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Richard Jenkins
Jenkins at the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009
Born	Richard Dale Jenkins
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Sharon R. Friedrick (1969–present)

Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s before coming to prominence in the early 2000s for playing the deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series Six Feet Under. He has since established himself in Hollywood by appearing in lead roles in the films The Visitor and The Cabin in the Woods.

Early life

Jenkins was born and raised in DeKalb, a university town in 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). Jenkins earned a degree in drama from Illinois Wesleyan University before relocating to Rhode Island. While attending Illinois Wesleyan, Jenkins was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.

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 upcoming 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 has also been in North Country (2005).

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. Jenkins won the International Press Academy's Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama.

Jenkins has been cast in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard horror The Cabin in the Woods.

Television

Is perhaps best known for playing Nathaniel Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. His character is a deceased patriarch of the Fisher family, who regularly appears to his family as a ghost or in a dream. He played the role since the show began in 2001, through to its final season in 2005. He and his castmates received their Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2002.

Personal life

He married Sharon R. Friedrick on August 23, 1969 and together they have two children, Sarah Pamela and Andrew Dale. He currently resides in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

Filmography

Six Feet Under episodes

References

1. Benjamin Secher Published: 12:01AM BST 28 Jun 2008 Comments (2008-06-28). "Richard Jenkins: bald, 61 years old - and a star at last". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-10-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. Oscars 2009: Mickey, Sean, Frank, Brad and . . . Richard?
3. ^ "Richard Jenkins Biography (1947-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
4. "Reilly + Movie Dad Met When He Was Four". Showbizspy.com. 2008-06-29. Retrieved 2010-10-13.
5. Stated on The Late Show with David Letterman, February 3, 2009
6. Maxwell, Erin and Michael Jones. Variety "Film trio feel the Spirit." December 2, 2008
7. Kit, Borys (2009-01-22). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 21 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Richard Jenkins at IMDb
• Interview with Richard Jenkins at everydayyeah.com
• Interview with Richard Jenkins at The Faster Times,

Template:Persondata

• 1947 births
• Living people
• Actors from Rhode Island
• American film actors
• American stage actors
• American television actors
• People from DeKalb, Illinois
• People from Cumberland, Rhode Island
• Actors from Illinois