Beginning his career in 1974 with the TV movie, Feasting with Panthers which was telecast as a part of Great Performances (1971- ), Richard Dale Jenkins is an American actor. Jenkins graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University along with his wife Sharon R. Friedrick and is blessed with a son and a daughter. He spent fifteen years of his life in Trinity Repertory Theatre as a stage actor and later went on to serve as its associate director from 1990 to 1994. Jenkins made his big screen debut with Lawrence Kasdan`s Silverado in 1985. He made appearances in movies like The Manhattan Project (1986), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Stealing Home (1988), Sea of Love (1989), Wolf (1994), It Could Happen to You (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Absolute Power (1997), Eye of God (1997), Snow Falling On Cedars (1999), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), The Man Who Wasn`t There (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), The Mudge Boy (2003), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and Shall We Dance (2004).

In 2001 Jenkins played Nathaniel Fisher on HBO`s acclaimed black comedy-drama, Six Feet Under (2001-2005). In 2007 Jenkins played the lead role in director Tom McCarthy`s drama, The Visitor. Jenkins received his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role category for the movie. He continued acting in movies like Step Brothers (2008), Burn After Reading (2008), Let Me In (2010), Friends with Benefits (2011), The Rum Diary (2011), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Jack Reacher (2012), White House Down (2013), Bone Tomahawk (2015), The Hollars (2016), and Kong: Skull Island (2017). He is often known to work with the Farrelly brothers and the Coen brothers, appearing in six of the former and three of the latters movies. Jenkins is also active on the TV scene with appearances in shows like Comrade Detective (2017- ) and Berlin Station (2016- ). In 2015 Jenkins won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the drama miniseries, Olive Kitteridge (2014).

In 2017 Jenkins played Giles in Guillermo del Toro`s fantasy-drama, The Shape of Water. The cast also includes Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg and Octavia Spencer. At the 90th Academy Awards, The Shape of Water went on to receive 13 Oscar nominations, the most for any movie this year. Jenkins has received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for the movie. He also received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. His 2020 release includes The Last Shift.