Dark, intense character actor who has provided a frequent presence in TV dramas and sitcoms since the mid-1970s. The eldest son of award-winning actor-director Alan Arkin, he began performing as a child after accompanying his father to movie sets around the world. Arkin began taking acting classes at age ten and made his feature debut as a co-screenwriter at age 15 on "Improper Channels" (1971). This Canadian comedy starred the elder Arkin as an eccentric architect who is mistakenly accused of child abuse. Several years later he had his own short-lived sitcom showcase, "Busting Loose" (CBS, 1977), in which he Arkin played a young New Yorker struggling to escape the influence of his domineering parents.
Arkin made his feature acting debut in "Chu Chu and the Philly Flash" (1981), a film dominated by Arkin's parents: his father starred and his stepmother Barbara Dana wrote the screenplay. That same year, Arkin starred in "Full Moon High", a likably silly werewolf high school comedy from horror auteur Larry Cohen. His film career never really took off, consisting of "Under the Rainbow", (1981), "Personal Foul" (1987), "The Doctor" (1991) and Todd Haynes' avant-garde short "Dottie Gets Spanked" (1993) starring Julie Halston. Arkin has also worked in NY theater ("Guys and Dolls" on Broadway; "Sight Unseen" and "Four Dogs and a Bone" off-Broadway).
The 1980s and '90s provided many stints on TV for Arkin: the series "Teachers Only" (NBC, 1982); "Tough Cookies" (CBS, 1986); "A Year in the Life" (NBC, 1987-88); and "Big Wave Dave's" (CBS, 1993); and such TV-movies and miniseries as "Heat Wave" (TNT, 1990); "Babies" (NBC, 1990); and "In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice" (NBC, 1995).
Arkin received acclaim and exposure in the recurring role of Adam, the reputedly feral, reclusive, and antagonistic eccentric ex-gourmet chef on "Northern Exposure" (CBS, 1990-94). The character began as a local variation of Bigfoot and evolved into an (uneasily) integrated member of the community. Arkin joined the outstanding ensemble on the medical series "Chicago Hope" (CBS, 1994-2000) as Dr. Aaron Schutt, a neurosurgeon. Arkin successfully transitioned back and forth between the big and small screens, with seveval television movies to his credit, most notably as a detective opposite William H. Macy in "A Slight Case of Murder" (1999), and several supporting roles in features. He appeared in the horror thrillers "Halloween H20" (1998) and the David E. Kelley-penned "Lake Placid" (1999), and was cast as Meg Ryan's husband in the Nora Ephron comedy "Hanging Up" (2000). Further roles followed, and he was especially winning as Eva Mendes' tabloid editor in the romantic comedy "Hitch" (2005).
Continuing his presence on series television, Arkin made a rare misstep when he took on the role of the father in the universally panned, short-lived talking infant sit-com "Baby Bob" (CBS, 2002), and he enjoyed recurring roles as the president's physician-confidante Dr. Stanley Keyworth in "The West Wing" beginning in 2000, and as Principal Ed Gibbs on the hit ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter" starting in 2004.
- Born:
August 19, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Director, Screenwriter
Family
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Brother: Matthew Arkin. Born in 1960
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Daughter: Molly Arkin. Born c. 1987; mother, Linda Arkin
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Father: Alan Arkin. Best known for his roles in Wait Until Dark (1967) and Catch-22 (1970); won an Academy Award for Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
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Half-brother: Anthony Arkin. Born in 1967; mother, Barbara Dana
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Mother: Jeremy Yaffe. Married Arkin s father in 1955 while they were in college; divorced in 1960
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Step-mother: Barbara Dana. Married to Alan Arkin from 1964 to the mid-1990s
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Step-mother: Suzanne Newlander. Married Alan Arkin in 1996
Education
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Herbert Berghof Studio, New York, NY
Milestones
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1971 Co-scripted Improper Channels, a Canadian comedy starring his father Alan Arkin
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1974 Made early TV appearance on Mo and Jo, an unsold CBS sitcom pilot
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1974 TV-movie debut, It Couldn t Happen to a Nicer Guy (ABC)
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1977 Debuted as a series regular on the short-lived CBS sitcom, Busting Loose
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1978 Appeared in the ABC miniseries, Pearl, about events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor
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1981 First feature in a leading role, Full Moon High ; father Alan Arkin appears in a supporting role
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1981 Made feature debut in Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, a comedy starring his father and written by his stepmother Barbara Dana
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1982 Cast in the regular series role of Michael Dreyfuss in Teachers Only, a short-lived NBC high school sitcom starring Lynn Redgrave
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1986 Cast as Danny Polchek on the short-lived CBS cop sitcom, Tough Cookies
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1986 Co-starred as Jim Eisenberg on the acclaimed NBC miniseries, A Year in the Life
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1987 Reprised role for the NBC drama series, A Year in the Life, a continuation following the success of the miniseries
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1989 Played the recurring role of Mark Baylor on the CBS drama, Knots Landing
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1990 Joined the cast of CBS Northern Exposure in a recurring role as the eccentric chef Adam
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1991 Appeared in three episodes of ABC s China Beach
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1991 Made Broadway debut as Gary Peter Lefkowitz in I Hate Hamlet ; received a Tony nomination
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1993 Appeared as Nathan Detriot in the hit Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls
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1993 Starred as Marshall Fisher in the short-lived CBS sitcom, Big Wave Dave s
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1994 Played the leading role of Dr. Aaron Shutt on the CBS medical drama, Chicago Hope ; directed several episodes
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1994 Provided a voice for Ken Burns s ambitious documentary, Baseball
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1998 Starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween: H20
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2000 Had a recurring role on NBC s The West Wing as trauma specialist and psychologist Dr. Stanley Keyworth
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2000 Played Meg Ryan s husband in Hanging Up, directed by and co-starring Diane Keaton
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2001 Directed the Showtime movie, My Louisiana Sky ; produced by Anthony Edwards
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2002 Played the father of the titular talking infant in the CBS sitcom, Baby Bob
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2004 Had a recurring role on ABC s 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter as school Principal Ed Gibb
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2005 Played Eva Mendes boss in the comedy, Hitch
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2006 Directed episodes of ABC s Boston Legal ; also guest-starred as Douglas Kupfer
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2006 Directed episodes of ABC s Grey s Anatomy
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2007 Cast in the NBC drama Life as Ted Earley
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2009 Appeared on the FX series, Sons of Anarchy as white separatist Ethan Zobelle
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Accompanied his father Alan Arkin to movie sets around the world
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Will co-star in the Coen brothers A Serious Man