Paul L. Smith

Acting

Paul L. Smith

Born 1939-02-05 · Everett, Massachusetts, USA

Paul L. Smith (February 5, 1939 – April 25, 2012) was an American character actor. Burly, bearded, and imposing, he has appeared in films and occasionally on TV since the 1970s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys. His most notable roles include Hamidou, the vicious prison warden in Midnight Express (1978), Bluto in Robert Altman's Popeye (1980) and the Beast Rabban in David Lynch's Dune (1984). He is sometimes credited as Paul Smith or Paul Lawrence Smith.

Acting credits

Dune poster
6.2

In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe, the vast desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Its native inhabitants, the Fremen, have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.

Dune

1984

Red Sonja poster
5.4

The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills the keeper of a talisman that gives her great power. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren.

Red Sonja

1985

Maverick poster
6.9

Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Maverick

1994

Popeye poster
5.6

Popeye is a super-strong, spinach-scarfing sailor man who's searching for his father. During a storm that wrecks his ship, Popeye washes ashore and winds up rooming at the Oyl household, where he meets Olive. Before he can win her heart, he must first contend with Olive's fiancé, Bluto.

Popeye

1980

Midnight Express poster
7.4

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

Midnight Express

1978

The Protector poster
6.0

Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.

The Protector

1985

The In-Laws poster
6.6

In preparation for his daughter's wedding, dentist Sheldon Kornpett meets Vince Ricardo, the groom's father. Vince, a manic fellow who claims to be a government agent, then proceeds to drag Sheldon into a series of chases and misadventures from New York to Central America.

The In-Laws

1979

Haunted Honeymoon poster
5.4

Radio personalities Larry Abbot and Vickie Pearle are stars of a mystery show. Since they announced their engagement, Larry has been plagued by speech problems and, seeking out an unconventional cure, he returns to his boyhood home, a mansion in the countryside, bringing Vickie along. Larry reunites with numerous family members, but discovers that there are sinister things afoot within the walls of the creepy estate.

Haunted Honeymoon

1986

Gor poster
3.8

American professor Tarl Cabot is transported via a magical ring to planet Gor, where he must help an oppressed country overthrow its evil king and his barbarian henchmen.

Gor

1987

Pieces poster
5.9

A frustrated Boston detective searches for the maniac responsible for mutilating a number of university coeds.

Pieces

1982

21 Hours at Munich poster
6.3

A dramatization of the incident in 1972 when Arab terrorists broke into the Olympic compound in Munich and murdered 11 Israeli athletes.

21 Hours at Munich

1976

Caged Fury poster
4.1

Kat arrives in Los Angeles to audition for movies. However, after meeting a sleazy producer, she and her new friend find themselves in a women's prison run by sadistic guards and a lesbian warden.

Caged Fury

1990

Crimewave poster
5.5

A pair of whacked-out cartoon-like exterminator/hitmen kill the owner of a burglar-alarm company, and stalk the partner who hired them, his wife, and a nerd framed for the murder, who tells the story in flashback from the electric chair.

Crimewave

1985

The Salamander poster
5.5

An Italian policeman investigates a series of murders involving people in prominent positions. Left behind at each murder scene is a drawing of a salamander. The policeman begins to suspect these murders are linked to a plot to seize control of the government.

The Salamander

1981

No artwork available
NR

Retired British solider Richard Hannay is recruited by British intelligence in an attempt to recover three hostages taken prisoner by a shadowy criminal organisation

The Three Hostages

1977

Going in Style poster
7.0

Three kindly old men decide to light up the dimming twilight of their lives with a last blaze of glory – by sticking up a Manhattan bank in broad daylight.

Going in Style

1979

Operation Shtreimel poster
5.3

This wacky comedy takes place in the weeks leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. With the Allies uncertain as to what the Germans have in store for them after the invasion, it's up to one Jewish paratrooper to sneak into Germany's top-secret army base and steal the plans!

Operation Shtreimel

1984

Jungle Warriors poster
4.1

A group of models fly into the jungle of some South American country to look for a photo location. Their plane is shot down and they are captured by a drug baron's private army. At the same time, the Mafia's representative arrive to negotiate future collaboration.

Jungle Warriors

1984

Nahtche and the General poster
7.5

Comedy which revolves around the exploits of Nahtche and his constant success in disentangling himself from the grip of the persons who are after him and whom he is leading by the nose.

Nahtche and the General

1972

Disaster on the Coastliner poster
5.3

A deranged engineer, bent on revenge for the deaths of his wife and daughter, sets two passenger trains on a collision course, and con-man William Shatner puts his life on the line to ward off the crash.

Disaster on the Coastliner

1979

D.R.E.A.M. Team poster
5.4

J.W. Garrison, the head of a top-secret sub agency of the United Nations, discovers that a team of terrorists, led by the murderous Oliver Maxwell, plan on producing a bomb carrying an anthrax virus to be used in the United States. Garrison summons CIA agent Zack Hamilton who puts together a team of three beautiful women; CIA trainer Kim Taylor; photographer Victoria Carrera; and actress Eva Kirov to go to undercover as fashion models to infiltrate the terrorist organization to find the bomb before it can be used.

D.R.E.A.M. Team

1999

Ten Little Indians poster
4.9

Ten people are invited to go on an African safari, only to find that an unseen person is killing them one by one. Could one of them be the killer?

Ten Little Indians

1989

Outlaw Force poster
5.2

Some punks go into a small town and start hassling the gas station owner; Billy Ray Dalton a friend of the owner pulls a shot gun on them and tells them to go away. Later they go back and force the owner to tell them where Dalton lives. Now, Dalton a part time musician's out on a gig, when they go to his house and kill his pregnant wife, and take his daughter. Dalton follows them to try and get his daughter back.

Outlaw Force

1988

Crossing the Line poster
5.2

A rich kid, with a fondness for fast bikes, is blamed when a motorcycle accident puts his best friend in a coma.

Crossing the Line

1990

Behind the camera