Home   Actors   Actresses   Supermodels  Movies  Musicians Athletes

                                            ACTORS

                      A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Link To Us

Sam Waterston

Biography  Filmography   Links   Contact  Galleries

Biography

Educated at Yale and the Sorbonne, Sam Waterston is far more than the "general purpose actor" he was pegged to be by one well-known film historian. A respected player on the stage, screen, and television, Waterston has cultivated a loyal following with his quietly charismatic, unfailingly solid performances.

After beginning his career on the New York stage -- where he has continued to perform throughout his long career -- Waterston made his film debut in The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean in 1966. For a long time, his film career was not nearly as remarkable as his work on the stage and television, although non-New York audiences were made acutely aware of the depth and breadth of Waterston's talents when, in 1973, he starred in the television adaptation The Glass Menagerie (appearing alongside Katherine Hepburn) and -- also on TV -- in Tony Richardson's A Delicate Balance. The following year, the actor further impressed television audiences when he starred as Benedick in the CBS TV adaptation of Joseph Papp's staging of Much Ado About Nothing.

Also in 1974, Waterston proved to be the best of the screen's Nick Carraways when he was cast in that expository role in the The Great Gatsby; subsequent films ranged from the midnight-movie favorite Rancho Deluxe (1975) to the unmitigated disaster Heaven's Gate (1981). In the late '70s, Waterston was "adopted" by Woody Allen, joining the director's ever-increasing unofficial stock company for such films as Interiors (1978), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), September (1987), and Crimes and Misdemeanors. Waterston was nominated for an Academy award for his powerful portrayal of a conscience-stricken American journalist in The Killing Fields (1984); three years later he appeared in Swimming to Cambodia, Spalding Gray's acclaimed documentary about the making of the film. Subsequent film appearances included a turn as Kathleen Turner's hilariously timid husband in Serial Mom (1994) and a role in Ismail Merchant's The Proprietor in 1996.

However, Waterston has continued to make his greatest mark on television, starring in the acclaimed The Nightmare Years in 1989 and in the similarly lauded series I'll Fly Away and Law & Order. In addition, he has gained a certain amount of fame playing Abraham Lincoln multiple times: In 1988, he starred in Gore Vidal's Lincoln on television, while he won a Tony nod playing him in the Lincoln Center production of Abe Lincoln in Illinois and supplied the president's voice for Ken Burns' documentary The Civil War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Divorce, Le (2003) .... Father
Commission, The (2002)
Matthew Shepard Story, The (2002) (TV) .... Dennis Shepard
In Bad Taste (2000) .... Himself
House Divided, A (2000) (TV) .... David Dickson
Unfinished Journey, The (1999) (voice) .... Narration
Exiled (1998) (TV) .... Executive ADA Jack McCoy
... aka Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998) (TV) (USA: promotional title)
Miracle at Midnight (1998) (TV) .... Dr. Karl Koster
"Thomas Jefferson" (1997) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Thomas Jefferson
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997) (TV) (voice) .... Thomas Jefferson
Liv Ullmann scener fra et liv (1997)
Shadow Conspiracy (1997) .... President
Proprietor, The (1996) .... Harry Bancroft
... aka Propriétaire, La (1996) (France)
"Visionaries, The" (1995) TV Series .... Host/narrator
Nixon (1995) (scenes deleted) .... Richard Helms, CIA Director
Journey of August King, The (1995) .... Mooney Wright
"Lost Civilizations" (1995) TV Series .... Host/Narrator
"Law & Order" (1990) TV Series .... Executive ADA Jack McCoy (1994-)
Gala for the President at Ford's Theatre, A (1994) (TV) .... Himself
Serial Mom (1994) .... Eugene Sutphin, D.D.S.
David's Mother (1994) (TV) .... John Nils
Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker (1994) (TV) .... Daniel Chamberlain
... aka Assault at Westpoint (1994) (TV) (USA: short title)
Enemy Within, The (1994) (TV) .... President William Foster
Dog Race in Alaska, A (1993)
I'll Fly Away: Then and Now (1993) (TV) .... Forrest Bedford
Amazing Stories: Book Four (1992) (V) .... Jordan Manmouth (segment "Mirror, Mirror")
"Warburg: A Man of Influence" (1992) (mini) TV Series
Man in the Moon, The (1991) .... Matthew Trant
"I'll Fly Away" (1991) TV Series .... D.A. Forrest Bedford
Captive in the Land, A (1990) .... Royce
Lantern Hill (1990) (TV) .... Andrew Stuart
... aka Jane of Lantern Hill (1990) (TV)
"Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... President Abraham Lincoln
... aka "American Civil War, The" (1990) (mini) (UK)
Mindwalk (1990) .... Jack Edwards
"Nightmare Years, The" (1989) (mini) TV Series .... Bill Shirer
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) .... Ben
Welcome Home (1989) .... Woody
Hostile Witness (1988) .... Jim Delmore
Lincoln (1988) (TV) .... Abraham Lincoln
... aka Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988) (TV)
Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami (1988) (TV) .... James Delmore
Teufels Paradies, Des (1987) .... Mr. Jones
... aka Devil's Paradise (1987) (USA)
September (1987) .... Peter
Swimming to Cambodia (1987) (archive footage) .... Additional cast from 'The Killing Fields'
... aka Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia (1987) (USA: complete title)
Room Upstairs, The (1987) (TV) .... Travis Coles
Just Between Friends (1986) .... Harry Crandall
Fifth Missile, The (1986) (TV) .... Capt. Allard Renslow
... aka Operation Fire (1986) (TV) (Europe: video box title English title)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) (uncredited) .... David Tolchin
Flagrant désir (1985) .... Gerry Morrison
... aka Certain Desire, A (1985)
... aka Flagrant Desire (1985)
... aka Trade Secrets (1985) (USA: TV title)
Warning Sign (1985) .... Cal Morse
Love Lives On (1985) (TV) .... Bernie
Finnegan Begin Again (1985) (TV) .... Paul Broadbent
Killing Fields, The (1984) .... Sydney Schanberg
Boy Who Loved Trolls, The (1984) (TV) .... Ofoeti
Dempsey (1983) (TV) .... Doc Kearns
In Defense of Kids (1983) (TV) .... Paul
"Freedom to Speak" (1982) (mini) TV Series .... Theodore Roosevelt
Games Mother Never Taught You (1982) (TV) .... David Bentells
"Q.E.D." (1982) TV Series .... Quentin E. Deverill
... aka "Mastermind" (1982)
Heaven's Gate (1980) .... Frank Canton
... aka Johnson County Wars (1980)
"Oppenheimer" (1980) (mini) TV Series .... J. Robert Oppenheimer
Hopscotch (1980) .... Cutter
Sweet William (1980) .... William
Eagle's Wing (1979) .... White Bull
Friendly Fire (1979) (TV) .... C.D. Bryan
Capricorn One (1978) .... Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis
Interiors (1978) .... Mike
Sweet Revenge (1977/I) .... Le Clerq
Journey Into Fear (1975) .... Mr. Graham
... aka Burn Out (1975)
Rancho Deluxe (1975) .... Cecil Colson
Reflections of Murder (1974) (TV) .... Michael Elliott
Great Gatsby, The (1974) .... Nick Carraway
Glass Menagerie, The (1973) (TV) .... Tom Wingfield
Much Ado About Nothing (1973/I) (TV) .... Benedick
Mahoney's Estate (1972) .... Felix
... aka Mahoney's Last Stand (1972) (Canada: English title)
Savages (1972) .... James, the limping man
Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? (1971) .... Alex
... aka Death of a Hooker (1971)
Cover Me Babe (1970) .... Cameraman
... aka Run Shadow Run (1970)
Three (1969/I) .... Taylor
Generation (1969) .... Desmond
... aka Time for Caring, A (1969)
... aka Time for Giving, A (1969) (UK)
Fitzwilly (1967) .... Oliver
... aka Fitzwilly Strikes Back (1967) (UK)
... aka Garden of Cucumbers, A (1967)
Plastic Dome of Norma Jean, The (1965) .... Andy

Links

Contact

c/o Law and Order
Wolf Films Pier 62
Hudson River and West 23rd. St.
New York, NY 10011
USA