Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an Oscar nominated American actor noted particularly for his portrayal of Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy on the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, as well as for his many motion picture roles.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to George Chychele Waterston (an English immigrant) and Alice Tucker Atkinson (an American Mayflower descendant), Waterston is equally at home on the stage, in movies, and on television. Waterston attended both the Brooks School, a boarding school in North Andover, Massachusetts, and the Groton School. He entered Yale University on scholarship in 1958 and graduated with a BA in 1962. He also received a honorary degree in 2001. After graduating from Yale, he attended the Clinton Playhouse for several months. Waterston also attended the Sorbonne and the American Actors Workshop.
His first film was Fitzwilly in 1967. Other films include The Great Gatsby, Rancho Deluxe, Journey Into Fear, Capricorn One, Heaven's Gate, Hopscotch, The Killing Fields (nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor), Interiors, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Mindwalk, and Serial Mom.
Aside from Law & Order, he has played other television roles including D.A. Forrest Bedford in I'll Fly Away.
Waterston is a six time Emmy Award nominee, winner of the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild awards. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Killing Fields.
He is also on the Advisory Committee for the Lincoln Bicentennial, celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Waterston, who takes an active interest in Lincoln, has portrayed Lincoln on stage and screen (The Civil War, Gore Vidal's Lincoln, Abe Lincoln in Illinois on Broadway, and also voiced Lincoln at an exhibit at the Philadelphia Constitution Center).
An active humanitarian, Waterston also donates considerable time to organizations such as Refugees International, City meals-on-Wheels, The United Way, and The Episcopal Actors' Guild of America.
In 2002, Waterston and fellow Law & Order castmate, Jerry Orbach, were honored as "Living Landmarks" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Currently resides in Connecticut with his wife, Lynn Waterston, and four children, Elisabeth, Katherine, Graham, and James. Elisabeth and James Waterston have both pursued acting careers.
Trivia
- He has appeared in episodes of four different series with Richard Belzer: Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
- He also made a cameo appearance on an episode of Saturday Night Live as himself, extolling the virtues of Old Glory Insurance - meant to protect the user from robot attacks.
- He lent his voice to the popular animated television series Family Guy where he played Dr. Kaplan, the psychiatrist Brian Griffin consulted during his midlife crisis in the episode Brian In Love. His character, Dr. Kaplan, was modelled to look like Waterston. He is also credited as Dr. Kaplan's voice in the episode Road to Rhode Island. He, however, is not credited in any other episode that Dr. Kaplan appears.
- Waterston starred in a 1973 TV movie adaptation of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie with Katharine Hepburn. The film also featured Michael Moriarty, who Waterston would replace as the Executive Assistant District Attorney on Law & Order.
- Official spokesperson for T.D. Waterhouse, an online investment company; appears in the company's television commercials.
External links
- Sam Waterston at IMDb
- NBC's Law & Order] homepage]