Sam Waterston
Acting • Born 1940-11-15
Biography
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- 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." Description above from the Wikipedia article Sam Waterston, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
125 credits
The Killing Fields
Movie • 1984
Sydney Schanberg
Heaven's Gate
Movie • 1980
Frank Canton
The Great Gatsby
Movie • 1974
Nick Carraway
Hannah and Her Sisters
Movie • 1986
David (uncredited)
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Movie • 1989
Ben
Serial Mom
Movie • 1994
Eugene Sutphin
September
Movie • 1987
Peter
Capricorn One
Movie • 1977
Lt. Col. Peter Willis
Hopscotch
Movie • 1980
Jack Cutter
Le Divorce
Movie • 2003
Chester Walker
Warning Sign
Movie • 1985
Cal Morse
Rancho Deluxe
Movie • 1975
Cecil Colson
Interiors
Movie • 1978
Mike
The Journey of August King
Movie • 1995
Mooney Wright
The Matthew Shepard Story
Movie • 2002
Dennis Shepard
Shadow Conspiracy
Movie • 1997
The President
The Man in the Moon
Movie • 1991
Matthew Trant
Mindwalk
Movie • 1991
Jack Edwards
The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
Movie • 2010
Self
Welcome Home
Movie • 1989
Woody
The Glass Menagerie
Movie • 1973
Tom Wingfield
Generation
Movie • 1969
Desmond
The Enemy Within
Movie • 1994
President William Foster
Reflections of Murder
Movie • 1974
Michael Elliott
The Proprietor
Movie • 1996
Harry Bancroft
Merchant Ivory
Movie • 2024
Self
Eagle's Wing
Movie • 1979
White Bull
The Fifth Missile
Movie • 1986
Capt. Allard Renslow
Swimming to Cambodia
Movie • 1987
Additional cast from 'The Killing Fields' (archive footage)
Games Mother Never Taught You
Movie • 1982
David Bentells
Journey into Fear
Movie • 1975
Mr. Graham
The Room Upstairs
Movie • 1987
Travis Coles
Miracle at Midnight
Movie • 1998
Dr. Karl Koster
Three
Movie • 1969
Taylor
Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami
Movie • 1988
Jim Delmore
Nixon
Movie • 1995
Richard Helms
Lantern Hill
Movie • 1989
Andrew Stuart
Mahoney's Last Stand
Movie • 1972
Felix
A Case for Love
Movie • 2024
Self
David's Mother
Movie • 1994
John Nils
I'll Fly Away: Then and Now
Movie • 1993
Forrest Bedford
Dempsey
Movie • 1983
Doc Kearns
Sweet William
Movie • 1980
William McClusky
Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker
Movie • 1994
Daniel Chamberlain
Cover Me Babe
Movie • 1970
Cameraman
Night of 100 Stars III
Movie • 1990
Self
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?
Movie • 1971
Alex Monte
Please Be Normal
Movie • 2015
Dad
Anesthesia
Movie • 2016
Prof. Walter Zarrow
The Boy Who Loved Trolls
Movie • 1984
Ofoeti
Flagrant désir
Movie • 1986
Inspecteur Gerry Morrison
Love Lives On
Movie • 1985
Bernie
Exiled
Movie • 1998
Jack McCoy
The Six Triple Eight
Movie • 2024
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Just Between Friends
Movie • 1986
Harry Crandall
A Captive in the Land
Movie • 1990
Royce
Much Ado About Nothing
Movie • 1973
Benedick
Savages
Movie • 1972
James, the Limping Man
A House Divided
Movie • 2000
David Dickson
Miss Sloane
Movie • 2016
George Dupont
Amazing Stories: The Movie IV
Movie • 1995
(archive footage)
Fitzwilly
Movie • 1967
Oliver
Devil's Paradise
Movie • 1987
Jones
The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean
Movie • 1966
Andy
Sweet Revenge
Movie • 1976
Le Clerq
Finnegan Begin Again
Movie • 1985
Paul Broadbent
In Defense of Kids
Movie • 1983
Paul Wilcox
Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators
Movie • 2017
Narrator (voice)
On the Basis of Sex
Movie • 2018
Erwin Griswold
The Man in the Woods
Movie • 2020
Headmaster Waldorf
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
Movie • 1994
Tom Wingfield (archive footage)
The Mayo Clinic
Movie • 2018
Charlie Mayo (voice)
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Movie • 2006
John Honeyman (segment "A Walk in the Woods")
A Walk in the Woods
Movie • 1988
John Honeyman
In Bad Taste
Movie • 1999
Self
Jane Fonda in Five Acts
Movie • 2018
Self - (archive footage)
Dean Smith
Movie • 2015
Narrator
Dateline: Saigon
Movie • 2017
Narrator (voice)
Earth and the American Dream
Movie • 1992
Reader (voice)
Friendly Fire
Movie • 1980
C.D.B. Bryan
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
Movie • 2021
Self (voice)
Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs
Movie • 1999
Self / Host / Narrator
Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story
Movie • 2020
Self
The Commission
Movie • 2003
J. Lee Rankin
The Unfinished Journey
Movie • 1999
Narrator (voice)
And It Was Good
Movie • 2015
Judge Alexander Baas / Doctor / Gravedigger
Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia's Darkest Hour
Movie
Self (voice)
Hammer and Cycle
Movie • 2004
Self - Narrator
Here Am I, Send Me: The Story of Jonathan Daniels
Movie • 1999
Narrator
Carousel
Movie • 2026
Law & Order
TV • 1990
Jack McCoy
Q.E.D.
TV • 1982
Tales from the Crypt
TV • 1989
G.G. Devoe (segment "As Ye Sow")
Jeopardy!
TV • 1984
Self
Masters of Science Fiction
TV • 2007
The Colbert Report
TV • 2005
I'll Fly Away
TV • 1991
Forrest Bedford
Homicide: Life on the Street
TV • 1993
Jack McCoy
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Travis Coles
Oppenheimer
TV • 1980
Robert Oppenheimer
The Civil War
TV • 1990
Abraham Lincoln
The View
TV • 1997
Self
The Newsroom
TV • 2012
Charlie Skinner
Dr. Kildare
TV • 1961
Mark
Thomas Jefferson
TV • 1997
Thomas Jefferson (voice)
Grace and Frankie
TV • 2015
Sol Bergstein
Family Guy
TV • 1999
Bruce Kaplan (voice)
Amazing Stories
TV • 1985
Jordan Manmouth
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled
TV • 2023
Self
Lincoln
TV • 1988
Abraham Lincoln
Time Life's Lost Civilizations
TV • 1995
Narrator
Jo
TV • 2013
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
TV • 1997
Thomas Jefferson (voice)
The Nightmare Years
TV • 1989
Bill Shirer
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV • 1999
Jack McCoy
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
TV • 2005
Jack McCoy
Godless
TV • 2017
Marshall John Cook
People's Choice Awards
TV • 1975
Self - Presenter
The Dropout
TV • 2022
George Shultz
The View
TV • 1997
Self - Guest
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
Prohibition
TV • 2011
Reader (voice)
HBO First Look
TV • 1992
The Colbert Report
TV • 2005
Self (uncredited)