Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; Catch-22 (1970), from the Joseph Heller best-seller; Westworld (1973), a science-fiction thriller by Michael Crichton; and The Sunshine Boys (1975), written by Neil Simon, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on He & She (1968), opposite his wife Paula Prentiss. After directing for television, his first film as a director was the 1982 comedy My Favorite Year, starring Peter O'Toole, who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for the role. His other films as a director include City Heat (1984) starring Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood, The Money Pit (1986) starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) starring Dan Aykroyd and Kim Basinger, Mermaids (1990) starring Cher and Winona Ryder, Made in America (1993) starring Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, Milk Money (1994) starring Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris, Mrs. Winterbourne (1996) starring Ricki Lake and Brendan Fraser, and Marci X (2003) starring Lisa Kudrow and Damon Wayans. Biography Early life Benjamin was born in New York City, the son of Samuel Roger Benjamin (1910–1997), a garment industry worker. Benjamin's uncle was vaudeville comedian Joe Browning. His family was Jewish. He attended the High School of Performing Arts and graduated from Northwestern University, where he was involved in many plays and studied in the Northwestern theater school. While there, he met Paula Prentiss, whom he married in 1961. Theatre Benjamin struggled to get work early in his career, while Prentiss became a film star almost immediately in Where the Boys Are (1961). Benjamin appeared on stage in The Taming of the Shrew and guest-starred on shows such as The New Breed and Dr. Kildare. Benjamin's early break came when cast in the touring company of Barefoot in the Park in 1964. During this run, he received word that Prentiss had a nervous breakdown while making What's New Pussycat? in Paris. Prentiss got treatment and made a full recovery. Benjamin later toured in The Odd Couple with Dan Dailey. In 1966, he directed Barefoot in the Park on stage in London. Simon was pleased with Benjamin's work