Paul Jenkins has been a professional actor for close to forty years having appeared on and off Broadway, in numerous roles in resident and touring theater, and featured roles in more than forty five movies and several hundred television shows.

He began in amateur theater in the city of his birth, Philadelphia, PA., encouraged by such mentors as Joseph Deeter, Claude Rains, and Alfred Lunt. While reading divinity in the Church of England, he saw he had no vocation for ordination to the priesthood, and turned his attention again to the theater while living in New York and studied the craft with William Hickey. Among his first professional appearances were on the daytime dramas, "Secret Storm" and "Love of Life". Following these first appearances he soon found employment in shows like "Naked City", "N.Y.P.D." (with Jack Warden), "Trials of O'Brien" (with Peter Falk), and off Broadway featured roles in "Miss Julie", and "Stephen D".

He re-organized and co-directed the Theater-By-The-Sea in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and also found time to be the fencing master for the Actors Studio in New York, coaching and working with such talents as Rip Torn, Shelly Winters, Gene Wilder, Robert Viharo and other members of that organization.

A tour of "The Great White Hope" took him to California and since then has worked exclusively in stage, movies, and television. In San Francisco Jenkins was McMurphy in the acclaimed revival of "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest", the production that served as the springboard for the Movie with Jack Nicholson.

Jenkins co-wrote and starred in "A Journey for Eden", a one man show based on the life of Jack London, which he played to enthusiastic audiences of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. He was requested by and joined Jason Robards and a distinguished cast in the1976 production of "That Championship Season" by Jason Miller and earlier co-starred in the Joseph Stern/William Devane production of "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" in Los Angeles and throughout California.

Primarily Jenkins's most lucrative employment has been in movies and television working for such protean directors as John Huston, Roger Vadim, Mike Nichols, Paul Mazursky, and Costa-Gavras.

He has been a recurring character in a great number of television programs such as Eddie in "Dynasty", Professor Parks in "The Waltons", and a wide assortment of characters from District Attorneys, Firemen, Sailors, Policemen, and a few Priests in shows ranging from "The Rockford Files", "Walker, Texas Ranger", and most recently in "Winchell" with Stanley Tucci.

Representation:
Agency:
Dade / Schultz Associates Talent Agency
6442 Coldwater Cyn, Suite 206
Valley Glen, CA. 91606
Tel: (818) 760-3100

Paul Jenkins' advice to the aspiring actor:

" Try to remember that all of human life and behavior is the actor's laboratory. Classes, workshops, theater of all kinds is where we hone our craft and if we can bear in mind that in holding the mirror up to nature we are often transporting others as we transport ourselves as if we were supra-human beings.

In seeking the role, the best approach is to stick to the actors task and minimize the collected demons of rejection and the overall spectre of the judgment of others. - In short, present one's best efforts and let the chips fall where they will! "

BROADWAY/NATIONAL TOUR