Ben Shenkman

With Patrick Wilson in Angels In America

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.

Early in his career, he began working in theater, 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.

Angels in America is a 2003 HBO miniseries adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols directed. Set in 1985, the film has at its core the story of two couples whose relationships dissolve amidst the backdrop of Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.

 HBO broadcast the film in various formats: two 3-hour chunks that correspond to "Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika", as well as six 1-hour "chapters" that roughly correspond to an act or two of each of these plays; the first three chapters ("Bad News", "In Vitro", and "The Messenger") were initially broadcast on December 7, 2003 to international acclaim, with the final three chapters ("Stop Moving!", "Beyond Nelly", and "Heaven, I'm in Heaven") following.

Angels in America was the most-watched made-for-cable film in 2003, garnering much critical acclaim and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards, among other numerous accolades. In 2006, Seattle Times listed the series amongst "Best of the filmed AIDS portrayals" on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of AIDS