Ken Jenkins is an actor who plays Elder Sam in the Netflix Adaption of A Series Of Unfortunate Events.
Biography[]
A versatile veteran of film, television and theater, Ken Jenkins began his acting career performing in high school theater productions in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio. "I was fortunate to discover the world through the words of William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and to discover in myself a love for the theater that has shaped my life", says Jenkins. Jenkins went on to study acting at Antioch College while continuing to perform on Broadway and in regional companies throughout his college years. In 1969, he co-founded and served for three years as Associate Artistic Director for the prestigious Actor's Theatre of Louisville, which became known as a breeding ground for some of America's best new playwrights, including Beth Henley and Marsha Norman. Jenkins continued to work with the theater as an actor, director and writer through 1983.
Over his 30 years in the theater, Jenkins has been associated with an average of 10 plays a year as an actor, director or playwright. He has portrayed "Hamlet" and "Cyrano" and performed in other classics by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw and Molière. One of his favorite roles, however, was "The Duke", which he played opposite his son, Daniel Jenkins, in the 1985 Broadway musical, "Big River".
In 1987, Jenkins appeared in John Sayles' critically acclaimed feature film, Matewan (1987) which opened the actor to the joys of acting for the camera. Most recently seen in The Sum of All Fears (2002) with Morgan Freeman and I Am Sam (2001) with Sean Penn, his other feature-film credits include Courage Under Fire (1996), The Abyss (1989), Air America (1990) and Last Man Standing (1996).
Jenkins' television credits include a co-starring role for two seasons on Homefront (1991), two seasons on Wiseguy (1987) and guest-star roles on The X-Files (1993), Family Law (1999) and Chicago Hope (1994). He has also appeared in the television movies Thirst (1998), Hiroshima (1995), And the Band Played On (1993).
Jenkins is an avid woodworker and a skilled dog trainer. He is married to Katharine Hepburn's niece, actress Katharine Houghton, probably best remembered as playing Hepburn & Tracy's daughter in the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).[1]
Filmography[]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Heart of Steel | Priest | |
| 1985 | What Goes Around | Larry | |
| 1987 | Matewan | Sephus Purcell | |
| 1988 | The Wizard of Loneliness | Joel Spender | |
| 1988 | Disaster at Silo 7 | Clarence | |
| 1989 | Unconquered | Dr. Smith | |
| 1989 | The Outside Woman | ||
| 1989 | Roe vs. Wade | ||
| 1989 | The Abyss | Gerard Kirkhill | |
| 1989 | Breaking Point | Col. Lowe | |
| 1989 | In Country | Jim Holly | |
| 1990 | By Dawn's Early Light | Looking Glass Colonel - "Sam" | |
| 1990 | Shattered Dreams | Hal Witt | |
| 1990 | Air America | Major Donald Lemond | |
| 1990 | Dark Avenger | District Attorney Underwood | |
| 1990 | Descending Angel | Sam Murray | |
| 1991 | In Broad Daylight | Bob Webb | |
| 1991 | Edge of Honor | Bo Dubs | |
| 1992 | A Private Matter | Frank Kearns | |
| 1992 | Crossing the Bridge | Lou Morgan | |
| 1992 | A House of Secrets and Lies | Ed Norwood | |
| 1993 | And the Band Played On | Dr. Dennis Donohue | |
| 1994 | In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride and Madness | Bob Newsom | |
| 1994 | A Time to Heal | Don Peterson | |
| 1994 | White Mile | Jerry Taggart | |
| 1995 | Past the Bleachers | Hilton Burberry | |
| 1995 | Hiroshima | Secretary of State James F. Byrnes | |
| 1996 | Executive Decision | General Wood | |
| 1996 | Last Dance | Warden Laverty | |
| 1996 | Courage Under Fire | Joel Walden | |
| 1996 | Fled | Warden Nichols | |
| 1996 | Last Man Standing | Capt. Tom Pickett | |
| 1998 | Where's Marlowe? | Linguist | |
| 1998 | Life of the Party: Pamea Harriman Story | ||
| 1998 | Thirst | Lou Wolford | |
| 1998 | Psycho | District Attorney | |
| 1999 | Mutiny | ||
| 1999 | Balloon Farm | ||
| 1999 | The Last Marshal | Judge Wooley | |
| 2000 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Televangelist | Uncredited |
| 2000 | Lucky Numbers | Dan Schuff | |
| 2001 | The Tailor of Panama | Morecombe | |
| 2001 | I Am Sam | Judge McNeily | |
| 2002 | Fidel | Herbert Matthews | |
| 2002 | Clockstoppers | NSA Agent Moore | |
| 2002 | Home Room | Police Captain | |
| 2002 | The Sum of All Fears | Admiral Pollack | |
| 2007 | I-Nasty | Sheriff Bernie | Short |
| 2007 | 5 Minutes to Midnight | General Kubrick | Short |
| 2007 | Welcome to Paradise | Reverend McNamara | |
| 2012 | House Husbands | Dean Worthington | |
| 2016 | All the Way | Rep. "Judge" Smith | |
| 2019 | Girls Weekend | Tom |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Great Performances | Aubin | One Episode |
| 1985 | The Equalizer | Sheriff | One Episode |
| 1988 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Dwayne Pewe | One Episode |
| 1988 | Amen | The Pilot | One Episode |
| 1988 | Newhart | Al Griswold | One Episode |
| 1988 | Knots Landing | Border Thug #1 | One Episode |
| 1988 | Dallas | Captain | One Episode |
| 1989 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Echer | One Episode |
| 1989 | Hard Time on Planet Earth | Sergeant Burdick | One Episode |
| 1989 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Dr. Paul Stubbs | One Episode |
| 1990 | Family of Spies | ||
| 1990 | Mancuso, FBI | ||
| 1990 | Gabriel's Fire | Potter | One Episode |
| 1988-1990 | Wiseguy | Paul Beckstead | |
| 1991 | Evening Shade | Judge | One Episode |
| 1991 | Love, Lies and Murder | Rubright | |
| 1991 | Thirtysomething | Lars Durstin | One Episode |
| 1993 | Sisters | Judge Guisewite | One Episode |
| 1993 | Mad About You | Jack Farrer | One Episode |
| 1994 | Hearts Afire | Mr. Conway | One Episode |
| 1994 | The Stand | Peter Goldsmith | One Episode |
| 1995 | Cybill | Ed | One Episode |
| 1995 | Legend | Ethan Cathridge Steele | One Episode |
| 1996 | The Lazarus Man | Preacher | One Episode |
| 1997 | High Incident | Burt | One Episode |
| 1991-1997 | Homefront | Mike Sloan, Sr. | |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | Marshall Hastings | One Episode |
| 1997 | Babylon 5 | Captain Trevor Hall | One Episode |
| 1997 | Murphy Brown | Paul Cookson | One Episode |
| 1998 | The Magnificent Seven | Virginia's Father | One Episode |
| 1998 | Early Edition | Winston Thorpe | One Episode |
| 1999 | Vengeance Unlimited | Jack Humphrey | One Episode |
| 1999 | The Wonderful World of Disney | One Episode | |
| 1999 | Pensacola: Wings of Gold | General Mitchell Burke | One Episode |
| 1998-1999 | Oh Baby | Fred Calloway | |
| 1999-2000 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Pastor Neal | |
| 1995-2000 | Chicago Hope | Jim Carroll / Health Marshal Stanley McGee | |
| 1999-2000 | Sliders | Professor Jack Bigelow / Robert Clark | |
| 2000 | Brutally Normal | Mr. Kirschner / Thomas Jefferson | One Episode |
| 2000 | Family Law | Judge William Jankowski | |
| 2001 | The X-Files | Deputy Chief Karras | |
| 2001 | All Souls | Dr. Lohman | One Episode |
| 2009 | Scrubs: Interns | Bob Kelso | One Episode |
| 2001-2010 | Scrubs | Dr. Bob Kelso | |
| 2012 | Local Talent | Mr. Fallon (2012) | |
| 2013 | Back in the Game | Warden | One Episode |
| 2014 | Black-ish | Bernie | One Episode |
| 2010-2015 | Cougar Town | Chick | |
| 2012-2015 | Gravity Falls | Pa Duskerton / Old Man Ghost | |
| 2017 | Harvey Beaks | Blister | One Episode |
| 2018 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | Elder Sam |
Gallery[]
