Eriq La Salle | The Complete Pioneers of Television Interview

Eric La Salle is one of the most underrated actors of our time. You never see him as an actor pretending to be someone - instead he becomes the character that he is playing. I wish he was front of the camera more often. On another note: I would love to see Peter Benton's backstory turned into it's own show.

He was so good as Dr. Benton! Whenever he was on the screen I'd always be glued to the screen because I never knew what he was going to do, so he's right about the audience not being able to pin him down and that makes for an interesting character. I totally love what he said about the audience having to keep up and I agree. All too often now both movies and TV assume their audience is dumb so they dumb it down for the masses, which is why I am watching ER again and I watched it during it's original run but it's been so long it's like new again even if I remember certain plot points, it's refreshing.

He has such a profound voice

CARTER! LET'S MOVE!

Very nice interview. I am currently watching ER. Benton is always captivating on screen. Never a dull moment, always a certain intensity.

Darryl just let your soul glo baby 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Fine actor.

I remember a scene where Dr green walks into a room to tell a father holding his newborn that his wife died. The camera doesn’t follow him into to the room and we just see the reactions and I thought it was perfect.

Defined “tough love” with Dr. Benton’s relationship with Carter. Fantastic portrayal of the character by LaSalle.

One of the finest actors ever

Jack Benny's butler, Rochester, would be a pioneer of television. This guy is an also ran.