Ron Rifkin is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

. He is best-known for his roles as Arvin Sloane

Arvin Sloane

Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, Alias.-Background:...

 on the spy drama Alias

Alias (TV series)

Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...

and as Saul Holden

Saul Holden

Saul Holden is a fictional character on the American primetime drama series Brothers & Sisters. He is played by actor Ron Rifkin.-Background:...

 on the American family drama Brothers & Sisters.

Personal life

Rifkin was born Saul M. Rifkin in New York City, New York to immigrants Miriam and Herman Rifkin. He is the oldest of three children. He was raised in Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 and remained Orthodox until the age of 32. Rifkin is married to Iva, who operates a fashion design business.

Career

In 2001, his association with Touchstone Television

Touchstone Television

ABC Studios is the television production division of Disney-ABC Television Group. ABC Studios was established as Touchstone Television in 1985 and given its current name in May 2007....

 began when he played a ruthless intelligence agent Arvin Sloane in Alias, opposite Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...

. Currently, he plays second-in-command businessman Saul Holden

Saul Holden

Saul Holden is a fictional character on the American primetime drama series Brothers & Sisters. He is played by actor Ron Rifkin.-Background:...

 on Brothers & Sisters, opposite Sally Field

Sally Field

Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...

. He also played Bonnie Franklin

Bonnie Franklin

Bonnie Gail Franklin is an American actress, best known for her starring role in the television series One Day at a Time.-Personal life:...

's second boyfriend on One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 until May 28, 1984. It portrays Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper and Schneider, their building superintendent .The show...

.

Rifkin has enjoyed a long and distinguished career 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...

, on stage

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

, and in television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

. His association with writer Jon Robin Baitz

Jon Robin Baitz

Jon Robin Baitz is an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and sometime actor.-Life and career:Baitz was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Edward Baitz, an executive of the Carnation Company. Baitz was raised in Brazil and South Africa before the family returned to...

 has been especially fruitful. In 1991, his performance in Baitz's play The Substance of Fire

The Substance of Fire

The Substance of Fire is a play by Jon Robin Baitz.At its core is Isaac Geldhart, a childhood survivor of the Holocaust, who arrived in New York City an orphan, reinvented himself as a bon vivant, married well, and found fame and fortune as a champion of authors who are passionate about their work...

won him the Obie

Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...

, Drama Desk

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

, Lucille Lortel

Lucille Lortel

Lucille Lortel was an American actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway playhouse and theatrical award....

, and Drama-Logue

Drama-Logue Award

The Drama-Logue Award was a theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would receive a certificate at an annual awards ceremony...

 awards for Best Actor. The following year he performed in Baitz's Three Hotels, for which he received a second Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nomination. In 1996, he starred in the film version of Substance; in 2002, he appeared in the Baitz play Ten Unknowns at Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

's Huntington Theatre; in 2004, he starred in his play, The Paris Letter at the Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...

 Theatre in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, a role he reprised the following year at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

; and at present, he is appearing in the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 drama series Brothers & Sisters, which Baitz created, as a character named Saul, Rifkin's real-life name.

Rifkin received a 1998 Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for Best Supporting Actor for the Broadway revival of Cabaret

Cabaret (musical)

Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....

. Additional theatre credits include David Hirson

David Hirson

David Hirson is an American dramatist, best known for his award winning Broadway comedies, La Bête and Wrong Mountain.-Biography:Hirson was born in New York City to actress, Alice, and playwright, Roger O. Hirson...

's Wrong Mountain, Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...

's Broken Glass

Broken Glass (play)

Broken Glass is a 1994 play by Arthur Miller, focusing on a couple in New York City in 1938, the same time of Kristallnacht, in Nazi Germany. The play's title is derived from Kristallnacht, which is also known as the Night of Broken Glass.-Characters:...

, Ivan Turgenev

Ivan Turgenev

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...

's A Month in the Country

A Month in the Country (play)

A Month in the Country is a comedy in five acts by Ivan Turgenev. It was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and was first published in 1855...

, and Neil Simon

Neil Simon

Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...

's Proposals

Proposals (play)

Proposals is a play by Neil Simon. Incidental music was written by Stephen Flaherty.A nostalgic memory play, Proposals recalls one idyllic afternoon in the summer of 1953, the last time the Hines clan gathers at its retreat in the Poconos. Clemma, the family's housekeeper , dreads a visit from the...

.

Rifkin's extensive film credits include Silent Running

Silent Running

Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...

, The Sunshine Boys

The Sunshine Boys (film)

The Sunshine Boys is a 1975 comedy film directed by Herbert Ross and produced by Ray Stark, based on the play of the same name by Neil Simon. The cast included real-life experienced vaudevillian actor George Burns as Lewis, Walter Matthau as Clark, and Richard Benjamin as Ben, with Lee Meredith, F....

, The Big Fix

The Big Fix

The Big Fix is a 1978 film directed by Jeremy Kagan and based on the novel by Roger L. Simon, who also wrote the screenplay. It starred Richard Dreyfuss as private detective Moses Wine and co-starred Susan Anspach and John Lithgow...

, JFK

JFK (film)

JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...

, Husbands and Wives

Husbands and Wives

Husbands and Wives is a 1992 American drama film directed and written by Woody Allen. The films stars Allen, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack, Judy Davis, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson and Blythe Danner. It was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Writing,...

, Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery is a comedic murder mystery film directed by and starring Woody Allen and written by Marshall Brickman and Woody Allen.-Plot:...

, 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....

, L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential (film)

L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...

, The Negotiator, Boiler Room

Boiler Room (film)

Boiler Room is a 2000 American drama film written and directed by Ben Younger, and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy....

, Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith is a 2000 American romantic comedy film, written by Stuart Blumberg and directed by Edward Norton. This film was released by Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment, in association with Triple Threat Talent on April 14, 2000....

, The Majestic, Dragonfly, The Sum of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears (film)

The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...

, and Pulse.

On television, Rifkin has appeared in numerous made-for-television movies and miniseries, had regular roles on The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...

, One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 until May 28, 1984. It portrays Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper and Schneider, their building superintendent .The show...

, Husbands, Wives & Lovers

Husbands, Wives & Lovers

Husbands, Wives & Lovers was a CBS television sitcom that aired for only one season in 1978. Created by Joan Rivers, this program focused on the relationships of five suburban couples living in the San Fernando Valley.-Cast and characters:...

, The Trials of Rosie O'Neill

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill is an American television drama series, which aired on CBS from 1990 to 1992. The show starred Sharon Gless as Fiona Rose "Rosie" O'Neill, a lawyer working in the public defender's office for the City of Los Angeles...

, and Alias

Alias (TV series)

Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...

, and has made guest appearances on a number of series, including Sex and the City

Sex and the City

Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...

, ER

ER (TV series)

ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

Season 2 (1995) as Doctor Carl Vucelich: Episodes 6,8,9,12,13,14 & 22., Law & Order

Law & Order

Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

, A Nero Wolfe Mystery

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

A Nero Wolfe Mystery is a television series adapted from Rex Stout's classic series of detective stories that aired for two seasons on the A&E Network. Set in New York City in the early 1950s, the stylized period drama stars Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin...

, in Falcon Crest

Falcon Crest

Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

as Dr. Hal Lantry in the 3rd season (1983), Soap

Soap (TV series)

Soap is an American sitcom that originally ran on ABC from 1977 to 1981.The show was created as a parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial format and included melodramatic plot elements such...

, Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues

Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...

, and The Outer Limits

The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)

The Outer Limits is an American television series that originally aired on Showtime,the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002...

, for which he received a CableACE

CableACE Award

The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...

 nomination.

Rifkin is the reader for a number of audio book

Audio book

An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...

s including The Giver

The Giver

The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life...

by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...

 (1993), Sang Spell by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is an American author best known for her children and young adult fiction books. Naylor is best known for her children's-novel trilogy Shiloh , Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh, all made into movies...

 (1998), and Milkweed

Milkweed (novel)

Milkweed is a 2003 historical fiction novel by American author Jerry Spinelli. The book is about a boy in Warsaw, Poland in the years of World War II during the Holocaust. Over time, he learns that he is a Gypsy but he is taken in by a Jewish group of orphans, so he must avoid the German troops ...

by Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli is an author of children's novels on adolescence and early adulthood. He is best known for the novels Maniac Magee and Wringer....

 (2003).

External links