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Richard Jenkins is a former Academy Award nominee and one of the most in-demand character actors in Hollywood, having appeared in more than 50 feature films. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his highly praised performance in director Tom McCarthy's drama The Visitor. The film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Prix at the 34th Deauville Festival of American Film. Jenkins' performance as Walter Vale, a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City, made The Visitor the independent film hit of 2008 and also earned him Independent Spirit and Screen Actors Guild award nominations.

Most recently, Jenkins was seen in Lasse Hallstrom's Dear John, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, and Eat, Pray, Love with James Franco, Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. Forthcoming credits include the horror film The Cabin in the Woods and the adventure The Rum Diary, alongside Johnny Depp.

In 1986, Jenkins landed his first starring role in Oscar-winning writer Horton Foote's On Valentine's Day. Numerous film roles followed, including George Miller's The Witches of Eastwick, opposite Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher and Michelle Pfeiffer; Richard Benjamin's Little Nikita, opposite River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier; Sea of Love, with Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin; Mike Nichols' Wolf, appearing again with Jack Nicholson; North Country, with Charlize Theron; the Judd Apatow comedy Fun with Dick and Jane, opposite Téa Leoni as well as Jim Carrey; and Peter Berg's The Kingdom, with Jamie Foxx.

Over the years, Jenkins has worked with such esteemed filmmakers as Clint Eastwood in Absolute Power, the Farrelly brothers in There's Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene and Sydney Pollack in Random Hearts, opposite Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. In 2001, Jenkins began a fertile collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen when he appeared with Billy Bob Thornton, James Gandolfini and Scarlett Johansson in The Man Who Wasn't There. He went on to work with the Coens again in 2003's Intolerable Cruelty, opposite George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In 1997, Jenkins received an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Supporting Male for his performance in David O. Russell's comedy Flirting with Disaster, in which he appeared with Ben Stiller, Téa Leoni, Josh Brolin and Lily Tomlin. Jenkins was recently seen in the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. The film marked his third collaboration with the acclaimed filmmaking duo. In 2008, Jenkins co-starred in Adam McKay's hit comedy Step Brothers, alongside Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Mary Steenburgen.

On television, Jenkins is best known for playing Nathaniel Fisher, the deceased family patriarch on HBO's immensely successful drama Six Feet Under. His occasional appearances as the heart of this often-dysfunctional family helped earn the cast a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in 2002 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He also appeared in numerous made-for-television films, including Sins of the Father and the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries And the Band Played On.

In the theater world, Jenkins has amassed an impressive list of credits as a company member for 14 years at Rhode Island's Trinity Repertory Company. He served as the group's Artistic Director for four years.