JeffRuss1972
10-08-2005, 06:02 PM
From The Great TV Sitcom Book by Rick Mitz(1980)
Probably the most interesting case history of all of THE JEFFERSONS' clan was that of Paul Benedict, who played the family's klutzy but well-intentioned neighbor, Bentley. He had a strange look about him---an over-loose walk plus a distorted face; a large nose and a huge jaw, making him look more like a race horse than a TV actor. Benedict was lucky to look that way at all.
In 1965, while performing with the Theatre Company of Boston, a radiologist in the audience sent him a note. Said Benedict: "The man wrote that he suspected I might be the victim of a bizarre glandular disorder, acromegaly [which enlarges the hands, feet and face]. The note said, 'If you'd like to talk to me, I'll wait for you outside the lobby.' Of course I rushed out and grabbed him by the lapels---and his diagnosis turned out to be correct. He sent me to an endocrine specialist and I underwent a twenty-minute operation. And that was that. Actually, it would've killed me if it hadn't been caught at that time. My headaches had grown worse and I was completely exhausted. There's been no recurrence. The only thing is, the ailment changed my casting possibilities. It turned me into a character actor."
That was fine with Norman Lear, THE JEFFERSONS' producer. "We wanted something different for a neighbor and liked the idea of an Englishman. Oddly enough, we interviewed some British actors, but they were TOO British. When Paul auditioned, he had just the right kind of level."
Probably the most interesting case history of all of THE JEFFERSONS' clan was that of Paul Benedict, who played the family's klutzy but well-intentioned neighbor, Bentley. He had a strange look about him---an over-loose walk plus a distorted face; a large nose and a huge jaw, making him look more like a race horse than a TV actor. Benedict was lucky to look that way at all.
In 1965, while performing with the Theatre Company of Boston, a radiologist in the audience sent him a note. Said Benedict: "The man wrote that he suspected I might be the victim of a bizarre glandular disorder, acromegaly [which enlarges the hands, feet and face]. The note said, 'If you'd like to talk to me, I'll wait for you outside the lobby.' Of course I rushed out and grabbed him by the lapels---and his diagnosis turned out to be correct. He sent me to an endocrine specialist and I underwent a twenty-minute operation. And that was that. Actually, it would've killed me if it hadn't been caught at that time. My headaches had grown worse and I was completely exhausted. There's been no recurrence. The only thing is, the ailment changed my casting possibilities. It turned me into a character actor."
That was fine with Norman Lear, THE JEFFERSONS' producer. "We wanted something different for a neighbor and liked the idea of an Englishman. Oddly enough, we interviewed some British actors, but they were TOO British. When Paul auditioned, he had just the right kind of level."