Sam Waterston Biography

Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor, producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in The Killing Fields (1984), and his Golden Globe-nominated and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy on the NBC television series Law & Order. He has been nominated for multiple Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA and Emmy awards, having starred in over eighty film and television productions during his forty-five-year career. Allmovie has characterised Waterston as having "cultivated a loyal following with his quietly charismatic, unfailingly solid performances." In January 2010, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life and education

Waterston, the third of four siblings (Roberta, George and Ellen), was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His mother, Alice Tucker (née Atkinson), a landscape painter, was of English ancestry, and a descendant of Mayflower passengers. His father, George Chychele Waterston, was an immigrant from Leith, Scotland, and a semanticist and language teacher.

Waterston attended both the Brooks School, a boarding school in North Andover, Massachusetts, where his father taught; and the Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts. He entered Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on a scholarship in 1958 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1962. After graduating from Yale, he attended the Clinton Playhouse for several months. Waterston also attended the Sorbonne in Paris and the American Actors Workshop.

Career

The classically trained Waterston has numerous stage credits to his name. For example, he played an award-winning Benedick in Joseph Papp's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and played the title role in Hamlet. He continues live theater work during the summers, often seen acting at places like Long Wharf Theatre and the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven.

Waterston made his film debut in 1965's The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean, and came to prominence in Fitzwilly in 1967. He starred as Tom with Katharine Hepburn in a 1973 television film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. The film also featured Michael Moriarty (as the Gentleman Caller), whom Waterston later replaced as the Executive Assistant District Attorney on Law & Order. One of his breakout roles was opposite Jeff Bridges in the western comedy Rancho Deluxe in 1975. Other films include Savages (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), Journey Into Fear (1975), Capricorn One (1978), Heaven's Gate, Hopscotch (1980), and The Killing Fields (1984, nominated Academy Award for Best Actor). In 1985, he co-starred in Robert Preston's final television film with Mary Tyler Moore, Finnegan Begin Again Also with Moore, Waterston played the title role in Lincoln (1988), a television film adaptation of Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" (1984). Other roles include Assault at West Point with Samuel L. Jackson, Mindwalk (1990), and Serial Mom (1994). Waterston has appeared in several Woody Allen films, including Interiors (1978), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, cameo), September (1987) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Waterston is a six-time Emmy Award nominee, as well as a winner of the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Aside from Law & Order, other television roles include D.A. Forrest Bedford in I'll Fly Away, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Drama Series in 1993. He also had a starring role in an episode segment on the TV series Amazing Stories called "Mirror Mirror". In 1994, he appeared as US President William Foster, alongside Forest Whittaker and Dana Delany, in the television film The Enemy Within, a remake of director John Frankenheimer's Cold War political thriller Seven Days in May.

In 1994, Waterston debuted as Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy in the fifth season of the television series Law & Order. He played the role of McCoy, who would eventually become District Attorney, through the series finale in 2010, and has reprised the role throughout the Law and Order universe. Upon the show's cancellation, Waterston was the second-longest serving cast member, having reprised his role through sixteen seasons.

Waterston served on the Advisory Committee for the Lincoln Bicentennial, celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Waterston has portrayed Lincoln on stage and screen (The Civil War, Gore Vidal's Lincoln, and the Broadway play Abe Lincoln in Illinois). He also voiced Lincoln in an exhibit at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and delivered Lincoln's Cooper Union speech on May 5, 2004.

Waterston lent his voice to the animated television series Family Guy where he played Dr. Kaplan, the psychiatrist Brian Griffin consults during his mid-life crisis in the episode "Brian in Love". He voices Dr. Kaplan again in the episode "Road to Rhode Island", but he is not credited in any other episode in which the character appears. Waterston also narrated NBC's documentary, The Great Race, the story of the famous 4 x 10-kilometer cross-country relay at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, which Italy won over the host nation. The special aired during NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, on February 18, the day before the 2006 relay took place, which was also won by Italy. He added partial narration to the Ken Burns documentary, Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, serving as the voice of Thomas Jefferson. He also played Jefferson in Burns' documentary about Jefferson. He also appeared in the first episode of ABC's Masters of Science Fiction, playing an amnesiac in the episode "A Clean Escape".

Waterston appeared on the 5,100th edition of Jeopardy!, on November 10, 2006, with Kathryn Erbe of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Christopher Meloni of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Waterston finished second to Meloni, and received a $25,000 prize, which he donated to Refugees International and Oceana. He also made a popular cameo appearance on an episode of Saturday Night Live as himself, extolling the virtues of Old Glory Insurance, meant to protect the elderly from robot attacks.

Waterston is regularly featured in television advertisements for TD Ameritrade (formerly TD Waterhouse, which is mostly owned by Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Ricketts family). He replaced former Law & Order castmate Steven Hill as TD's spokesman. He has lent his voice to an ad for The Nation.

Waterston has appeared in a recurring segment on The Colbert Report, called "Sam Waterston Says Things You Should Never Believe In A Trustworthy Manner." The segments usually involve Waterston simply stating an obviously untrue film quote in a very convincing voice.

Waterston appeared as Polonius in the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet. His performance received excellent reviews in The New York Times and many other newspapers around the country, particularly in the Northeast.

Waterston has narrated for Time-Life history specials.

On February 12, 2009, Waterston joined the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College orchestra and chorus, along with the Riverside Inspirational Choir and NYC Labor Choir, in honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday at the Riverside Church in New York City. Under the direction of Maurice Peress, they performed Earl Robinson's "The Lonesome Train: A Music Legend for Actors, Folk Singers, Choirs, and Orchestra" in which Waterston depicted Abraham Lincoln.

On January 7, 2010, Waterston received the 2,397th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On October 30, 2010, Waterston read Colbert's original poem "Are you sure" at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C.

Waterston returned to television in 2012 as cable news president Charlie Skinner in The Newsroom, an HBO series by Aaron Sorkin.

Personal life

Waterston's first wife was Barbara Rutledge-Johns. Waterston and his first wife had one son, James, also an actor. Waterston married his second wife, former model Lynn Louisa Woodruff, in 1976. They have three children, daughters Katherine Waterston and Elisabeth Waterston, who are also actors, and a son, Graham.

An active humanitarian, Waterston donates time to organizations such as Oceana, where he is a board member, Refugees International, Meals on Wheels, The United Way, and The Episcopal Actors' Guild of America.

In 2012, Waterston received the Goodermote Humanitarian Award from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for his longtime support of refugees around the world.

Waterston, a practising Episcopalian, narrated the 1999 biographical documentary of Episcopal civil rights martyr Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Here Am I, Send Me.

He was a spokesman for the Unity08 movement, which unsuccessfully sought to run a non- or bipartisan presidential ticket in the 2008 presidential election. Waterston has stated that he was a Democrat until he left the party in disgust following the airing of Lyndon B. Johnson's "Daisy" election advertisement in 1964. Waterston has also appeared in print ads, and announced in television commercials, for the liberal magazine The Nation.

Waterston is a longtime friend and fan of the Mark Morris Dance Group and hosted the television presentation of Mozart Dances on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center on August 16, 2007.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean	Andy
1967	Fitzwilly	Oliver
1969	Generation	Desmond
1969	Three	Taylor
1970	Cover Me Babe	Cameraman
1971	Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?	Alex
1972	Mahoney's Estate	Felix
1972	Savages	James
1973	Much Ado About Nothing	Benedick	Television movie
1973	The Glass Menagerie	Tom Wingfield	Television movie Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1974	The Great Gatsby	Nick Carraway	Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year " Actor
1974	Reflections of Murder	Michael Elliott	Television movie
1975	Rancho Deluxe	Cecil Colson
1975	Journey into Fear	Mr. Graham
1976	Sweet Revenge	Le Clerq
1978	Capricorn One	Lt. Col. Peter Willis
1978	Interiors	Mike
1979	Eagle's Wing	White Bull
1979	Friendly Fire	C. D. Bryan	Television movie
1980	Sweet William	William
1980	Hopscotch	Joe Cutter
1980	Heaven's Gate	Frank Canton
1984	The Killing Fields	Sydney Schanberg	Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated"?BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Drama
1984	The Boy Who Loved Trolls	Ofoeti	Television movie
1985	Love Lives On	Bernie	Television movie
1985	Warning Sign	Cal Morse
1985	Finnegan Begin Again	Paul Broadbent	Television movie
1986	Hannah and Her Sisters	David
1986	Just Between Friends	Harry Crandall
1986	Flagrant désir	Gerry Morrison
1987	The Room Upstairs	Travis Coles	Television movie
1987	Devil's Paradise	Mr. Jones
1987	September	Peter
1988	Lincoln	President Abraham Lincoln
1989	Welcome Home	Woody
1989	Crimes and Misdemeanors	Ben
1990	Lantern Hill	Andrew Stuart
1990	The Nightmare Years	William Shirer
1990	Mindwalk	Jack Edwards
1991	The Man in the Moon	Matthew Trant
1993	A Captive in the Land	Royce
1994	David's Mother	John Nils	Television movie
1994	Serial Mom	Eugene Sutphin, D.D.S.
1994	The Enemy Within	President William Foster	Television movie
1995	The Journey of August King	Mooney Wright
1995	China: Dynasties of Power	Narrator
1995	Nixon	Richard Helms
1996	The Proprietor	Harry Bancroft
1997	Shadow Conspiracy	The President
1998	Miracle at Midnight	Dr. Karl Koster	Television movie
2000	A House Divided	David Dickson
2002	The Matthew Shepard Story	Dennis Shepard	Television movie
2003	Le Divorce	Chester Walker
2003	The Commission	J. Lee Rankin
2009	The National Parks: America's Best Idea	Various
2011	Prohibition

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Dr. Kildare	Mark	Episode: "Enough La Boheme for Everybody"
1967	N.Y.P.D.	Marco	Episode: "Murder for Infinity"
1982	Oppenheimer	J. Robert Oppenheimer	7 episodes Nominated"?BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor on Television Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film
1982	Q.E.D.	Quentin Everett Deverill	6 episodes
1990	The Civil War	President Abraham Lincoln	9 episodes
1991"93	I'll Fly Away	Forrest Bedford	38 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1992-93)
1993	Tales from the Crypt	G.G. Devoe	Episode: "As Ye Snow"
1994"2010	Law & Order	Jack McCoy	368 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1997, 1999-2000) Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama (1998, 2000) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1995-2002, 2004) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Nominated"?Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series (1998-2000)
1997"99	Homicide: Life on the Street	Jack McCoy	2 episodes
2000	Family Guy	Dr. Kaplan	2 episodes
2000"10	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jack McCoy	3 episodes
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Jack McCoy	2 episodes
2012"13	The Newsroom	Charlie Skinner	19 episodes
2013	Jo	David Zivkin	Episode: "Le Marais"

Awards

Academy Award

• Nominee: 1984 " Best Actor in a Leading Role, The Killing Fields

BAFTA Award

• Nominee: 1984 " Best Actor in a Leading Role, The Killing Fields

Primetime Emmy Award

• Nominee: 2000 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 1999 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 1998 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Winner: 1996 " Outstanding Informational Series, Lost Civilizations
• Nominee: 1994 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Special, I'll Fly Away: Then and Now
• Nominee: 1993 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, I'll Fly Away
• Nominee: 1992 " Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, I'll Fly Away
• Nominee: 1974 " Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, The Glass Menagerie

Golden Globe Award

• Nominee: 1995 " Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series " Drama, Law & Order
• Winner: 1993 " Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series " Drama, I'll Fly Away
• Nominee: 1992 " Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series " Drama, I'll Fly Away
• Nominee: 1985 " Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture " Drama, The Killing Fields
• Nominee: 1983 " Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, Oppenheimer
• Nominee: 1975 " Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture, The Great Gatsby
• Nominee: 1975 " Most Promising Newcomer " Male, The Great Gatsby

Screen Actors Guild Award

• Nominee: 2004 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 2002 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 2001 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 2000 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Winner: 1999 " Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 1999 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 1998 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order
• Nominee: 1997 " Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Law & Order

Tony Award

• Nominee: 1994 " Best Actor in a Play, Abe Lincoln in Illinois