An alumnus of Yale University.
Began a lifelong association in 1957 with the Williamstown Festival Theatre in Massachusetts. Met actress/wife Katina Commings a year later while they were both interns there. Years later she appeared in the Broadway production of "The Runner Stumbles" which Austin directed.
Developed a stutter when young but it never affected his acting work. He didn't find a working cure for it until the 1980s.
Gave Philip Seymour Hoffman one of his first acting jobs at a New Jersey theatre company.
He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
He was nominated for a 1976 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Director of a Play for "Misalliance" at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
He was nominated for a 1980 Joseph Jefferson Award for Director of a Play for "Say Goodnight, Gracie" at the Travel Light Productions Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
In the 1970s he joined the Steppenwolf company as an actor and director. The company also produced a few of his plays.
In the early 1990s, Austin inspired the then doorman of his building, Shane Perez, to try his hand at writing. Perez took his advice and began tooling a drama which he hoped Pendleton would one day star in. That dream became a reality when his script for Men of Means (1999) was eventually purchased and produced.
Is a Professor at the HB Acting studio in New York.
Josh Schmidt, Jan Tranen, and Austin Pendleton were awarded the 2009 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work or Adaptation of Musical for "A Minister's Wife," at the Writers' Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Was considered for the role of Fredo Corelone in The Godfather (1972).
Was nominated for Broadway's 1981 Tony Award as Best Director (Play) for directing Elizabeth Taylor in a revival of Lillian Hellman's "The Little Foxes." Years earlier he played Leo in said play on Broadway.