Richard Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Richard Dale Jenkins 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. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the television series Six Feet Under. He has since established himself in Hollywood by acquiring lead roles in the films The Visitor
The Visitor (2008 film)
The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat...

and The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods is an upcoming American tongue-in-cheek thriller-horror film, co-written and directed by Drew Goddard and co-written and produced by Joss Whedon. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Amy Acker.-Plot:...

.

Early life

Jenkins was born and raised in DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 at the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated German war hero Johann De Kalb, who died during the American Revolutionary War....

. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....

 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
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 truck (his boss was actor John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...

's father). Jenkins earned a degree in drama from Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...

 before relocating to Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. While attending Illinois Wesleyan, Jenkins was a member of Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Gamma Delta
The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...

.

Theatre

He worked as an actor with the Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company is a non-profit regional theater located in Providence, Rhode Island. The theater is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1963, the theater is "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country"...

 in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

 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
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

. Some of his earlier film credits include Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begin and end with a family Thanksgiving dinner...

(1986), The Witches of Eastwick
The Witches of Eastwick (film)
The Witches of Eastwick is a 1987 American horror comedy based on John Updike's novel of the same name. Directed by George Miller, the film stars Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne, alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer as the eponymous witches...

(1987), How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 movie which was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and stars Winona Ryder, Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft...

(1995), and Snow Falling On Cedars
Snow Falling on Cedars
Snow Falling on Cedars is a 1994 novel written by American writer David Guterson. Guterson, who was a teacher at the time, wrote the book in the early morning hours over a ten-year period...

(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
There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary is a 1998 American comedy film, directed by the Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter. It stars Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Ben Stiller, and it is a combination of romantic comedy and gross-out film....

(1998), Outside Providence
Outside Providence (film)
Outside Providence is a 1999 American film adaptation of Peter Farrelly's 1988 novel of the same name. Like the book, the film is a fictionalized account of Farrelly's own experiences at Kent School, a prep school in Kent, Connecticut.-Plot:...

(1999), Me, Myself, & Irene (2000), Say It Isn't So (2001), Hall Pass (2011) and the upcoming 2012 Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...

remake. He has also worked occasionally with the Coen Brothers: The Man Who Wasn't There
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001 neo-noir film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Billy Bob Thornton stars in the title role. Also featured are James Gandolfini, Tony Shalhoub, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Alexi-Malle and Coen regulars Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, and Jon...

(2001), Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer...

(2003), and Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

(2008). He has also been in North Country
North Country (film)
North Country is a 2005 American drama film directed by Niki Caro. The screenplay by Michael Seitzman was inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which chronicled the case of...

(2005).

Although known primarily for supporting parts, he had a critically acclaimed lead role in The Visitor
The Visitor (2008 film)
The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat...

(2008), for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award and a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

. Jenkins won the International Press Academy
International Press Academy
The International Press Academy is a large and diverse association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable and new media outlets. The academy was founded in 1996 by Mirjana Van Blaricom...

's Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards.- 1996–1999 :- 2000–2009 :-2010–2019:...

.
Jenkins has been cast in the Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...

/Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard is an American film and television screenwriter and producer best known for his collaborations with Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams .Goddard joined the crew of Lost as a freelance writer for the first season in 2004...

 horror The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods is an upcoming American tongue-in-cheek thriller-horror film, co-written and directed by Drew Goddard and co-written and produced by Joss Whedon. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Amy Acker.-Plot:...

. Jenkins also acted in Dear John as the father of John Tyree (Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum
Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...

).

Television

Jenkins 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
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

 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

Jenkins married Sharon R. Friedrick on August 23, 1969, with whom he had a son, Andrew Dale, and a daughter, Sarah Pamela. He currently resides in Cumberland, Rhode Island
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Cumberland is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, incorporated in 1746. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census.-History:...

.

Filmography

Film and television credits
Title Year Role Notes
Silverado 1985 Kelly
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 American comedy-drama film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family over two years that begin and end with a family Thanksgiving dinner...

1986 Dr. Wilkes
1986 Radiation Controls Officer - Medatomics Lab
Rachel River
Rachel River
Rachel River is a 1987 comedy-drama film about a young journalist who returns to her Minnesota home town to reexamine her life. The film was directed by Sandy Smolan, and stars Pamela Reed, Ailene Cole, Don Cosgrove, and Craig T. Nelson....

1987 Cordell
1987 Clyde Alden
Little Nikita
Little Nikita
Little Nikita is a cult 1988 American drama film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix.-Plot synopsis:...

1988 Richard Grant
Stealing Home
Stealing Home
Stealing Home is a 1988 movie, starring Mark Harmon, Jodie Foster, Jonathan Silverman, and Harold Ramis. The film is directed by Steven Kampmann and William Porter.-Plot summary:...

1988 Hank Chandler
Sea of Love 1989 Gruber
Blaze
Blaze (film)
Blaze is a 1989 film written and directed by Ron Shelton. Based on the 1974 memoir Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry by Blaze Starr and Huey Perry, the film stars Paul Newman as Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr, with Starr herself appearing in a cameo.-Plot:The movie tells...

1989 Picayune
How I Got Into College
How I Got Into College
How I Got Into College is a 1989 romantic comedy film directed by Savage Steve Holland.-Plot:The story follows a girl named Jessica and her attempt to get into Ramsey College, a fictional college in Pennsylvania, and Marlon, a boy who tries to get into Ramsey to pursue Jessica, whom he is in love...

1989 Bill Browne
When You Remember Me
When You Remember Me
When You Remember Me is a 1990 fact-based television movie based on the story of Mike Mills, a teen with muscular dystrophy, who is placed in a state nursing home by his destitute single mother...

1990 Vaughan TV movie
Challenger
Challenger (TV film)
Challenger is an ABC TV-movie based on the events surrounding the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Its production was somewhat controversial as the families of the astronauts generally objected to it. The film concentrates on the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the O-rings that...

1990 Gregory Jarvis
Gregory Jarvis
Gregory Bruce Jarvis was an American engineer who died during the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L, where he was serving as Payload Specialist.-Education:...

TV movie
Blue Steel
Blue Steel (1990 film)
Blue Steel is a 1990 action thriller film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver and Clancy Brown.-Plot:Megan Turner is a rookie New York City policewoman who shoots and kills a suspect with her police-issue .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver while he's...

1990 Attorney Mel Dawson
Undercover Blues
Undercover Blues
Undercover Blues is a 1993 movie about a family of secret agents, starring Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid. The film was written by Ian Abrams and directed by Herbert Ross.- Plot :...

1993 Frank
And the Band Played On
And the Band Played On (film)
And the Band Played On is a 1993 American television film docudrama directed by Roger Spottiswoode. The teleplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the best-selling 1987 non-fiction book And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts.The film premiered at the Montreal...

1993 Dr. Marc Conant TV movie
It Could Happen to You
It Could Happen to You (film)
It Could Happen to You is a 1994 romantic comedy-drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It is the story of New York City police officer who wins the lottery and splits his winnings with a waitress . The movie bears a striking resemblance to an actual event as documented by Snopes...

1994 C. Vernon Hale
Trapped in Paradise
Trapped in Paradise
Trapped in Paradise is a 1994 Christmas-themed crime comedy film written and directed by George Gallo, and starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey.-Plot:...

1994 Agent Shaddus Peyser
Wolf
Wolf (film)
Wolf is a 1994 American horror film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jim Harrison, Wesley Strick, and an uncredited Elaine May, with music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno....

1994 Detective Bridger
How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt
How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 movie which was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and stars Winona Ryder, Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft...

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
Eddie (film)
Eddie is a 1996 comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Langella. It was a moderate success, grossing $31,387,164 in the US.The film was directed by Steve Rash.- Plot summary :...

1996 Carl Zimmer
Absolute Power
Absolute Power (film)
Absolute Power is a 1997 American political thriller produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood as a thief who witnesses a murder. The screenplay by William Goldman is based on the 1996 novel of the same name written by David Baldacci...

1997 Michael McCarty
There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary
There's Something About Mary is a 1998 American comedy film, directed by the Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter. It stars Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Ben Stiller, and it is a combination of romantic comedy and gross-out film....

1998 Psychiatrist Uncredited
1998 Johnny Leguard
Random Hearts
Random Hearts
Random Hearts is a 1984 novel by American author Warren Adler. In 1999, the novel was made into a motion picture directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas.-Plot summary :...

1999 Truman Trainor
Snow Falling on Cedars
Snow Falling on Cedars (film)
Snow Falling on Cedars is a film directed by Scott Hicks. It is based on David Guterson's novel of the same title. It was released in 1999 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.-Plot:...

1999 Sheriff Art Moran
1999 Det. Bob Mothershed
Outside Providence
Outside Providence (film)
Outside Providence is a 1999 American film adaptation of Peter Farrelly's 1988 novel of the same name. Like the book, the film is a fictionalized account of Farrelly's own experiences at Kent School, a prep school in Kent, Connecticut.-Plot:...

1999 Barney
1999 Cass O'Donnell
What Planet Are You From?
What Planet Are You From?
What Planet Are You From? is a 2000 comedy film starring Garry Shandling and Annette Bening. It was directed by Mike Nichols.-Plot:A denizen of a faraway planet occupied only by highly evolved males is ordered to find a female human, impregnate her and bring the baby back to the planet...

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
One Night at McCool's
One Night at McCool's is a 2001 American dark comedy/neo-noir film, directed by Harald Zwart and starring Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, Reba McEntire and Andrew Dice Clay.-Plot:...

2001 Father Jimmy
Stealing Harvard
Stealing Harvard
Stealing Harvard is a 2002 crime comedy film directed by Bruce McCulloch, about a man who resorts to crime to pay for his niece's Harvard tuition....

2002 Honorable Emmett Cook
Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes is a 2002 drama-thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on April 12, 2002 in North America by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...

2002 Walter Arnell
Sins of the Father
Sins of the Father (film)
Sins of the Father is a 2002 American docudrama directed by Robert Dornhelm. The teleplay by John Pielmeier is based on a Texas Monthly article by Pamela Colloff chronicling the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in which four young African American girls were killed...

2002 Bobby Frank Cherry TV movie
Cheaper by the Dozen
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 film)
Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy film about a family with 12 children . The film takes its title from the 1948 biography of the same name of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and their 12 children, but other than the title and the concept of a family with 12 children,...

2003 Shake
Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Academy Award winners George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Billy Bob Thornton with Cedric the Entertainer...

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
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005 film)
Fun with Dick and Jane is a 2005 remake of the 1977 American comedy film of the same name, directed by Dean Parisot and written by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller. It stars Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni as Dick and Jane Harper, an upper-middle-class couple who resort to robbery after the company for...

2005 Frank Bascombe
Rumor Has It… 2003 Earl Huttinger
North Country
North Country (film)
North Country is a 2005 American drama film directed by Niki Caro. The screenplay by Michael Seitzman was inspired by the 2002 book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler, which chronicled the case of...

2005 Hank Aimes
2007 Robert Grace
2008 Professor Walter Vale
2008 John McVey
Step Brothers
Step Brothers (film)
Step Brothers is a 2008 American slapstick buddy-comedy film directed by Adam McKay, produced by Judd Apatow and Jimmy Miller, and stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who originally teamed up in Talladega Nights . The screenplay was written by Ferrell and McKay, from a story written by Ferrell,...

2008 Dr. Robert Doback
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

2008 Ted Treffon
2008 Principal Voice
Waiting for Forever
Waiting For Forever
Waiting for Forever is a 2010 American romance film directed by James Keach, starring Rachel Bilson and Tom Sturridge. The film had a limited theatrical release beginning February 4, 2011. It was shot in Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah.-Plot:...

2009 Richard Twist
Dear John 2010 Bill Tyree
Eat Pray Love 2010 Richard
Norman 2010 Doug Long
Let Me In
Let Me In (film)
Let Me In is a 2010 American romantic horror film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz. It is based on the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In , directed by Tomas Alfredson, and the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist...

2010 Abby's Guardian
Friends with Benefits
Friends With Benefits (Film)
Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck and starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. The film features an ensemble cast which includes Woody Harrelson, Bryan Greenberg, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, Emma Stone and Patricia Clarkson...

2011 Mr. Harper
2011 Lotterman
Hall Pass 2011 Coakley
2012 Steve Hadley Completed
Cogan's Trade
Cogan's Trade
Cogan's Trade is an upcoming American crime film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. The film is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by George V. Higgins. The film is scheduled to be released in early 2012.-Synopsis:...

2012 Filming

Six Feet Under episodes

Appearances in Six Feet Under by release season
Season Year Episode titles
Season 1 2001 "Pilot", "The Will", "The Foot", "The Room", "Life's Too Short", "Knock, Knock"
Season 2 2002 "In the Game", "The Plan
The Plan (Six Feet Under episode)
"The Plan" is the third episode of the second season of the HBO series Six Feet Under. The episode was written by Kate Robin and was directed by Rose Troche. It first aired on March 17, 2002. The episode features a parody of the program used by est and The Forum.- Plot summary :The episode begins...

", "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", "Somebody Else's Eyes", "I'll Take You, The Secret"
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"

External links

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