Biography

Mandy Patinkin

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Mandy Patinkin was born Mandel Bruce Patinkin in Chicago, Illinois, to Doris "Doralee" (Sinton), a homemaker and cookbook writer, and Lester Patinkin, who operated two scrap metal plants. He is of Russian Jewish and Latvian Jewish descent. 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 (1982) 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 (2005). 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

Says that, of all the roles he has played in his career, Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride (1987) is his absolute favorite.
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 the famous line towards the series' ending.
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.
Had left cornea replaced due to degenerative eye disease (keratoconus).
Briefly studied acting at New York's Juilliard School of Drama, but dropped out to pursue work.

Everything I experience influences everything I do.
I try to say something about the human condition whenever I can when I'm lucky.
I'm just an actor. I am nothing special. An actor is only as good as what they have on the page in front of them, and anyone who tells you differently is full of shit.
The biggest public mistake I ever made was that I chose to do Criminal Minds (2005) in the first place.
[on quitting Criminal Minds (2005)] It wasn't the right fit. I made a choice I didn't want to make. I pushed myself, thinking I needed more fame, more economic security. One of the greatest gifts that Homeland (2011) has given me is it's affirming on a daily basis. I'm always with the script, walking around with this stuff 24/7, so my head's in a good place. The role is about listening, and when you don't listen to yourself, you get in trouble. I wasn't listening to myself in Heartburn (1986) [from which he was fired]. I listened to [my agent and] the culture at large saying, 'You've got to be in a movie, this is going to make you,' and it wasn't who I was. Yes, I did Yentl (1983) and Dick Tracy (1990), but I felt, and I still feel a little bit today that I'm really not successful, because I didn't become a movie star. The irony is half of those movie stars are all trying to be in television shows like this.

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