Richard Benjamin began in the entertainment industry as an actor. Initially a theater actor, one of Benjamin’s first starring roles came in the short-lived television series He & She opposite his wife, Paula Prentiss. Benjamin went on to star in many critically and commercially successful films including Goodbye, Columbus, Catch-22 and Westworld, among others. Always interested in the production side of films and television, he first directed the comedy pilot Where’s Poppa? in 1979. After directing an episode of the series Semi-Tough in 1980, Benjamin directed his first feature, the critically acclaimed My Favorite Year (1982) which earned an Oscar nomination for star Peter O’Toole.
Following this success, Benjamin began acting more infrequently and focused on directing, helming the feature films; Racing with the Moon (1984), City Heat (1984), The Money Pit (1986), Little Nikita (1988), My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988), Downtown (1990), Mermaids (1990), Made in America (1993), Milk Money (1994), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996), The Shrink Is In (2001) and Marci X (2003). Benjamin has also directed several movies for television including, The Pentagon Wars (1998), Tourist Trap (1998), The Sports Pages (2001), Laughter on the 23rd Floor (2001), The Goodbye Girl (2004) and A Little Thing Called Murder (2006).