“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

Mandy Patinkin can’t get through the day without someone approaching him and delivering that phrase.

And he loves it.

“It’s pretty early out here in L.A., but I can guarantee it will happen today,” Patinkin says. “I sure am lucky (to be associated with that line). It’s better than NOT having it.”

The dialogue is obviously from Patinkin’s role as the Spanish sword master in 1987’s “The Princess Bride.” The verbal snippet has become as big a fixture of 1980s pop culture as “E.T. phone home” and “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

In fact, the line is so popular that Kansas University students were asked to videotape their best imitation of it. The winning contest entry will be shown Saturday at Crafton-Preyer Theatre when the actor returns to his alma mater for “A Conversation With Mandy Patinkin.” The event is a benefit for the department to help fund sound equipment and a film scholarship.

It won’t be hard for Patinkin to find things to talk about, because the performer has pretty much done it all. An Emmy winner on TV, a Tony winner on Broadway, a motion picture star, a recording artist with 20 albums to his credit — Patinkin is the definition of versatility.

Yet he’s also someone who can completely bury himself in a role to the point of anonymity. How else could a Jewish native of Chicago be the ideal choice to play a medieval Spanish swordsman? Today’s college students may have little idea of how many settings in which they’ve probably seen this man of a thousand faces.

“They certainly all know ‘The Princess Bride,” Patinkin says, speaking during a recent phone interview while in the makeup chair preparing to tape a promo spot. “It varies. There’s a wide range of what they know, from ‘We didn’t know you sang’ to “We thought you ONLY sang.'”

His upcoming schedule speaks to his penchant for tackling any assignment in any medium. Patinkin just finished a pilot for CBS called “Quantico,” which deals with the noted FBI training facility. He’s wrapped an indie film named “The Choking Man” from the producers of “The Station Agent.” He’s also completed a series of children’s books. And after this homecoming weekend he flies to New York to work on a benefit centered around Stephen Sondheim’s 75th birthday.

In addition to his “Inside the Actor’s Studio”-type conversation at KU moderated by professor Jack B. Wright, Patinkin will lead a master class in acting 1 p.m. Saturday at the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall. He claims to really enjoy teaching and certainly has plenty of advice for neophyte actors.

“It’s best for anybody to just follow their heart,” Patinkin says. “Don’t have a big overall plan, either. Just get up and have the day and make every second count. Don’t screw around with that. You only have a finite number of days, and if you mess them up you don’t get a receipt for a rainy day.”

KU recollections

Patinkin attended KU from 1970 to 1972, where he honed his acting chops in such productions as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Man of La Mancha.”

“I was at Murphy Hall 24/7. I just loved it,” he recalls. “It’s one of the most profound stops along the way on my little journey.

“Because of KU I ended up going to the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colo. — started by 12 students from KU in 1966. I made some of my most meaningful friendships of my life. I still have a home there and some of my closest friends there.”

Video: Mandy Patinkin video montageAudio interview with Mandy Patinkin 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?

Patinkin got his first big break while living in Lawrence. He was cast in a national 7-Up commercial, which helped bring him to the Juilliard School of Drama in New York.

“Mandy was exceptional,” says KU’s Jack Wright. “Usually when you have an exceptional student of Mandy’s character, you have long talks about moving into the professional world. You don’t have those conversations very often. I think I’ve had one the whole time I was here.”

Wright first met the performer while the two were working in New York and maintained contact with him ever since. When pressed to name his favorite Patinkin performance, he cites two.

Wright says, “It’s a tossup between ‘Sunday in the Park With George,’ in which he played (Georges) Seurat, and Che Guevara in ‘Evita.’ I think I lean toward ‘Evita.’ He’s just so gifted a singer. His real energy is in musicals. He comes off so great.”

Best-known characters

With so many roles to his credit, the 52-year-old Patinkin is happy to comment about some of his more recognizable work.

• “Dick Tracy,” playing pianist 88 Keys, who shares a duet with Madonna.

Mandy Patinkin, center, appears in one of his most beloved roles as Inigo Montoya in The

“I was doing my concerts off-Broadway at the Public Theatre for a year. I didn’t make a nickel. So I called Warren (Beatty) and said, ‘Listen, can I serve a drink in your movie so I can pay the rent?’ And he wrote me the part.”

• “Yentl,” portraying Barbra Streisand’s long-suffering roommate.

“Streisand wore all the hats. It was monumental and I loved it.”

• “Alien Nation,” in which he stars as an extraterrestrial cop working on earth.

“Loved Jimmy Caan. One of the greatest guys on the planet. I sat in the makeup chair for six hours a day. My body temperature was 110 from my navel up. It certainly made me calm.”

• “The Simpsons,” playing Lisa’s fiance, Hugh St. John Alastair Parkfield, in a futuristic “what if” episode.

“‘The Simpsons’ was a lot of fun. They were all sitting around talking. I never wanted to leave.”

• “The Princess Bride,” as the vengeful Inigo Montoya, of course.

“I’d never been to a screening in my life where all the actors paid their own way to come to Los Angeles to see a rough-cut screening. We all had such a wonderful time doing it. When it was over, I was sitting there crying. My wife turned to me and said, ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, ‘I never dreamed I’d be in anything like this.’ It happened before I had a chance to dream it. It caught me off guard.”