| Paula Prentiss | |
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Prentiss with husband Dick Benjamin (left) and Jack Cassidy from He & She, 1967. |
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| Born | Paula Ragusa March 4, 1938 San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| Years active | 1960–2007 |
| Spouse | Richard Benjamin (1961–present; 2 children) |
Paula Ragusa (born March 4, 1938), better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation comedy He and She.
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Prentiss was born Paula Ragusa in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Paulene (née Gardner) and Thomas J. Ragusa, who was a Social Sciences professor at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Prentiss' father was of Italian descent. Prentiss was always the tallest person in her school classes.[1][2][3][4] In 1958, while attending Northwestern University's school of drama, she met someone taller: her future husband, Richard Benjamin, who also impressed her with his sophistication.[3] While still a student at Northwestern, she was discovered and offered a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film contract.[3][5] Prentiss initially intended to be a doctor, but somehow became involved with theater while at Northwestern.[6]
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.
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.
Prentiss and actor/director Richard Benjamin married on October 26, 1961; her career was soaring while Benjamin still struggled for acting roles.[3][7] In 1965, while filming What's New, Pussycat in Paris, Paula suffered a nervous breakdown which kept her out of films for five years, returning to work with Benjamin in the short-lived television series, He and She.[3][7] The couple also appeared together in Catch-22 (1970) and Saturday the 14th (1981), as well as various plays.[6][8]
They have two adult children, Ross and Prentiss, and live in the Hollywood Hills.
Ann Prentiss, her sister, was also an actress.