Richard Jenkins : biography
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
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
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" |