Ron Rifkin (born Saul M. Rifkin; October 31, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as

Arvin Sloane Arvin Sloane is a fictional character played by Ron Rifkin. He was the former director of SD-6 on the television series, ''Alias''. ''TV Guide'' included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (M ...

on the spy drama '' Alias'', Saul Holden on the drama '' Brothers & Sisters'', and District Attorney Ellis Loew in '' L.A. Confidential''.

Personal life

Saul M. Rifkin was born in New York City to Miriam and Herman Rifkin, who was born in Russia. He is the oldest of three children. He was raised as an

Orthodox Jew Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

and remains Jewish though he left Orthodoxy at the age of 32. His wife, Iva Rifkin, owns a fashion design business.

Career

In 2001, Rifkin's association with

Touchstone Television The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

began when he played intelligence agent Arvin Sloane in ''Alias'', opposite

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...

. From 2006 to 2011, he played second-in-command businessman Saul Holden on ''Brothers & Sisters'', opposite Sally Field. He also played Bonnie Franklin's second boyfriend Nick on '' One Day at a Time.'' He was a series regular during the sixth season. In the season 7 premiere, "Alex Moves In", it is revealed that Nick dies as a result of an accident with a drunk driver. Rifkin has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in film, on

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

, and in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. His association with writer Jon Robin Baitz has been especially fruitful. In 1991, his performance in Baitz's play ''

The Substance of Fire ''The Substance of Fire'' is a play by Jon Robin Baitz. Overview Isaac Geldhart is a survivor of the Holocaust. He arrived in New York City an orphan, reinvented himself as a bon vivant, married well, and found fame and fortune as a champion of a ...

'' won him the Obie,

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

, Lucille Lortel, and Drama-Logue awards for Best Actor. The next year, he performed in Baitz's ''Three Hotels'', for which he received a second Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nomination. In 1996, he starred in the film version of ''Substance''; in 2002, he appeared in the Baitz play ''Ten Unknowns'' at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Huntington Theatre; in 2004, he starred in his play ''The Paris Letter'' at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, a role he reprised the next year at the Laura Pels Theatre in New York City, and appeared in the ABC drama series ''Brothers & Sisters'', which Baitz created, as a character named Saul, Rifkin's real name. Rifkin received a 1998

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the Broadway revival of ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

''. Additional theatre credits include

David Hirson David Hirson (born 1958) is an American dramatist, best known for his award-winning Broadway comedies, '' La Bête'' and ''Wrong Mountain''. Biography Hirson was born in New York City to actress Alice and playwright Roger O. Hirson. He was educ ...

's ''Wrong Mountain'',

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's '' Broken Glass'',

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

's '' A Month in the Country'', and

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

's '' Proposals''. Rifkin's extensive film credits include '' Silent Running'' (1972), ''

The Sunshine Boys ''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television. Plot The pla ...

'' (1975), '' The Big Fix'' (1978), '' JFK'' (1991), ''

Husbands and Wives ''Husbands and Wives'' is a 1992 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Allen, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack, Judy Davis, Lysette Anthony, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson and Blythe Danner. The film debute ...

'' (1992), ''

Manhattan Murder Mystery ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' is a 1993 American black comedy mystery film directed by Woody Allen, which he wrote with Marshall Brickman, and starring Alan Alda, Allen, Anjelica Huston, and Diane Keaton. The film centers on a married couple's ...

'' (1993), ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

'' (1994), '' L.A. Confidential'' (1997), ''

The Negotiator ''The Negotiator'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey as two expert hostage negotiators and Chicago police lieutenants. The film was released in the United States on Jul ...

'' (1998), '' Boiler Room'' (2000), ''

Keeping the Faith ''Keeping the Faith'' is a 2000 American romantic comedy film written by Stuart Blumberg, and starring Ben Stiller, Edward Norton (in his directorial debut), Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, and Anne Bancroft. This film was released by Touchstone Pi ...

'' (2000), '' The Majestic'' (2001), '' Dragonfly'' (2002), '' The Sum of All Fears'' (2002), and ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...

'' (2006). On television, Rifkin has appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and miniseries, had regular roles on ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

'', '' One Day at a Time'', ''

Husbands, Wives & Lovers ''Husbands, Wives & Lovers'' is an American television sitcom that aired for only one season on CBS in 1978. Created by Joan Rivers, this program focused on the relationships of five suburban couples living in the San Fernando Valley. Cast and ch ...

'', ''

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill ''The Trials of Rosie O'Neill'' is an American drama television series which aired on CBS from September 17, 1990 to May 30, 1992. The show stars Sharon Gless as Fiona Rose "Rosie" O'Neill, a lawyer working in the public defender's office for th ...

'', and '' Alias'', and made guest appearances on a number of series, including ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was o ...

'', ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

'', ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'', ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a p ...

'', ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

'', '' ER'', '' Law & Order'', ''

A Nero Wolfe Mystery ''Nero Wolfe'' is a television series adapted from Rex Stout's series of detective stories that aired for two seasons (2001–2002) on A&E. Set in New York City sometime in the 1940s–1950s, the stylized period drama stars Maury Chaykin as N ...

'', '' Falcon Crest'', ''

Soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', '' Smash'', and '' The Outer Limits'', for which he received a CableACE nomination. Rifkin is the reader for a number of

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s, including

Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet,'' ''Number the Stars'', and '' Rabble Starkey.'' She is known for writing ...

's ''

The Giver ''The Giver'' is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away pa ...

'',

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (born January 4, 1933) is an American writer best known for children's and young adult fiction. Naylor is best known for her children's-novel quartet '' Shiloh'' (a 1992 Newbery Medal winner) and for her "Alice" book ser ...

's ''Sang Spell'', and Jerry Spinelli's ''

Milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

''. He currently portrays Defense Attorney Marvin Stan Exely, a recurring character on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. He also starred in '' Limitless'' as Brian Finch's father Dennis Finch and appears in '' Gotham'' as Father Creel. On October 1, 2020, a short film, ''Daddy'', was uploaded on Christian Coppola's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel in which Rifkin stars alongside Dylan Sprouse. In the film, "after the death of his wife, an 80-year-old man checks into The Plaza Hotel to celebrate their first anniversary apart, hiring a male escort to take her place."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rifkin, Ron 1939 births 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from New York City American male film actors American people of Russian-Jewish descent American male stage actors American male television actors Audiobook narrators Drama Desk Award winners Jewish American male actors Living people Tony Award winners 21st-century American Jews