Paul Benedict

Genial, pleasant-voiced character actor 'Paul Benedict' (qv) was born in New Mexico on September 17, 1938, and made hosts of stage, film and TV appearances in a career lasting five decades. The son of a doctor, he was diagnosed with acromegaly by an endocrinologist who happened to catch the nascent actor in a stage play. He underwent medical treatment that successfully prevented the advancing of the disease. Following military service with the Marine Corps., Paul went on to a highly successful entertainment career using his spade-sized jaw and large nose often to humorous effect.Following his graduation from Suffolk University, Benedict began acting at the Theatre Company of Boston and performed with such up-and-coming hopefuls as 'Robert De Niro' (qv), 'Dustin Hoffman' (qv) and 'Al Pacino' (qv) before moving to New York in 1968. Decades laterk, Pacino remembered his old colleague when he revived 'Eugene O'Neill' (qv)'s one-act, two-person drama "Hughie" on Broadway in 1996. Paul was cast as the hotel night clerk who listens patiently and endlessly to the forlorn ramblings of Pacino's hustler character. Paul made his unofficial Broadway debut in 1968 with "Leda Had a Little Swan," but it closed just before it officially opened. He then went on to appear in "Little Murders" (1969), "The White House Murder Case" (1970) and "Bad Habits" (1974).Benedict began his on-camera career with the little seen western film spoof _The Double-Barrelled Detective Story (1965)_ (qv) and then was seen in another spoof, the political satire _The Virgin President (1968)_ (qv). He continued in a quirky, humorous vein in 'Norman Lear' (qv)'s _Cold Turkey (1971)_ (qv), as well as _Taking Off (1971)_ (qv), _They Might Be Giants (1971)_ (qv), _The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971)_ (qv), _Deadhead Miles (1972)_ (qv), _Up the Sandbox (1972)_ (qv) and _The Front Page (1974)_ (qv). Lear took a liking to Paul and began using him as a guest on some of his classic TV comedies, including "Maude" and "All in the Family," before casting him as Harry Bentley, the polite but put-upon white Englishman next door neighbor to affluent black couple 'Isabel Sanford' (qv) and 'Sherman Hemsley' (qv) on the decade-long comedy series _The Jeffersons (1975)_ (qv). It remains his best known oddball comedy role. Another familiar character would be The Mad Painter on the long-running children's PBS show _Sesame Street (1969)_ (qv).He played an fascinating assortment of erudite, toothy and tweedy characters on film, one of his best remembered being that of Reverend Lindquist in _Jeremiah Johnson (1972)_ (qv). He also played the emissary of the governor in _The Front Page (1974)_ (qv), a slave trader in _Mandingo (1975)_ (qv), an untalented Shakespearean stage director in _The Goodbye Girl (1977)_ (qv); an eccentric butler in _The Man with Two Brains (1983)_ (qv); another butler in _Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)_ (qv); a business college professor in _Cocktail (1988)_ (qv); a warden in _The Chair (1988)_ (qv); a film school teacher in _The Freshman (1990)_ (qv); an irritated judge in _The Addams Family (1991)_ (qv); and a professor in _Isn't She Great (2000)_ (qv).Benedict made an impression as a stage director as well, including "Any Given Day," the original production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," and the Obie-winning "The Kathy and Mo Show." His final Broadway appearance was as Mayor Shinn in the 2000 revival of "The Music Man" and he took his final curtain call with Pinter's "No Man's Land" at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.On TV, Paul made appearances on some of TV's most popular shows, including "Sweepstakes," "Mama Malone," "Murder, She Wrote," "The New Twilight Zone," "A Different World," "Tales from the Crypt," "Seinfeld" and "The Drew Carey Show." On film, Paul became a stock player for 'Christopher Guest' (qv) and his hilarious "mockumentary" features -- _This Is Spinal Tap (1984)_ (qv), _Waiting for Guffman (1996)_ (qv) (as the long-awaited guest) and _A Mighty Wind (2003)_ (qv).Unmarried, the 70-year-old actor died of natural causes on December 1, 2008, at his home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net