Ben Shenkman Biography

Benjamin Shenkman (born September 26, 1968) is an American television, film and stage actor, who is best known for his role as one of HankMed's concierge doctors, Dr. Jeremiah Sacani, in USA Network's hit TV series, Royal Pains.

Personal life

Shenkman was born Benjamin Sheinkman in New York City, the son of Katherine, who was an associate at a law firm, and Shepard A. Sheinkman, who worked for a consulting company. Shenkman raised in what he described as "the secular Eastern European Jewish tradition". He was not raised as an observant Jew and did not have a bar mitzvah service, although he has stated that his Jewish identity is important to him. He graduated from Brown University, and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in 1993 from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. Shenkman's sister is married to British publisher Jamie Byng.

Career

He began his professional acting career with a small role in the 1994 film Quiz Show directed by Robert Redford and a guest-starring role on Law & Order, his first of seven appearances throughout the run of the show. He also began working in theatre, portraying Louis Ironson in Tony Kushner's play Angels in America at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre. The production wasn't the first or last time Shenkman took part in this award-winning piece: while still at New York University, Shenkman played the role of Roy Cohn in a workshop production of the play, and he would reprise the role of Louis eight years later in the HBO miniseries adaptation, earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Throughout the 1990s Shenkman combined work in Off-Broadway productions in NY with small roles in films such as Eraser (1996), The Siege (1998), ? (1998), and Jesus' Son (1999), Chasing Sleep (2000), and Requiem for a Dream (2000).

In 2000 Shenkman gained success in the theatre, co-starring with Mary-Louise Parker in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Proof, for which he received a 2001 Tony nomination. After the release of HBO's Angels in America miniseries, he returned to Manhattan Theatre club in 2004 in Sight Unseen opposite Laura Linney.

As his career continued Shenkman moved between studio films such as Must Love Dogs (2005) and Just Like Heaven (2005), and indies like Then She Found Me (2008), Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2008), and Breakfast with Scot (2008) a gay-themed film made in Canada for which the NHL notably endorsed the use of a team's logo and uniforms. 2010 saw him with Michael Douglas in Solitary Man and the Sundance premiere Blue Valentine.

He also kept busy in TV, as a series regular in the 2008 Julianna Margulies legal drama Canterbury's Law on Fox, and in recurring roles on Grey's Anatomy, Burn Notice, Damages, Drop Dead Diva and FX's Lights Out.

Shenkman co-starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom The Paul Reiser Show, which was a midseason replacement for the 2010-11 television season.

Shenkman currently plays Dr. Jeremiah Sacani in the USA Network show Royal Pains

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1993"2009	Law & Order	Nick Margolis	7 episodes
1994	Quiz Show	Childress
1996	New York Undercover	Gabe Green	1 episode: 'Sympathy for the Devil'
	Eraser	Reporter
1997	Camp Stories	Yehudah
1998	Pi	Lenny Meyer
	The Siege	INS Agent Howard Kaplan
1999	Thick as Thieves	Veterinarian
	Jesus' Son	Tom
	30 Days	Jordan Trainer
2000	Table One	Scott
	Joe Gould's Secret	David
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Max Knaack	1 episode: 'Chat Room'
	Requiem for a Dream	Dr. Spencer
	Chasing Sleep	Officer Stewart
	Bed		Short film
2001"2003	Ed	Frank Carr/Andy Bednarik	3 episodes
2002	Personal Velocity: Three Portraits	Max
	People I Know	Radio announcer (voice)
	Roger Dodger	Donovan
	Stella shorts 1998-2002	Hans
2003	Angels in America	Louis Ironson	6 episodes Nomination - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nomination - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2004	Waking Dreams	Charles	Short film
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Irv Kressel	2 episodes
	Must Love Dogs	Charlie
	Stella	Carl	1 episode 'Meeting Girls'
	Just Like Heaven	Brett
2006	Twenty Questions	Brian
	Americanese	Steve
	Love Monkey	Scott	6 episodes
2007	The Key Man	Martin
	Wainy Days	Clovie	1 episode: 'My Turn'
	Then She Found Me	Dr. Freddy Epner
	Breakfast with Scot	Sam
2008	Canterbury's Law	Russell Krauss	6 episodes
2009	Body Politic	Jim Sperlock
	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	Subject 14
	Private Practice	Rob Harmon	1 episode: 'Ex-Life'
	Grey's Anatomy	Rob Harmon	3 episodes
	Burn Notice	Tom Strickler	4 episodes
	Solitary Man	Pete Hartofilias
2010	Lights Out	Mike Fumosa	5 episodes
	Blue Valentine	Sam Feinberg
	Damages	Curtis Gates	11 episodes
	Love Shack	Skip Blitzer
	The Paul Reiser Show	Jonathan	Series regular
2011	Drop Dead Diva	Dr. Bill Kendall	Recurring role
2012	Royal Pains	Dr. Jeremiah Sacani	Main Cast (Season 5-present), recurring previously (Season 4).
2013	Concussion	Graeme
	Breathe In	Sheldon