South Carolina Black History

St. Andrew's TeenSpot Salutes

Paul Benjamin

(1938-)

Actor

Benjamin was born in Pelion, South Carolina. On the big screen during the '90s, Benjamin worked with some well-known directors. He appeared in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats, Bill Duke's Hoodlum, and John Singleton's Rosewood. On television, he appeared 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.