Richard Jenkins

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Richard Jenkins bigraphy, stories - American actor

Richard Jenkins : biography

May 4, 1947 –

Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the theatre and made his film debut in 1974. He has played supporting roles in films almost every year since 1985 and had lead roles in The Cabin in the Woods and The Visitor, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He played the deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under.

Personal life

Jenkins and his wife Sharon R. Friedrick were married on August 23, 1969, and have two children: son Andrew Richard and daughter Sarah Pamela. He currently resides in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

Career

Theatre

He worked as an actor with the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, while breaking into film with a bit part in Feasting with Panthers (1974), a television movie, and continued as a celebrated member of Trinity’s resident acting company and served as Artistic Director of the theatre from 1990-4.

Film

Since his film debut in the television movie Feasting with Panthers (1974), he has steadily been working in film. Some of his earlier film credits include Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), How to Make an American Quilt(1995), and Snow Falling On Cedars (1999). He is also a frequent collaborator with the director siblings the Farrelly brothers, who have worked with Jenkins in There’s Something About Mary (1998), Outside Providence (1999), Me, Myself, & Irene (2000), Say It Isn’t So (2001), Hall Pass (2011) and the 2012 Three Stooges remake. He has also worked occasionally with the Coen Brothers: The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), and Burn After Reading (2008). He is in North Country (2005), has three memorable scenes as FBI Director James (Robert) Grace in The Kingdom (film) (2007), and in the Step Brothers (2008).

Although known primarily for supporting parts, he had a critically acclaimed lead role in The Visitor (2008), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.Maxwell, Erin and Michael Jones. December 2, 2008 Jenkins won the International Press Academy’s Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

Jenkins co-starred in Dear John, as the father of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), and in Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard’s horror film The Cabin in the Woods (2012).

Television

Jenkins is perhaps best known for playing Nathaniel Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. His character is the deceased patriarch of the Fisher family, and regularly appears to his family as a ghost or in dreams. He played the role for the show’s entire run. He and his castmates received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2002.

Early life

Jenkins was born and raised in DeKalb, Illinois. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (née Wheeler), was a housewife, and his father, Dale Stevens Jenkins, was a dentist. He attended DeKalb High School. Before he was an actor, Jenkins drove a linen truck (his boss was actor John C. Reilly’s father).Stated on the Late Show with David Letterman, February 3, 2009 Jenkins earned a degree in drama from Illinois Wesleyan University, before relocating to Rhode Island. While attending Illinois Wesleyan, Jenkins became a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

Filmography

Film and television credits
Title Year Role Notes
Silverado 1985 Kelly
Hannah and Her Sisters 1986 Dr. Wilkes
1986 Radiation Controls Officer – Medatomics Lab
Rachel River 1987 Cordell
1987 Clyde Alden
In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders 1988 Detective
Little Nikita 1988 Richard Grant
Stealing Home 1988 Hank Chandler
Sea of Love 1989 Gruber
Blaze 1989 Picayune
How I Got Into College 1989 Bill Browne
When You Remember Me 1990 Vaughan TV movie
Challenger 1990 Gregory Jarvis TV movie
Blue Steel 1990 Attorney Mel Dawson
Doublecrossed 1991 TV movie
Undercover Blues 1993 Frank
And the Band Played On 1993 Dr. Marc Conant TV movie
It Could Happen to You 1994 C. Vernon Hale
Trapped in Paradise 1994 Agent Shaddus Peyser
Wolf 1994 Detective Bridger
How to Make an American Quilt 1995 Howell Saunders
1995 Victor
Flirting with Disaster 1996 Paul Harmon Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
1996 Campton
1996 Bob Klemper TV movie
Eddie 1996 Carl Zimmer
Absolute Power 1997 Michael McCarty
There’s Something About Mary 1998 Psychiatrist Uncredited
1998 Johnny Leguard
Random Hearts 1999 Truman Trainor
Snow Falling on Cedars 1999 Sheriff Art Moran
1999 Det. Bob Mothershed
Outside Providence 1999 Barney
1999 Cass O’Donnell
What Planet Are You From? 2000 Don Fisk
Me, Myself & Irene 2000 Agent Boshane
Say It Isn’t So 2001 Walter Wingfield
2001 Walter Abundas
One Night at McCool’s 2001 Father Jimmy
Stealing Harvard 2002 Honorable Emmett Cook
Changing Lanes 2002 Walter Arnell
Sins of the Father 2002 Bobby Frank Cherry TV movie
Cheaper by the Dozen 2003 Shake
Intolerable Cruelty 2003 Freddy Bender
2003 Gen. Thomas Purcell
2003 Edgar Mudge
Shall We Dance 2004 Devine
I ♥ Huckabees 2004 Mr. Hooten Uncredited
Fun with Dick and Jane 2005 Frank Bascombe
Rumor Has It… 2005 Earl Huttinger
North Country 2005 Hank Aimes
2007 Robert Grace
2008 Professor Walter Vale Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor |Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast |Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor|Method Fest Independent Film Festival for Best Actor|Moscow International Film Festival for Best Actor|National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Spotlight Award|San Diego Film Critics Society – Special Award|Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Virtuoso Award|Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor|Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast|Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male|Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor|Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role}}
2008 John McVey
Step Brothers 2008 Dr. Robert Doback San Diego Film Critics Society – Special Award
Burn After Reading 2008 Ted Treffon San Diego Film Critics Society – Special Award
2008 Principal VoiceSan Diego Film Critics Society – Special Award
Waiting for Forever 2009 Richard Twist
happythankyoumoreplease 2010 Paul Gertmanian
Dear John 2010 Bill Tyree
Eat Pray Love 2010 Richard
Norman 2010 Doug Long Breckenridge Festival of Film for Best Ensemble Cast
Let Me In 2010 "The Father" Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Best Supporting Actor
Friends with Benefits 2011 Mr. Harper
2011 Edward J. Lotterman
Hall Pass 2011 Coakley
Liberal Arts 2012 Professor Peter Hoberg
Darling Companion 2012 Russell
2012 Gary Sitterson
Killing Them Softly 2012 Driver
Jack Reacher 2012 Alex Rodin
The Company You Keep 2012 Jed Lewis
White House Down 2013 Speaker Eli Raphelson
Turbo 2013 White Shadow
Lullaby 2013 Post-production

Six Feet Under episodes

Appearances in Six Feet Under by release season
Season Year Episode titles Notes
Season 1 2001 "Pilot", "The Will", "The Foot", "The Room", "Life’s Too Short", "Knock, Knock"
Season 2 2002 "In the Game", "The Plan", "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", "Somebody Else’s Eyes", "I’ll Take You, The Secret" Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Season 3 2003 "Perfect Circles", "Nobody Sleeps", "I’m Sorry, I’m Lost"
Season 4 2004 "In Case of Rapture", "Grinding the Corn", "Untitled"
Season 5 2005 "Time Flies", "Ecotone", "All Alone", "Everyone’s Waiting"