Daniel Benzali
Encyclopedia
Daniel Benzali is a Brazil
ian-American
stage, television and film actor.
to Brazilian Jewish parents. He is the middle child of three boys born to a father who was an actor in the Yiddish theater in New York and a mother who was a homemaker.
Benzali was a theatre actor before making guest-starring roles on television series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation
, The X-Files
, NYPD Blue
and L.A. Law
. L.A. Law creator Steven Bochco
was so impressed with Benzali's performance that he cast him in the lead role of his 1995 series Murder One
, playing attorney
Ted Hoffman
. For this role he was nominated for a Golden Globe award
. Benzali starred on the series The Agency, and in films such as By Dawn's Early Light
(1990), Murder at 1600
(1997) and The Grey Zone
(2001). He also appeared in the post-apocalyptic CBS series Jericho
as the enigmatic former Department of Homeland Security director Thomas Valente. Most recently he starred in the FX television series Nip/Tuck
as the main character's psychotherapist and later patient, Dr. Griffin. Another of his roles was that of Reggie, a money hungry sales manager/drug smuggler at a car dealership in the 1999 cult-classic "Suckers
."
Benzali has also played musical theater. He portrayed Juan Peron
in the London cast of Evita, and played faded film
director
Max von Mayerling, alongside Patti LuPone
, in the original cast (1993) of Andrew Lloyd Webber
's Sunset Boulevard
. Benzali had previously appeared on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof
, and other smaller productions. Benzali was also formerly engaged to actress Kim Cattrall
.
In December 2010, Benzali joined ABC's General Hospital
. Benzali plays a character named Theodore Hoffman, a reference to his role on the mid-1990s television series Murder One
. Benzali's character is also known as "The Balkan", an international crime lord.
In 1985, he had a role in the James Bond
film A View to a Kill
as W.G. Howe, the California
n director of Oil and Mines, based at San Francisco City Hall
. His character was shot dead in his office there by Christopher Walken's
character Max Zorin
.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage, television and film actor.
Biography
Benzali was born in Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
to Brazilian Jewish parents. He is the middle child of three boys born to a father who was an actor in the Yiddish theater in New York and a mother who was a homemaker.
Benzali was a theatre actor before making guest-starring roles on television series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
and L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
. L.A. Law creator Steven Bochco
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....
was so impressed with Benzali's performance that he cast him in the lead role of his 1995 series Murder One
Murder One (TV series)
Murder One is an American legal drama series that first aired on the ABC network in the United States in 1995. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.-Premise:...
, playing attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Ted Hoffman
Theodore Hoffman
Theodore Hoffman is a fictional character who was the protagonist in the first season of the series Murder One. He was played by Daniel Benzali.Ted is head of the law firm of Hoffman & Associates, specializing in criminal defense...
. For this role he was nominated for a Golden Globe award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
. Benzali starred on the series The Agency, and in films such as By Dawn's Early Light
By Dawn's Early Light
By Dawn’s Early Light is an HBO Original Movie, aired in 1990 and set in 1991. It is based on the 1983 novel Trinity's Child, written by William Prochnau. The film is one of the last films to depict the events of a fictional World War III before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the...
(1990), Murder at 1600
Murder at 1600
Murder at 1600 is a 1997 thriller film starring Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Dennis Miller, Ronny Cox, Daniel Benzali, and Alan Alda. The 1600 in the title refers to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the address of the White House. The film is based on the novel Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman,...
(1997) and The Grey Zone
The Grey Zone
The Grey Zone is a 2001 film directed by Tim Blake Nelson and starring David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account written by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli....
(2001). He also appeared in the post-apocalyptic CBS series Jericho
Jericho (TV series)
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States...
as the enigmatic former Department of Homeland Security director Thomas Valente. Most recently he starred in the FX television series Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
as the main character's psychotherapist and later patient, Dr. Griffin. Another of his roles was that of Reggie, a money hungry sales manager/drug smuggler at a car dealership in the 1999 cult-classic "Suckers
Suckers (film)
Suckers is a 2001 film written by Roger Nygard and Joe Yanetty which revolves around events at a car dealership. Suckers stars Daniel Benzali, Lori Loughlin, and Louis Mandylor and co-stars Walter Emanuel Jones...
."
Benzali has also played musical theater. He portrayed Juan Peron
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
in the London cast of Evita, and played faded film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Max von Mayerling, alongside Patti LuPone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
, in the original cast (1993) of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
. Benzali had previously appeared on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, and other smaller productions. Benzali was also formerly engaged to actress Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
.
In December 2010, Benzali joined ABC's General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
. Benzali plays a character named Theodore Hoffman, a reference to his role on the mid-1990s television series Murder One
Murder One (TV series)
Murder One is an American legal drama series that first aired on the ABC network in the United States in 1995. The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee, and Channing Gibson.-Premise:...
. Benzali's character is also known as "The Balkan", an international crime lord.
In 1985, he had a role in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
as W.G. Howe, the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n director of Oil and Mines, based at San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
. His character was shot dead in his office there by Christopher Walken's
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
character Max Zorin
Max Zorin
Max Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. He was portrayed by Academy Award winner Christopher Walken...
.