITE YEAR' WITH PETER O'TOOLE". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Jonas, Gerald (1968-09-08). "Hello Again To 'Goodbye, Columbus'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
  8. ↑ Great Jews on Stage and Screen
  9. ↑ Decaro, Frank (December 24, 2008). "A Space Garbage Man and His Eclectic Crew". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Weiler, A. H. (September 16, 1971). "The Steagle (1971) A Brazilian Youth's Joys and Shocks:' Plantation Boy' Opens at 5th Ave. Cinema Benjamin Proves Deft Comic in 'The Steagle'". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Maslin, Janet (April 13, 1979). "Love At First Bite (1979) Screen: 'Love at First Bite,' Dracula's 'Plaza Suite': Full-Blooded Humor". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ The Internet Movie Database
  13. ↑ Maslin, Janet (December 12, 1997). "Deconstructing Harry (1997) FILM REVIEW; Gleefully Skewering His Own Monsters". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Holden, Stephen (August 23, 2003). "Marci X (2003) FILM REVIEW; In Giddy Rap Land, It's Senator Vs. Smut". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ Maslin, Janet (December 7, 1984). "BENJAMIN DIRECTS 'CITY HEAT'". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ Canby, Vincent (March 26, 1986). "The Money Pit (1986) FILM: 'THE MONEY PIT,' A DOMESTIC COMEDY". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ "A Murdering Mommy Dearest With a Swell Son to Match". The New York Times. January 23, 2006.

Further reading

  • Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 17.
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