Richard Benjamin

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Birthday:

22 May 1938, New York City, New York, USA

Height:

188 cm

Although his actress wife Paula Prentiss became a star by the early 1960s, it took Richard Benjamin almost fifteen years to establish his screen persona, but the wait was rewarding. After extensive work in theatre as actor and director, and his participation in the cult TV series He & She (1967), in which he co-starred with Prentiss, he won the starring role in the screen adaptation of Philip Roth's best-seller, Goodbye, Columbus (1969). That was followed by roles in Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) and another Roth adaptation, Portnoy's Complaint (1972), that turned him into a prominent "archetype of East Coast Jewish intellectual agony", as critic Jonathan Romney defines him. But his forte was comedy and he won a Golden Globe when he repeated his stage role in the film version of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys (1975). Although he still performs, Benjamin turned to direction since the 80s with the highly acclaimed comedy My Favorite Year (1982). Show less «

When Paula Prentiss was sick, people wondered why I didn't leave her. And when I wasn't working they wondered why she didn't leave me. Peopl...Show more »

When Paula Prentiss was sick, people wondered why I didn't leave her. And when I wasn't working they wondered why she didn't leave me. People all along have tried to come between us. It took a long time to figure out that it was their problem, not ours. Show less «

[on remaining childless for the first 13 years of marriage]: Paula Prentiss was always on the pill. We didn't want children. We were too wra...Show more »

[on remaining childless for the first 13 years of marriage]: Paula Prentiss was always on the pill. We didn't want children. We were too wrapped up in ourselves. We couldn't see that what we were looking for could be found in someone else. Having the baby [Ross Benjamin] made us grow up. We didn't know anything about babies. It was like waiting for opening night. The doctor told me, 'You won't want to miss this. This is one of the biggies!' Show less «

Having Ross Benjamin put things in perspective. I never used to understand why people wanted to go home right after work. Now that's where I...Show more »

Having Ross Benjamin put things in perspective. I never used to understand why people wanted to go home right after work. Now that's where I want to be - with Ross. Show less «

I always say that you should remake flops, not hits.

[on his Goodbye, Columbus costar, Ali Macgraw]: The camera looks into your soul, and it looked into Ali's. Men loved her, women loved her. S...Show more »

[on his Goodbye, Columbus costar, Ali Macgraw]: The camera looks into your soul, and it looked into Ali's. Men loved her, women loved her. She was a real movie star. Show less «