Paul Benjamin

Paul Benjamin (February 4, 1938 – June 28, 2019) was an American actor whos career spanned five decades. Benjamin appeared in dozens of films and television shows beginning in the late 1960s.
Biography.
Born to Fair, a Baptist preacher (1890–1950) and Rosa Benjamin (nee Butler; 1895–1940) in Pelion, South Carolina, Benjamin was the youngest of 12 children. Benjamin moved to Columbia, South Carolina with an older brother after the death of his parents. Benjamin attended C.A. Johnson High School and later enrolled at Benedict College.
Career.
Benjamin relocated to New York and studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio. He made his film debut in 1969 as a bartender in "Midnight Cowboy". After small roles in Sidney Lumet's "The Anderson Tapes" (1971) and "Born to Win" (1971), he did extensive television work in the 1970s. A few notable exceptions were a major role in Barry Shear's "Across 110th Street" (1972), and smaller parts in Shear's western "The Deadly Trackers" (1973), Michael Campus' "The Education of Sonny Carson" (1974), Arthur Marks' "Friday Foster" (1975), Gordon Parks' biopic "Leadbelly" (1976), and Don Siegel's prison film "Escape from Alcatraz" (1979). He also performed in the TV adaptations of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1979) and "Gideon's Trumpet" (1980). He later starred in the 1987 HBO movie "The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains", based on the novel by Robert E. Burns. On the big screen in the 1980s and 1990s, Benjamin worked with some well-known actors and directors. He acted in "Some Kind of Hero" (1982) opposite Richard Pryor, Martin Ritt's drama film "Nuts" (1987) starring Barbra Streisand, "Pink Cadillac" (1989) with Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" (1989), Robert Townsend's "The Five Heartbeats" (1991), Bill Duke's "Hoodlum" (1997), and John Singleton's "Rosewood" (1997).
On television, he appeared in the 1988 episode of "In The Heat of the Night" as a death row inmate and in the 1994 pilot episode of "ER", which led to his recurring role of homeless man Al Ervin during the next few seasons. Benjamin also worked on the American Masters documentary of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ralph Ellison, which aired on PBS. He also acted in an episode of the 14th season of Law & Order entitled "Identity" (2003) as well as an episode of "The Shield". After 2000, he acted mainly in independent films like "Stanley's Gig", "The Station Agent", "Deacons For Defense", and James Hunter's 2005 drama "Back in the Day".
Personal life and death.
Benjamin died on June 28, 2019 in Los Angeles at age 81.