Background
Pickens was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
Pickens was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
Pickens earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from BGSU in 1976.
He is best known for his starring role as Doctor Richard Webber on the American Broadcasting Company medical drama television series Grey"s Anatomy, and for his supporting role as Deputy Director Alvin Kersh on later seasons of the Fox Network science fiction series The X-Files. He began acting while a student at Bowling Green State University. His first acting role was in a campus production of Matters of Choice by Chuck Gordone.
Pickens started his professional acting career at the Roundabout Theatre in New York City playing Walter Lee in A Raisin in the Sun.
In 1981, Pickens performed in the Negro Ensemble Company"s production of A Soldier"s Play, starring alongside Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. In 1990, Pickens moved to the West Coast and began his Hollywood career playing Zack Edwards on the soap opera Another World from 1986 to 1990.
He went on to have recurring roles on "X-Files" as Deputy Director Kersh, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The West Wing, Roseanne, Beverly Hills, 90210, Judge Advocate General, and Six Feet Under. In 2002, Pickens had a cameo appearance as the male zoo doctor in the film Red Dragon.
In the February 28, 2007, all-star benefit reading of "The Gift of Peace" at University of California, Los Angeles"s Freud Playhouse, he portrays a man whose life experiences lead him to volunteer in the peace movement, and plays alongside actors Editor Asner, Barbara Bain, Amy Brenneman, George Coe, and Wendie Malick.
The play is an open appeal and fundraiser for passage of United States. House Resolution, 808, which sought to establish a Cabinet-level "Department of Peace" in the United States. government, to be funded by a two percent diversion of the Pentagon"s annual budget. In 2005, Pickens was chosen to play Doctor Richard Webber on the American Broadcasting Company medical drama Grey"s Anatomy.