Life and career

Pendleton was born in Warren, Ohio, the son of Thorn Pendleton, who ran a tool company, and Frances Manchester Pendleton, a professional actress. Pendleton is a graduate of Yale University, School of Drama.

Theater

Pendleton first received fame and critical acclaim for his performance as Motel in the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof. Additionally, he has appeared in The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance and an Obie Award), The Diary of Anne Frank, Goodtime Charley, and Up from Paradise, among others. In August 2006, Pendleton appeared as the Chaplain in Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater production directed by George C. Wolfe at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, New York City. In 2007, he appeared as Friar Lawrence in the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In 2009 Pendleton directed Uncle Vanya, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgard, at the Classic Stage Company. Also that year, Pendleton starred in the off-Broadway production of Love Drunk, written by Romulus Linney and directed by Kelly Morgan. Later on, in the summer of 2009, he appeared in Wyoming Seminary's Performing Arts Institute production of Gypsy as Herbie, opposite Devon McFadden as Moma Rose and Allison Considine as Gypsy Rose Lee.

Pendleton then went on to direct Tennessee Williams' autobiographical play Vieux Carré at The Pearl Theatre Company Off-Broadway in 2009.

Pendleton wrote the plays Uncle Bob, Booth, and Orson's Shadow, all of which were staged off-Broadway. His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes garnered him a Tony Award nomination.

Additional directing credits include Spoils of War by Michael Weller (1988),The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt (1977),and The Size of the World by Charles Evered (1996).

In January and February 2010, Pendleton directed two plays, "Bus Stop" at The Olney Theatre and "Golden Age" at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. In April 2010, Pendleton acted with Eleanor Handley in the romantic comedy Limonade Tous Les Jours by Charles Mee, directed by Diana Basmajian. In June 2010, Pendleton directed Order at Kirk Theater at Theatre Row (New York City). Order was written by Christopher Stetson Boal and centered on a philosopher-cannibal who wants to be a better person.

In 2012 he directed a production of 'Detroit' at the National Theatre in London, England.

Pendleton currently teaches acting at the HB Studio and directing at The New School, both in Greenwich Village. Pendleton is an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. He began his artistic relationship there by directing Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie for the 1979-80 season. In addition to directing at Steppenwolf, Mr. Pendleton has appeared as an actor in such Steppenwolf productions as Uncle Vanya, Valparaiso, and Educating Rita.

Pendleton served as Artistic Director for Circle Repertory Company with associate artistic director Lynne Thigpen. The Company closed in 1996.

Partial filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Petulia	Intern
	One Life to Live		TV Series
	Skidoo	Fred
1970	Catch-22	Lt. Col. Moodus
1972	What's Up, Doc?	Frederick Larrabee
	Every Little Crook and Nanny	Luther
	Love, American Style	Barney Dereemus	TV Series (1 Episode)
1973	The Thief Who Came to Dinner	Zukovsky
	Love, American Style	Leo	TV Series (1 Episode)
1974	Good Times	Donald Hargrove	TV Series (1 Episode)
	The Front Page	Earl Williams
	Great Performances	Bennie	TV Series (1 Episode)
1976	Diary of the Dead	Dr. Klein
1977	You're Gonna Love It Here	Harry Rogers	TV Movie
	The Great Smokey Roadblock	Guido
1978	Big City Boys	Harry Buckman	TV Movie
1979	The Muppet Movie	Max
	Starting Over	Paul
1980	Simon	Dr. Carl Becker
	First Family	Dr. Alexander Grade
1983	Great Performances	White Rabbit	TV Series (1 Episode)
	St. Elsewhere	Mr. Entertainment	TV Series (1 Episode)
1984	Talk to Me	Richard Patterson
	St. Elsewhere	Mr. Entertainment	TV Series (1 Episode)
1985	Love, Long Distance	Dr. Arthur Ruskin	TV Movie
	My Man Adam	Mr. Greenhut
1986	Miami Vice	Max Rogo	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Off Beat	Gun Shop Salesman
	Short Circuit	Howard Marner
1987	Leg Work	Harold Rodman	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Hello Again	Junior Lacey
1988	Spenser: For Hire	The Professor	TV Series (1 Episode)
1986-89	The Equalizer	Jonah	TV Series (3 Episodes)
1989	The Cosby Show	Mr. Kensington	TV Series (1 Episode)
	B.L. Stryker	Danny Lennox	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Anything But Love	Max Templeton	TV Series (1 Episode)
1990	American Dreamer		TV Series (1 Episode)
	21 Jump Street	Mr. Trysla	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Mr. and Mrs. Bridge	Mr. Gadbury
1991	The Ballad of the Sad Café	Lawyer Taylor
	True Identity	Othello's Director
	Lethal Innocence	Paul Kent	TV Movie
1992	My Cousin Vinny	John Gibbons
	Murder, She Wrote	Barney Gunderson	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Rain Without Thunder	Catholic Priest
	Charlie's Ear	Harold Blodgett
	Four Eyes and Six Guns		TV Movie
	Do You Like Women?
1993	Mr. Nanny	Alex Mason, Sr.
	My Boyfriend's Back	Dr. Bronson
	Searching for Bobby Fischer	Asa Hoffmann
1994	Greedy	Hotel Clerk
	Guarding Tess	Earl Fowler
	The Cosby Mysteries	Maynard Caldwell	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Don't Drink the Water	Chef Oscar	TV Movie
1995	Tales from the Crypt	Orloff	TV Series (1 Episode)
	New York News		TV Series (1 Episode)
	Home for the Holidays	Peter Arnold
	Two Much	Dr. Huffeyer
	The Fifteen Minute Hamlet	Hamlet	Short
	Long Island Fever	Dr. Motts	TV Movie
1996	Sgt. Bilko	Maj. Ebersole
	2 Days in the Valley	Ralph Crupi
	The Proprietor	Willy Kunst
	The Associate	Aesop Franklin
	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Barry
1997	Frasier	Dr. Dorfman	TV Series (1 Episode)
	The Practice	Sam Feldberg	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Fired Up	Bobby H.	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Trial and Error	Judge Paul Z. Graff
	Sue Lost in Manhattan	Bob
	Liberty!	Benjamin Rush	TV Mini-Series (2 Episodes)
	Amistad	Professor Gibbs
	The Fanatics	Eugene Cleft
	A River Made to Drown In	Billy
1998	Tracey Takes On...	Professor Kenneth Hawkins	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Charlie Hoboken	Harry Cedars
1998-99	Homicide: Life on the Street	Dr. George Griscom	TV Series (11 Episodes)
1999	Skirty Winner	Francois Truffaut
	Joe the King	Winston
	Men of Means	Jerry Trask
	The 4th Floor	Mr. Collins
	Brokendown Love Story	Lucky	Short
2000	Homicide: The Movie	Dr. George Griscom	TV Movie
	The Acting Class	Bobby Austin
	Broke Even	Archie
	The West Wing	Barry Haskell	TV Series (1 Episode)
	Fast Food Fast Women	George
	The Summer of My Deflowering		Short
	Clowns	Dean
2001	Queenie in Love	Alvin
	The Education of Max Bickford	Harry	TV Series (1 Episode)
	A Beautiful Mind	Thomas King	Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Awards Circuit Community Awards - Best Cast Ensemble
2003	Finding Nemo	Gurgle	Voice
2004	Christmas with the Kranks	Marty
2010	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Dr. Masters
2012	Game Change	Senator Joe Lieberman	TV film
2013	Black Box	William Peters
2014	She's Funny That Way	Judge Pendergast

[ Source: Wikipedia ]