Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin married actress and writer Kathryn Grody on June 15, 1980. Together they have two sons, Isaac and Gideon. In his own words, he is a ‘Jewish with a dash of Buddhist’. He calls himself ‘spiritual’ but ‘not religious’.

In the mid-1990s, he suffered from ‘Keratoconus’, a degenerative eye disease, and went through two corneal transplants in 1997 and 1998.

He is actively involved in various Jewish causes and cultural activities; he delivered the opening speech at the Annual Convention of the Israeli Left in May 2012.

Mandy Patinkin was born on November 30, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. His mother Doris Patinkin was a homemaker and his father Lester Patinkin operated two large Chicago-area metal factories, the Scrap Corporation of America and the People's Iron & Metal Company.

Patinkin’s family descended from Jewish emigrants. He was raised in ‘Conservative Judaism’ and attended religious schools and sang in synagogue choirs as a child. In his youth he also attended the Camp Surah in Michigan.

He attended a number of schools including South Shore High School, Harvard St. George School and Kenwood Academy. He graduated in 1970 and later went to the University of Kansas and the Juilliard School.

Patinkin has many popular figures in his family. His cousins include Bonnie Miller Rubin, a ‘Chicago Tribune’ reporter, Mark Patinkin, an author and nationally syndicated columnist for’ The Providence Journal,’ and Sheldon Patinkin, one of the founders of ‘Second City’.

Mandy Patinkin started his professional life with some television commercials and radio appearances. In 1979 he found his first success in musical theater when he depicted the role of ‘Che’ in ‘Evita’ on Broadway.

Patinkin moves into the film industry after his first Broadway success. Featuring in some small roles in movies like ‘Yentl’ and ‘Ragtime’ between 1981 and 1983, he finally got his first big break in Rob Reiner's ‘The Princess Bride’ in 1987. He played the role of ‘Inigo Montoya’ and is famously known for his iconic dialogue "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

His next Broadway hit was the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ in 1984. Later in 1991, he appeared the musical ‘The Secret Garden’. Some of his other famous Broadway appearances were in ‘Falsettos’ in 1993 and ‘The Wild Party’ in 2000.

After his first big role in the film industry he featured in many movies like ‘Alien Nation’ in 1988, ‘Dick Tracy’ in 1990, ‘Impromptu’ in 1991, ‘The Doctor’ in 1991, ‘Men with Guns’ in 1998, ‘Piñero’ in 2001 and ‘Wish I Was Here’ in 2014.

Apart from theater and films, Patinkin has had a lengthy career in the television industry as well. His first big break in the television world came in 1994 when he signed for the role of ‘Dr. Jeffrey Geiger’ in ‘Chicago Hope’. Later he appeared in some popular TV series like ‘Dead Like Me’ in 2003, ‘Criminal Minds’ in 2005 and later in ‘Homeland’ in 2011.

In 1994, Mandy Patinkin started playing the role of ‘Dr. Jeffrey Geiger’ on CBS's ‘Chicago Hope’. Despite winning an ‘Emmy Award’ for the show he left it after the second season. He expressed his unhappiness at having to stay away from his wife and children for the shooting of the show. However, he returned at the beginning of the show’s sixth season in 1999 but unfortunately, the show was discontinued a year later.

In 2011 he signed for the crime thriller series ‘Homeland,’ portraying the role of counterterrorism operative ‘Saul Berenson’. His role has been widely acknowledged and appreciated by both the audience and the critics.