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"It took me a long time to find myself and I'm still looking around corners to see if I'm there." Paul Prentiss is a celebrated American actress from Texas. Known for her work on the cult classic show He & She (1967), Prentiss has had something of a storybook career. Prentiss has been working in Hollywood for almost sixty years. Along the way, Prentiss has scored major awards, high-profile gigs, and box office blockbusters.

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While Paula Prentiss experienced her heyday in the 60s, she's still a television icon so many decades later. As a result, people are always wondering what she's up to, where she's been, and how she got to be where she is today. In order to satisfy all of those questions in more, we are going to take a trip back to San Antonio, Texas, in 1938.

Life of Chance

Paula Ragusa, known as Paula Prentiss, was born on March 4, 1938, in San Antonio, Texas. Prentiss was born to Paulene and Thomas Ragusa. Thomas worked as a professor of Social Sciences at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Her father was of Sicilian descent and their heritage played a formative role in her life while growing up. Paula had one sister, Ann Prentiss, who has since passed away. There are many family controversies surrounding Ann and their father, though very little has been confirmed by any independent resources.

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As a child, Paula was always gathering attention. Why? Well, she was seemingly born tall, and she only grew taller. By the time that Paula was in middle school, she was standing at 5 feet and 10 inches in height. As the tallest person in every class that she went to, Paula grew up used to having all eyes on her. In the blink of an eye, Prentiss was graduating from Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. Upon graduation, Prentiss immediately began pursuing secondary education. Prentiss would go on to attend college at Northwestern University.

While attending Northwestern, Paula would meet her future husband, Richard Benjamin. Benjamin stood at 6 feet and 1 inch in height, which made him one of the few people in her life that had stood taller than her. At the time, Richard was a fashionable and intelligent young man. The two quickly fell in love and began dating. In October of 1961, Richard and Paula would get married. Paula and Richard would share two children together, a son named Ross and a daughter named Prentiss.

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An Up and Down Career

While Paula had been attending class at Northwestern University, she had been scouted by a talent representative from Metro Goldwyn Mayer. With little more than her looks to go on, Paula would be offered a film contract. Paula would leap at the chance to start pursuing her dream career as an actress and before anyone knew it, Paula was working on television and in film.

Paula made her professional acting debut in the 1960 film, Where the Boys Are as the character Tuggle Carpenter. She starred alongside Jim Hutton and the two won over audiences with their natural chemistry. MGM would sign Hutton and Prentiss to a three-film deal and that would lead to The Honeymoon Machine (1961), Bachelor in Paradise (1961), and finally The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962). At the time, Hutton and Prentiss were the tallest contracted talents on the MGM roster.

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After developing her skills under the auspices of MGM, Prentiss would go on to branch out to work outside of the major studio. Prentiss would land a role in Man's Favorite Sport (1963) with Universal Studios. Despite her love of the craft, Prentiss was criticized for lacking some of the more technical skills required of an actor. Howard Hawks notably called out Prentiss by saying, "Paula Prentiss was good, but she couldn't remember what she was doing from one shot to the next. Her shots never matched."

While Prentiss was steadily building a name for herself, she was about to experience one of the most unexpected hurdles of her life. Away from her husband for the first time, Prentiss would head to France in order to work on the film, What's New Pussycat? (1965). The film starred Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, and Romy Schneider. During the production, Prentiss would experience a severe mental break. She would end up being sent to a mental institution after being saved by a stagehand. While this moment marked a serious low in her life, it would serve as a catalyst for growth and a chance for change. Prentiss would take two years off from acting before returning in the biggest way possible.

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By this point in time, Paula had earned a reputation for herself as a legitimate comedic talent. Her movie roles were always popular with fans and that meant it was time to strike while the iron was hot. In 1967, Prentiss would gain critical acclaim for her work on the cult TV classic, He & She. The program followed a comic book artist named Dick, his partner Paula, and the TV show that they helped to make together. While the program only managed to eek out 26 episodes, Paula would go on to land an Emmy Award nomination for her work.

After He & She had been canceled, there were rumors that Prentiss would move away from the industry. Instead, Prentiss would go on to appear in 22 more projects, including Catch-22 (1970) and The Stepford Wives (1975). Eventually, Prentiss would get the chance to work with her real-life husband in a film. The two would co-star in the 1983 movie, Packin' It In. The film would go on to score mixed reviews. Paula's most recent appearance was in the 2016 film, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House as Iris Blum.

Outside of her work in the acting industry, Prentiss has constantly gushed over her marriage to actor Richard Benjamin.  The two have been married since 1961, and they are still going strong to this day. Paula and Richard have two children together, Prentiss and Ross Benjamin. Ross Benjamin is the only active member of the family pursuing work in film. Ross has appeared in over twenty projects in his career, with his most recent work being in the film, Barking Mad (2018).