Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin
Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including Goodbye, Columbus) (1969), Catch-22) (1970), Portnoy's Complaint) (1972), Westworld), The Last of Sheila (both 1973) and Saturday the 14th (1981). In 1968, Benjamin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the CBS sitcom He & She (starring opposite his wife Paula Prentiss), which aired from 1967-1968. In 1976, Benjamin received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture for his performance as aged vaudevillian Willy Clark's (Walter Matthau) comedically long-suffering nephew, confidante and talent agent, Ben Clark, in Herbert Ross' The Sunshine Boys) (1975), based on Neil Simon's 1972 hit stage play of the same name.
Richard Benjamin
After directing for television, his first film as a director was the 1982 comedy My Favorite Year, starring Peter O'Toole, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. His other films as a director include City Heat (1984), The Money Pit (1986), My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), Mermaids) (1990), Made in America) (1993), Milk Money) (1994), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996), and Marci X (2003).
Early life
Benjamin was born in New York City, the son of Samuel Roger Benjamin (1910–1997), a garment industry worker. Benjamin's uncle was vaudeville comedian Joe Browning. His family was Jewish. 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. While there, he met future wife Paula Prentiss.
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