Biography for
Mandy Patinkin More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

30 November 1952, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Birth Name

Mandel Bruce Patinkin

Nickname

The Patink

Height

6' 0¾" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Mandy Patinkin was born "Mandel Bruce Patinkin" to Lester, a scrap metal dealer and Doris "Doralee". His first name was a tribute to his grandfather. Growing up he began singing in synagogue choirs at the age of 13-14 and still continues to use his fantastic voice in musicals and in recordings.

Attending Juilliard he became good friends with actor Kelsey Grammer and upon hearing that "Cheers" was auditioning for the role of Dr. Frasier Crane he immediately put Grammer's name forward for the role.

Rumours persist about Patinkin's sudden departure from Criminal Minds. He simply failed to show up one day for a table read. He has contacted the entire cast to explain what is referred to as "personal reasons" for leaving. It seems that although Patinkin was prepared for the show to include violence the actual level of violence portrayed was unacceptable to the actor. He left to do more light hearted work.

Patinkin supports many charities including: PAX, Doctors Without Borders, Americans for Peace Now, The September 11th Fund, Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and Gilda's Club.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Dredzfall

Spouse

Kathryn Grody

(15 June 1980 - present) 2 children

Trivia

1970 graduate of Kenwood High School, Chicago

Acted in very first commercial for Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats; commercial filmed in Chicago's Loop.

Had left cornea replaced due to degenerative eye disease (keratoconus) [November 1998]

Had right cornea replaced due to degenerative eye disease [May 1997]

Father of Isaac Patinkin (born 1983) and Gideon Grody-Patinkin (born 1987).

Occasional appearances on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) on CBS-TV. His most memorable performances were with Tony Randall, who accompanied him pretending to have had a taxi breakdown and therefore needing an emergency rehearsal hall. Mandy then brings down the house with Al Jolson standards "Swanee", "Mammy", etc.

Was not asked to reprise his Tony award winning role of 'Che' in the movie version of Evita (1996).

Attended the University of Kansas for two years before being "discovered."

Mandy does concerts for the gun control advocacy group, Pax, and for Doctors Without Borders, a group that provides medical relief in violence-torn areas such as Darfur, Lebanon, and many other developing countries.

Mandy's mother is Doralee Patinkin Rubin, a cookbook author, who is to have her own cooking show on the Food Network.

Portrayed a spirit from the '50s in a 7-Up ad for his first TV commercial in 1970. Also played the lead in the very first TV commercial for Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Won Broadway's 1980 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for playing Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in Broadway's "Evita." He was also nominated twice as Best Actor (Musical): in 1984 for Broadway's "Sunday in the Park with George," a role he recreated on TV (Sunday in the Park with George (1986) (TV), and in 2000 for Broadway's "The Wild Party".

Says that of all the roles he's played in his career, "Inigo Montoya", from The Princess Bride (1987) is his absolute favourite.

He is a lover/collector of Lionel model trains and he continues to enjoy playing with them to this day. He considers the concept of hanging on to such "classic" influential toys from the past very important to pass down to future generations.

Did an interview for a 1987 The Princess Bride (1987) featurette pretending to have worse English than the character he was playing (a Spaniard). In reality, he's American, born and bred.

In 2000 he released a CD entitled Kidults featuring childrens songs among others.

Before he and Adam Arkin starred as doctors on the television show, "Chicago Hope" (1994), they both played doctors in the movie, The Doctor (1991).

Began singing in the temple choir at age 9.

Briefly studied acting at New York's Juilliard School of Drama, but dropped out to pursue work.

Lost his father to cancer.

Fans of The Princess Bride (1987) frequently attend his live performances just to hear him utter the famous line, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He frequently includes it towards the end of the show.

Where Are They Now

(2003) He is now "Rube Sofer" on Showtime's "Dead Like Me" (2003) series.

(May 2005) Appearing in TV commercials for Crestor, a cholesterol management medication

(January 2006) He stars on the television show "Criminal Minds" (2005).

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