After two seasons on "Criminal Minds", Mandy Patinkin has decided to leave the CBS show. The network put out the following press release on July 14:

"STATEMENTS FROM ABC STUDIOS AND CBS PARAMOUNT NETWORK TELEVISION, AND MANDY PATINKIN:

On behalf of ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television:

"Last week Mandy Patinkin asked to be released from his role on "Criminal Minds." We have honored this request, which was not in any way connected to contract renegotiations or salary issues. His departure from the series will be explained to audiences in an episode to be filmed in the near future and broadcast early next season. We thank Mandy for helping to make "Criminal Minds" a strong and successful series, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. A new character will be added to the series for next season."

On behalf of Mandy Patinkin:

"Due to creative differences, Mandy has asked not to return to "Criminal Minds" this season. Mandy would like to thank the studios and network for releasing him from the series and wishes the cast and crew continued success in all of their endeavors, and he looks forward to continuing to work with the Disney and CBS companies in other capacities in the future."

Mandy is expected to return for one episode to wrap up his character's storyline.

Patinkin plays a leader of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, along with Chicago Hope alumn Thomas Gibson. Visit the Criminal Minds page at CBS.

Mandy's new tour schedule will be announced soon. Any changes in this schedule will be announced as that information becomes available.

Mandy is among those interviewed for the PBS documentary series about the Jewish American experience titled "The Jewish Americans. It is a six-hour, three-part history debuting on PBS in January. "America has absorbed much of what it means to be Jewish," said executive producer Jay Sanderson. Singer-actor Mandy Patinkin explains in the film that a tune as all-American as Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" is "a Yiddish song. You can hear the shtetl." More information....

Mandy participated in a 75 to 150 mile bike ride for charity to support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society with cast mates from Criminal Minds. Click for more photos.

Mandy appears in an independent film called "The Choking Man", produced by the makers of "The Station Agent".

From playbill.com: "Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin, who were both Tony-nominated for their performances in the original production of Sunday in the Park with George, have reunited for a new children's CD. The ten-song recording comes with the children's book "Dewey Doo-it Helps Owlie Fly Again," which is loosely based on the late Christopher Reeve's struggles with his physical disabilities. "Dewey meets a little owl in a wheelchair who can no longer fly," a book description states. "Can the helpful Doo-its use ingenuity and creativity to help the little owl learn to fly again? Can they Doo-it?""

Proceeds will benefit the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. To order Dewey Doo-It or find out more information about the book and CD, deweydooit.com.

Mandy and Bernadette are both scheduled to appear on June 9 in New York City at a Union Square Barnes and Noble book signing of Dewey Doo-it. Located at:  33 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003. Call 212.253.0810 for more information. Read Playbill.com article.

Mandy and son Isaac will take part in the Arava Institute Hazon Bike Ride in Israel from May 10 - 17, 2005. "Isaac and I are going to Israel to ride for peace enviromental justice and a safer world for us all." For further information, click here.

From the Jerusalem Post: "Actor Mandy Patinkin, best known for his roles in medical series Chicago Hope and as Inigo Montoya in the 1987-film The Princess Bride, has been nominated for dozens of awards, won numerous accolades and been honored by a variety of nonprofit organizations.

But one of Patinkin's proudest moments, he says, occurred Monday afternoon on the sandy beaches of the Red Sea.

"This was the gift of a lifetime – one of the most thrilling moments of my life," Patinkin said moments after completing a five day 480-km. bike ride from the Old City of Jerusalem to the Netafim border crossing near Eilat. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life describing to people on any imaginable level how incredible an experience this has been."

Patinkin and some 130 other riders from across the globe finished the final leg of the third annual Arava Institute Hazon Israel Ride in an effort to raise close to $400,000 for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) as well as for Hazon, a New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to Jewish environmental education." For the complete article, click here.

Read another article regarding Mandy and Isaac's bike ride in Israel.

Article from the Canadian Journal.

Haaretz.com article.

Houston Chronicle article.

Jewish Week article.

The Wellness Community of Philadelphia is pleased to present its Seventh Annual “Celebration of Hope” educational conference and “Evening in the Park” gala /awards ceremony on Friday, June 10. The special guest conference speaker is actor/singer/prostate cancer survivor Mandy Patinkin.

On February 17, 2005, Fortune Magazine and the PCF hosted a press conference to announce the partnership. PCF founder and chairman, Mike Milken, along with actress, comedian and PCF supporter Whoopi Goldberg, and actor, singer and prostate cancer survivor Mandy Patinkin, shared stories that reinforced the importance of frequent screening and proper nutrition to fight this disease.  View the Fortune Magazine Photos from the event.

Mandy recently visited his alma mater, Kansas University, for "A Conversation With Mandy Patinkin." The benefit event raised $30,000 for the theater department to fund the purchase of sound equipment and a film scholarship to the university. While visiting KU, Mandy also led a master's class in acting. From the Lawrence Journal World: "...a local audience got a chance to observe a "conversation" with one of the KU theater department's more famous former students, Mandy Patinkin. The intimate picture that emerged from the Murphy Hall event was of a warm, vulnerable actor who, although he attended KU for only two years, wanted to give something back to the university that had helped nurture his career.

Although Patinkin is known across the country for his Emmy-winning performance on TV's "Chicago Hope," his memorable role in "The Princess Bride," and other stage and movie credits, there still are many people in Lawrence who remember him best for his performance as Tevya in a University Theatre production of "Fiddler on the Roof," when he was a student in 1971. In tribute to his father -- and his KU audience -- Patinkin ended his Saturday interview with an impromptu performance of "If I Were a Rich Man" from that show.

His appearance at KU raised $30,000 for the KU theater department, but also seemed like a personal thank-you to the audiences, fellow students and teachers who touched him as a student. KU had made a difference in his life."

Video news coverage of Mandy at a recent visit to his alma mater Kansas University

"A Conversation with Mandy Patinkin" interview -- May 1

"Hello my name is Mandy Patinkin" article regarding KU alum

News article regarding Mandy's recent visit to Kansas University

News article advertising Mandy's visit to Kansas University

kansan.com article regarding "Conversation With Mandy Patinkin" event

Kansas interview audioclips:

What was Lawrence like in the early 1970s?

Which medium has changed the most since you first got into the industry?

How does an artist avoid falling into self-parody?

Mandy will perform "Mamaloshen" in a special benefit performance at Carnegie Hall for Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre. Read more about this event. [Purchase tickets]

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has selected its 2005 list of Notable Children's Videos.  The list includes videos for children 14 years of age and younger of especially commendable quality that demonstrate respect for a child's intelligence and imagination and that reflect and encourage the interests of children in exemplary ways.  The list includes distributor and an annotation.

Among the videos selected is"This Is The House That Jack Built," by Weston Woods. Summary: Lively music and narration by Mandy Patinkin enhance this classic rhyme in a colorful animated film based on the book illustrated by Simms Taback. [Video price: $60. 800-243-5020.]

Actor Mandy Patinkin, right, listens as U.S. Congressman Robert Wexler , left, gives a television interview at the polling site at Century Village in Boca Raton. Entertainer John Bauman, right, more readily known as "Bowzer" from the retro-50s group Sha-Na-Na joined them in their get-the-vote-out campaign.

It's not just noted liberal academics who believe we're about to reenact the Civil War. It's newspaper writers and television pundits. It's Hollywood actors, like Mandy Patinkin: "We were driving around early this morning and saying to each other in the car, I always wondered what it was like, the mentality during the Civil War in America," Patinkin told CTV this week. "Now I know. It's just completely divided."

Photos in this section were taken in Florida in the Fall of 2004. From the Palm Beach Post: "When U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (left) asked Mandy Patinkin if he was in town promoting anything, the actor replied, "I am only here to serve," bowing to Wexler as they both canvassed at the polling site at Century Village in Boca Raton. Entertainer John Bauman (right), known as Bowzer from the retro-50s group Sha-Na-Na, joined them in their get-the-vote-out campaign.

Showtime has opted not to pick up a third season of "Dead Like Me." Producers of "Dead Like Me" have indicated a desire to continue production and option the series to another network.

From the newswires: "Sci Fi Channel, TNT and A&E have been confirmed as three of the cable networks MGM Television has approached about reviving the short-lived Showtime drama. The studio reportedly is looking to package the repeat rights to the 30 completed hours as part of any license fee for a third season. A similar strategy helped Tribune Entertainment finance a fifth season of "Andromeda" as part of its off-network deal with Sci Fi. Nevertheless, the window to get a deal done is closing as the options on stars Mandy Patinkin and Ellen Muth are set to expire shortly. As far as the production side, producers John Masius, Bryan Fuller and Clancy Collins have all indicated they would be more than receptive to continuing with the show."

The first season of "Dead Like Me" is available on DV, as of June 15, 2004. The DVD includes deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

For photos and videoclips, visit the Dead Like Me website.

From Playbill.com: "Classic Stage Company's fall 2004 First Look Festival — a program of one-night-only staged readings of rarely seen classics, performed by notable actors — will feature masterworks of the German theatre, performed by Kate Mulgrew, Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham, among others.

Under the artistic direction of Brian Kulick, CSC will present staged readings of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart, performed by Kate Mulgrew, translated by Michael Feingold and directed by Erica Schmidt; Urfaust, written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Dan Farrelly and performed by David Strathairn and F. Murray Abraham, directed by Michael Sexton; and Nathan the Wise, performed by Ron Leibman and Mandy Patinkin, written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, translated by Edward Kemp and directed by Brian Kulick."

Set in the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades, this timeless classic explores the fractious relations between the Islamic, Jewish and Christian worlds as they hurtle toward destruction. Written some two hundred years ago, this play feels as immediate as this morning’s front-page news.

Mandy Patinkin most recent CD is a live all-Sondheim CD of his concert tribute "Celebrating Sondheim" recorded in Philadelphia in February 2002. The CD is titled "Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim" and was releasedon October 29, 2002.

"Sondheim is the Shakespeare of the musical theater world," Patinkin told Broadway.com. "The fact that he's alive and that I get to call him and say, 'What do you mean here?' is amazing. I certainly can't call up Bill Shakespeare."

Patinkin says that he and longtime pianist Paul Ford (who did the musical arrangements on Patinkin's [previous] album Kidults) went to Sondheim's home and looked through the composer/lyricist's files to gather material for the concert. "We found about 10 hours worth of stuff and just kept singing it for 10 weeks," Patinkin said. "Then we narrowed it down by deciding what we wanted to say."

Performance footage from Evitacan be seen on "Broadway's Lost Treasures", available now on DVD.

For some time now, Mandy Patinkin has supported the work of Americans for Peace Now (and served on their Board of Directors). This is an organization dear to his heart, in that it promotes a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. Click to read a letter from Mandy Patinkin regarding this organization and the urgent need for a genuine roadmap to peace in the Middle East.

Mandy narrated a video about Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado, where he performed in 1971. For more information, click here.

Some time ago, Patinkin spent a week working with students in the School of Drama at the N.C. School of the Arts. (Read press release.) According to the Winston Salem Journal, 'He was the 2001 commencement speaker at NCSA and received an honorary doctorate from the school. Gerald Freedman, the dean of the drama school, taught Patinkin at The Juilliard School and has been a mentor to him for years. Freedman arranged for his visit. Patinkin worked with college juniors and seniors on acting and musical-theater presentation from Dec. 1 to 6, 2003, during the first week of Intensive Arts, a two-week period during which students participate in workshops, projects and master classes. "Mandy from his student days was a risk-taker - daring, original and unafraid," Freedman said in a news release." He was, and remains, passionate about his art, his family and his social responsibility."' (Mandy has previously instructed in a Masters Class at Harvard University.)

From the minutes of a board meeting at the North Carolina School of Arts, attended by Mandy: "Dean Gerald Freedman brought visiting guest artist Dr. Mandy Patinkin to visit with the Board. Dr. Patinkin received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from NCSA at its Commencement ceremony in May of 2002. Dean Freedman commented that he thought the Drama program to be in good shape and that the training has never been better. ...He noted that one of the most essential nutrients is bringing in guest artists because they are the bridge into the profession. He noted that Drama does not have the dollars to pay for guest artists and that Dr. Patinkin was working with Drama for an entire week without receiving payment. Dean Freedman urged the Board's assistance in regaining the lost dollars for the program.

Dr. Patinkin related that he met Gerald Freedman about 30 years ago at Juilliard. He said what Dean Freedman teaches is as good as it gets and relayed his personal experiences of learning the words that communicate. He offered to do a concert at the School and make it a fundraiser so that every penny would go to the School. The reason being he said was because of what his work in the arts and the opportunities it has provided for him. He referred to the School as "a golden place" and mentioned that he often speaks with members of various boards and urges them to continue to keep these institutions going. He said his experience at the School this week had been like a transfusion, an affirmation of how it all works and said he could not wait to get back to what he had been practicing with the students. He praised Board members for giving their time to serve in this way. He commented that, in his opinion, in this time when the government is making more cut backs, that the key to any of the political problems and the ones who will be able to put them out in the most palatable manner, will be the artists."

In August of 2003 Mandy appeared in "Enemy of the People"at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

"Mandy Patinkin portray(ed) Dr. Stockmann, the proclaimed enemy of the people in Henrik Ibsen's play, adroitly adapted by renowned playwright Christopher Hampton. This explosive drama follows one man's solitary odyssey against political subterfuge. Viewed in modern context, the play remains unnervingly compelling and eerily relevant.

Patinkin contributed his voice to "Laputa: Castle in the Sky", an animated film originally released in Japan. Laputa was released on DVD/video on April 15, 2003. Patinkin plays the role of Louie. Description: A young girl with a mysterious crystal pendant falls out of the sky and into the arms and life of young Pazu. Together they search for a floating island in the sky, site of a long-dead civilization promising enormous wealth and power to those who can unlock its secrets. Additonal information available on the web: official website.

Mandy provides the voiceovers in television commercial advertising Procrit (used to treat anemia and the fatigue associated with it).