Biography
A noted character actor and forty year veteran of the American theater, Ken Jenkins had been a television staple since the mid-1980's. Frequently cast as a hardnosed authority figure, Jenkins played bureaucratic types and/or military men in several features during the nineties and into the next millennium, most notably his roles in "Hiroshima" (1995), "Courage Under Fire" (1996) and the HBO miniseries, "And the Band Played On" (1993).
Born in …
Ken Jenkins SlideShow
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Career Milestones
| Had a recurring role as a judge on the CBS series "Family Law" | ||
| Was a regular on the 1940s-set ABC drama "Homefront", playing a racist factory owner dealing with the death of his soldier son | ||
1962 | Appeared as a herald in Joseph Papp's production of "King Lear" in Central Park | |
1962 | Made Broadway debut at age twenty-two in "The Moon Beseiged" | |
1964 | Founded the Actors' Theater of Louisville with John Jory | |
1987 | Made film debut in the John Sayles historical drama "Matewan" | |
1988 | Acted in the ABC TV-movie "Disaster at Silo 7" | |
1988 | Featured in the period coming-of-age film "The Wizard of Loneliness" | |
1988 | Had a recurring role on the CBS crime drama "Wiseguy" | |
1989 | Acted in Norman Jewison's "In Country" | |
1989 | Had a supporting role in the James Cameron action thriller "The Abyss" | |
1989 | Racked up TV-movie credits with appearances in "Unconquered", "The Outside Woman" (both CBS), "Roe vs. Wade" (NBC) and "Breaking Point" (TNT) | |
1990 | Appeared in the TV-movies "Family of Spies", "Shattered Dreams", "Dark Avenger" (all CBS), "By Dawn's Early Light" and "Descending Angel" (both HBO) | |
1990 | Featured in the war-themed comedy-drama "Air America" | |
1991 | Acted in the scout troupe action drama "Edge of Honor" | |
1991 | Had featured roles in the NBC true crime TV-movies "In Broad Daylight" and "Love, Lies and Murder" | |
1992 | Acted in the fact-based HBO presentation "A Private Matter" and the CBS TV-movie "A House of Secrets and Lies" | |
1992 | Featured in "Crossing the Bridge", a 1975-set independent | |
1993 | Featured in the acclaimed AIDS-themed drama "And the Band Played On" (HBO) | |
1994 | Acted in the TV-movies "In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride and Madness", "The First Gentleman" (both CBS), "A Time to Heal" (NBC) and "Stephen King's 'The Stand'" | |
1995 | Featured in the Showtime original TV-movie presentation "Hiroshima" | |
1995 | Guested on episodes of "Cybill" and "Chicago Hope" (both CBS) | |
1996 | Acted in a Broadway production of Tennesee Williams' "Summer and Smoke" | |
1996 | Acted in the Prohibition-era gangster feature "Last Man Standing" | |
1996 | Had supporting roles in the blockbuster action dramas "Executive Decision" and "Courage Under Fire" | |
1996 | Played prison wardens in both "Last Dance", a drama looking at the death penalty and "Fled", an action comedy | |
1998 | Featured in the NBC TV-movie "Thirst", examining the threat of water supply contaminaton | |
1998 | Played the district attorney in Gus Van Sant's shot for shot remake of the Hitchcock classic "Psycho" | |
1999 | Appeared in "Mutiny", a fact-based NBC TV-movie about military desegregation | |
2000 | Acted in the features "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "The Tailor of Panama" | |
2001 | Starred on the NBC medical sitcom "Scrubs", playing Dr. Bob Kelso, the seemingly sweet chief of medicine who has a mercenary dark side | |