By Gary Wien
originally published: 12/01/2006
You probably know him best as Bentley on "The Jeffersons" but Paul Benedict has had a truly remarkable acting career. His body of work includes films like "The Freshman", "The Addams Family", and "Waiting For Guffman". His stage credits include runs on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie (opposite Al Pacino), Meredith Willson's The Music Man, Terrence McNally's Bad Habits, and William Shakespeare's Richard III. This December, Benedict tackles a role from one of his favorite novels of all-time, "A Christmas Carol" when he becomes this year's Scrooge in McCarter Theatre's annual production of the holiday classic.
I had a chance to speak with Benedict while the play was in rehearsals.
Tell me about playing a character like Scrooge. He's such a part of society and our history that everybody knows the character deeply. What is it like to tackle a role like that?
Oh, it's wonderful. It's always been a favorite story of mine. I'm a little long in the tooth - I'm 68 - and it's tough to take on a role this size with this much running around at my age, but I'm happy doing it.
It's a great story. It's one of those five or six great stories that have ever been conceived and will last forever. It's an interesting thing that everybody who comes except for the little children have heard the story before. And that's good, they're sort of prepared with it.
I had an odd early life where my family broke up when I was about five and I went into state homes with my brothers and sisters and I bounced around a bit. It was very Dickensian. It's very hard to get a Dickensian youth in this country, so I think that helps me a lot. There's a lot to draw on there. I keep running into things in rehearsals and the play that suddenly drive home a memory to me that I'd forgotten for sixty years! That's a wonderful thing when that happens. It feeds what's going on.
The trick about playing Scrooge that you find out when you play it is that it's basically the same as a Shakespearian role in that the language of Charles Dickens is very, very rich like Shakespeare's. And his journey is the most amazing journey from the worst man in the world to the best man in the world. The emotional flip flop that you go through is enormous. It's like playing one of the big Shakespearian characters. I was surprised to find that out.
Is it difficult for the cast of a play like The Christmas Carol to keep things fresh when most of the audience will likely have seen it before?
Well if you go on stage and do Hamlet you're telling a familiar story. I don't think there's any problem with that. I would just like to think that it's a great delight for the kids who may have heard about A Christmas Carol but never gotten the story before. I think it must be a great delight.
It's funny, I can still remember reading it for the first time. It wasn't that early, I was in the 7th grade when I first read it. It just knocked me out of my socks. It's wonderful.
It's one of the few stories that can be done in so many different ways - drama, comedy, musical, etc.
I like what Michael (Unger) has done because the blend of comedy and drama is really good. Some of it should make them cry, I hope; and a great deal of it should make them laugh. It's wonderful to do a piece like that where it isn't just drama or just comedy.
You've done a lot of work on stage, television and film. What is it like to be a character actor when you happen to stumble across a role like that of Bentley on The Jeffersons which lives on forever. Did you find people casting you towards that type of role or were cast opposite that of a Bentley?
No, unfortunately in this business if you do something that seems to work everybody follows. It's like when I first started acting on stage they found out I was good at comedy and then that's all they wanted to cast me in. And that's been true most of my career, I have to fight to get anything that's dramatic.
Well I thought you being cast for Scrooge was brilliant.
Well, God knows I'm old enough! Thank you for saying that, but what's right about it is my age and by cooincidence my life. It's terribly appealing to me. Any actor would love to play this role.
I don't know if you've heard about this or how much you use the Internet, but you'd be amazed at how many clips people have posted on Youtube of you from your days on Sesame Street as the Number Painter.
Somebody has been telling me about that and the director brought in a little thing and showed me a couple of them. I'd forgotten what they even looked like it was so long ago. We shot them in 1969 and they started showing them in 1970 - that's a long time ago.
And I don't do computers! I'm trying to get off the planet without ever using them or cellphones. I hope I make it, we'll see.
It's funny about the things that last forever.
Yeah, that's right. Most of them are very good things and some very bad things too.
One of the things I love about theatre is that it's very much dealing with the present or in the now.
Exactly! Luckily in a nice way, I'm stopped sometimes by people on the street and I think oh, they're going to say weren't you on "The Jeffersons" or I loved this movie or something. But then some of them will say 'do you know when you did that speech?' and they'll name a play from 30 years ago. Some of their remarks are wonderful. The feeling of something they went through when they went to see the play. That's always extremely rewarding. I'm always floored by that because it's so much better in a way than being told you were great in a movie five years ago.
About the author:
Gary Wien has been covering the arts since 2001 and has had work published with Jersey Arts, Upstage Magazine, Elmore Magazine, Princeton Magazine, Backstreets and other publications. He is a three-time winner of the Asbury Music Award for Top Music Journalist and the author of
Beyond the Palace (the first book on the history of rock and roll in Asbury Park) and
Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. In addition, he runs New Jersey Stage and the online radio station
The Penguin Rocks. His personal website is at
lightyscorner.com. He can be contacted at
[email protected].
George Street Playhouse Presents Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-woman Show
Friday, November 13, 2026 @ 7:30pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJWritten by and starring
Vicki Lawrence Two Performances Only
Vicki Lawrence, the legendary actress, comedian, and singer, brings her signature wit and charm to the stage in Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two-Woman Show. Best known for her iconic role as Thelma Harper, or "Mama," from The Carol Burnett Show and Mama’s Family, Lawrence delivers a hilarious and heartfelt performance that takes audiences on a journey through her extraordinary career. From her Emmy-winning years alongside Carol Burnett to her chart-topping hit, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” she shares behind-the-scenes stories, comedy, and music—all with her trademark humor. Whether reminiscing about her Hollywood adventures or embodying the feisty Mama, Lawrence proves that laughter is timeless.
Kean Department Of Theatre Presents "the Drowsy Chaperone"
Friday, November 13, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Kean Stage - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJMusic and lyrics by
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Princeton’s Famous Triangle Show: Roswell That Ends Well
Friday, November 13, 2026 @ 8:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
91 University Place, Princeton, NJIf you’re feeling all alone in the universe – or even if you’re not – Triangle’s newest musical comedy is for you! Join us as Triangle explores what it means to have friends in high – or should we say “sky”? – places. Extraterrestrial visitors, crazy conspiracy theories, and intergalactic shenanigans power this year’s annual laugh-fest of witty jokes, lavish production numbers, and, of course, Triangle’s famous kickline. Can interplanetary goodwill blossom in the dystopian desert of our current times? Get your Triangle tickets now and learn if
Roswell That Ends Well!
George Street Playhouse Presents Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-woman Show
Saturday, November 14, 2026 @ 2:00pm
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC)
11 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJWritten by and starring
Vicki Lawrence Two Performances Only
Vicki Lawrence, the legendary actress, comedian, and singer, brings her signature wit and charm to the stage in Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two-Woman Show. Best known for her iconic role as Thelma Harper, or "Mama," from The Carol Burnett Show and Mama’s Family, Lawrence delivers a hilarious and heartfelt performance that takes audiences on a journey through her extraordinary career. From her Emmy-winning years alongside Carol Burnett to her chart-topping hit, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” she shares behind-the-scenes stories, comedy, and music—all with her trademark humor. Whether reminiscing about her Hollywood adventures or embodying the feisty Mama, Lawrence proves that laughter is timeless.
Kean Department Of Theatre Presents "the Drowsy Chaperone"
Saturday, November 14, 2026 @ 2:00pm
Kean Stage - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJMusic and lyrics by
Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
EVENT PREVIEWS
Hunterdon Hills Playhouse presents Christmas at the Playhouse 2026
(HAMPTON, NJ) -- Hunterdon Hills Playhouse presents Christmas at the Playhouse 2026 from November 10 to December 20, 2026. Celebrate the season with this spectacular holiday production filled with the music, memories, and traditions audiences have cherished through the years.
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(PLAINFIELD, NJ) -- Ferrell Studios presents Carrie, the Musical at the Plainfield Performing Arts Center from November 12-15, 2026. Based on the classic novel by Stephen King, the musical poses the question: What happens when someone is pushed too far?
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(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company's Fringe Festival continues with Ghost Dance: Picture of a Madman, a captivating one-woman play written and performed by Erica Knight. Running November 12–15, 2026, in the Kutz Theatre at the Lackland Performing Arts Center on the campus of Centenary University. The production explores the turbulent life and legacy of Ralph Albert Blakelock, one of America's most celebrated yet tragically overlooked nineteenth-century painters.
Fool Moon Theatre Company presents "Love, Loss, And What I Wore" at The Eagle Theatre on November 12th
(HAMMONTON, NJ) -- Fool Moon Theatre Company presents a special, one-night-only presentation of the hit play Love, Loss and What I Wore on Thursday, November 12 2026 at Eagle Theatre. This exclusive event is a benefit for the Funny Farm Rescue & Sanctuary in Mays Landing. Showtime is 7:30pm.
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(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- Bridge Players Theatre Company presents The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical weekends from November 13-28, 2026. In this musical adaptation of the funny and touching holiday classic, The Herdmans – widely known as the "worst kids in the history of the world" – crash Sunday School lured by the promise of free snacks and end up hijacking the annual church Christmas pageant!
