Paul Benjamin was born in Pelion, South Carolina, the youngest of twelve children to Reverend Fair Benjamin and his wife Rosa. After his mother's passing and his father's death as a child, Benjamin was taken in by his older brother David and his family in Columbia, South Carolina.
Benjamin attended C.A. Johnson High and later enrolled at Benedict College before deciding to pursue his dream of becoming an actor in New York City. He studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio and made his professional stage debut in the late 1960s at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.
Benjamin's theater career took off with performances in numerous classical and contemporary plays, including "Hamlet," "Cities in Bezique," "The Owl Answers," "No Place to Be Somebody," and "The Cherry Orchard." He made his film debut in "Midnight Cowboy" and went on to appear in a range of films and TV shows throughout the 1970s, including "Across 110th Street," "The Deadly Trackers," and "Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside."
In the decades that followed, Benjamin continued to work in film and television, appearing in projects such as "The Education of Sonny Carson," "Friday Foster," "Leadbelly," "Escape from Alcatraz," "Some Kind of Hero," "Nuts," "Do the Right Thing," "The Five Heartbeats," and "Rosewood." He also appeared in several mini-movies, including "One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story," "Gideon's Trumpet," and "The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains."
Benjamin's career slowed down in the early 2000s, but he continued to appear in films and TV shows, including "The Fence," "Rosewood," "Stanley's Gig," "The Station Agent," "Back to You in the Days," "The Talk Man," and "Occupy, Texas." He also guest-starred on popular TV series such as "Angel," "ER," "Law & Order," and "The Shield."
In addition to his acting career, Benjamin was an award-winning playwright and continued to write and perform in his 70s. His play "Carrier" received special citations for its writing and performances. Paul Benjamin passed away on June 28, 2019, at the age of 81.
