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Paula Prentiss

 
Actor: Paula Prentiss
 
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  • Born: Mar 04, 1939 in San Antonio, Texas
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: The Stepford Wives, In Harm's Way, The Parallax View
  • First Major Screen Credit: Bachelor in Paradise (1961)

Biography

Texas native Paula Prentiss was the daughter of an Italian-born oil company labor relations man. Her reputation as a cut-up at Virginia's Randolph Macon School would haunt her in "I knew her when" magazine articles for the rest of her life. She buckled down long enough to study drama at Northwestern University, where she met future husband Richard Benjamin. In 1960, Prentiss was signed by MGM, which groomed her for stardom in such films as Where the Boys Are (1960), The Honeymoon Machine (1961), and The Horizontal Lieutenant (1963). Her unique comic gifts and offbeat personality would seem to make her more suited to screwball supporting parts than romantic leads, though she's certainly had her share of both. In 1967, Prentiss co-starred with husband Dick Benjamin in He and She, a TV sitcom which, despite low ratings, accrued a loyal cult following. She continued popping up in excellent film roles into the 1980s, as well as appearing in TV movies like MADD: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (1983). Paula Prentiss is the older sister of actress Ann Prentiss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Paula Prentiss
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Paula Prentiss
Born Paula Ragusa
March 4, 1938 (1938-03-04) (age 71)
San Antonio, Texas
Spouse(s) Richard Benjamin (1961–)

Paula Prentiss (born March 4, 1938) is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View.

Contents

Career

Prentiss first became known as a comedic actress with such films as Where the Boys Are, The Honeymoon Machine, Bachelor in Paradise, and The Horizontal Lieutenant, where she was teamed with actor Jim Hutton, who was also tall; Hutton stood 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) to her 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m). She later starred with Rock Hudson in Man's Favorite Sport?, in The World of Henry Orient and What's New, Pussycat? with Peter Sellers, Catch-22 and Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Alan Arkin, In Harm's Way with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, Move with Elliott Gould, The Parallax View with Warren Beatty, and Billy Wilder's last film Buddy Buddy with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

For one season (1967–1968), Paula starred with her husband, Richard Benjamin, in the CBS sitcom He & She. Although not a big ratings success, the stylish series was considered ahead of its time in humor and sophistication. It is viewed as a landmark sitcom and a thematic precursor to the crop of MTM-style sitcoms to emerge a couple of seasons later. Prentiss was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy.

Personal life

Prentiss is married to actor/director Richard Benjamin. They have two (now adult) children, Ross and Prentiss, and live in the Hollywood Hills. They appeared together in He & She (1967–1968), as well as the film Catch-22 (1970) and Saturday the 14th (1981).

Prentiss's sister Ann is also an actress.

Filmography

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Paula Prentiss".  Read more

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