Trivia

In an interview, he said he was constantly mistaken for being British because of his work on The Jeffersons (1975) as Harry Bentley.

His acromeglia was diagnosed by an endocrinologist who saw Benedict in a play. He underwent treatment to stop the disease from advancing. He used his facial features to comic effect.

Suffered from acromeglia as a young man, which accounted for his slightly over-sized nose and lower jaw.

Had appeared on Maude (1972), All in the Family (1971) and The Jeffersons (1975) all within a two-week span.

He began his acting career in the Theater Company of Boston, where his colleagues included then-unknowns Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

He was the youngest of six children. His father was a doctor, his mother a journalist.

Attended and graduated from Boston College High School and Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts, where he grew up.

He was awarded the 1988 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Direction for "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

He was posthumously awarded the 2009 Elliot Norton Award by the Boston Theater Critics Association.

His father emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily, Italy.