James Carpenter (actor)

James Carpenter is a San Francisco Bay Area stage actor, who performs with the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, California, and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. ACT's Carey Perloff described him as "...one of the finest American actors anywhere."{{cite news|last=D'Souza|first=Karen|title=James Carpenter: The Bay Area's master actor|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_22195358/james-carpenter-bay-areas-master-actor|accessdate=24 May 2014|newspaper=San Jose Mercury News|date=17 December 2012}} Carpenter moved to the Bay Area in the mid-1980s and started appearing onstage regularly with Berkeley Rep. Over the next few decades, he performed with other Bay Area companies including California Shakespeare Theater, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, ACT, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, and the Black Box Theatre.{{cite news|last1=Hamlin|first1=Jesse|title=Scrooge among James Carpenter's wealth of roles|url=http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Scrooge-among-James-Carpenter-s-wealth-of-roles-2453246.php|accessdate=7 June 2014|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|date=16 December 2010}} In 2010, he was awarded a Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship. The fellowships are awarded to the best American regional theatre actors, who are then invited to attend a master class.{{cite web|title=Who Are The Lunt-Fontanne Fellows?|url=http://www.tenchimneys.org/lunt-fontanne-fellowship/2014-fellowship-program/fellows|website=tenchimneys.org|publisher=Ten Chimneys Foundation (the estate of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne)|accessdate=7 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714183420/http://www.tenchimneys.org/lunt-fontanne-fellowship/2014-fellowship-program/fellows|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite AV media |people=Lyden, Jacki |year=2010 |title=Actors Retreat to Shakespearean Haven |medium=Radio broadcast |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128892453 |accessdate=7 June 2014 |publisher=Weekend Edition, National Public Radio}} In 2010, the emphasis of the fellowship was Shakespeare and the master teacher was Barry Edelstein.{{cite web|last1=Malone|first1=Sean|title=2010 Lunt-Fontanne Fellows and Master Teacher Dedicate Week to Lynn Redgrave|url=http://www.tenchimneys.org/lunt-fontanne-fellowship/revisit-2009-2013/2010-journal|website=tenchimneys.org|publisher=Ten Chimneys Foundation|accessdate=7 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219205822/http://www.tenchimneys.org/lunt-fontanne-fellowship/revisit-2009-2013/2010-journal|archive-date=19 February 2014|url-status=dead}}

In 2001, he co-starred with Holly Hunter in By the Bog of Cats, a production by the San Jose Repertory Theatre. {{As of|2012}}, he had played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in ACT's annual production A Christmas Carol for seven years in a row.