Paul Ben-Victor

Paul Ben-Victor
Fictional character Spiros Vondas (The Wire) portrayed by Paul Ben-Victor
Born	Paul Friedman (1965-07-24) July 24, 1965 (age 51) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987–present

Paul Ben-Victor (born Paul Friedman; July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Greek mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos on the HBO drama series The Wire.

Ben-Victor was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Leah Kornfeld, a playwright, and Victor Friedman.

Ben-Victor debuted on the small screen in 1987 in the television film Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife and on an episode of Cagney & Lacey. 15 years after beginning his television career with bit parts, he was cast in important roles on HBO dramas The Wire (as mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos) and Entourage, as well as making a 2006 appearance as Coach Lou on My Name Is Earl. He portrayed Moe Howard in the 2000 television film The Three Stooges.

Ben-Victor has been featured on many television cop dramas like Monk and CSI, and also had a recurring role as two-bit con man Steve Richards on three episodes of NYPD Blue from 1994 to 1997. He has co-written stage plays with his mother, including Club Soda and The Good Steno.

Ben-Victor had a starring role in the Sci-Fi channel television show The Invisible Man, alongside Vincent Ventresca. The two later guest starred together on the hit TV show Las Vegas. They were reunited again on an episode of the new USA Network series In Plain Sight ("Hoosier Daddy"), on which Ben-Victor has a supporting role.