Sam Waterston

Sam Waterston

1940-11-15 Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 89 Credits

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 ...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

The Six Triple Eight

The Six Triple Eight

2024

as Franklin Delano Roosevelt

7.6
Acting

During World War II, the US Army's only all-Black, all-women battalion takes on an impossible mission: sorting through a three-year backlog of 17 mill...

Merchant Ivory

Merchant Ivory

2024

as Self

7.7
Acting

The first definitive feature documentary to lend new and compelling perspectives on the partnership, both professional and personal, of director James...

A Case for Love

A Case for Love

2024

as Self

Acting

“A Case for Love” is a heartfelt yet personally challenging movie inspired by the teachings and writings of Bishop Michael Curry, most well-known for ...

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

2021

as Self (voice)

6.7
Acting

A documentary 33 years in the making. A director and friend of Kurt Vonnegut seeks through his archives to create the first film featuring the revolut...

The Man in the Woods

The Man in the Woods

2020

as Headmaster Waldorf

3.7
Acting

On a snowy night in 1963 Pennsylvania, a boarding school student goes missing in the woods. Her friends, a disgraced quarterback, a shunned ex-cop, an...

Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story

Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story

2020

as Self

Acting

The summer Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in Connecticut inspired one of the world's most beloved novels: The Great Gatsby. We know the book, we kno...

On the Basis of Sex

On the Basis of Sex

2018

as Erwin Griswold

7.4
Acting

Young lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg teams with her husband Marty to bring a groundbreaking case before the U.S. Court of Appeals and overturn a century o...

The Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic

2018

as Charlie Mayo (voice)

7.0
Acting

The Mayo Clinic tells the story of a unique medical institution that has been called a "Medical Mecca," the "Supreme Court of Medicine," and the "plac...

Jane Fonda in Five Acts

Jane Fonda in Five Acts

2018

as Self - Actor

7.5
Acting

Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – an...

Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators

Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators

2017

as Narrator (voice)

7.0
Acting

We all know Curious George. But what about his creators, Hans and Margret Rey? From fleeing Nazi Germany on handmade bicycles to encounters with exoti...

Dateline: Saigon

Dateline: Saigon

2017

as Narrator (voice)

8.0
Acting

How does a nation slip into war? Dateline-Saigon profiles the controversial reporting of five Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists -The New York Times' ...

Miss Sloane

Miss Sloane

2016

as George Dupont

7.4
Acting

An ambitious lobbyist faces off against the powerful gun lobby in an attempt to pass gun control legislation.

Anesthesia

Anesthesia

2016

as Prof. Walter Zarrow

5.7
Acting

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.

And It Was Good

And It Was Good

2015

as Judge Alexander Baas / Doctor / Gravedigger

Acting

A couple reunites after a long separation to find themselves in a world that seems designed for their enjoyment and comfort. They immediately get marr...

Dean Smith

Dean Smith

2015

as Narrator

6.0
Acting

Coach, mentor, social activist ...the life and legacy of Dean Smith, North Carolina's legendary basketball coach - who went to 11 Finals Fours and won...

Please Be Normal

Please Be Normal

2015

as Dad

4.0
Acting

Victor is a struggling playwright and theater director and his girlfriend Mary is expecting their first child. He has a temporary job in construction ...

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

2010

as Self

5.9
Acting

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Who among us has not wanted to open their window and shout that at the top of their lungs? ...

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays

2006

as John Honeyman (segment "A Walk in the Woods")

Acting

The Great White Way comes into your living room via this disc of rare performances from some of Broadway's brightest luminaries. Culled from clips fro...

Hammer and Cycle

Hammer and Cycle

2004

as Self - Narrator

Acting

A group of college students leave New Haven, CT on bicycles and plan a 4,000-mile adventure to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

The Commission

The Commission

2003

as J. Lee Rankin

1.0
Acting

Using transcripts from the Warren Commission Report, this film documents the workings of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination o...

Le Divorce

Le Divorce

2003

as Chester Walker

5.0
Acting

While visiting her sister in Paris, a young woman finds romance and learns her brother-in-law is a philanderer.

The Matthew Shepard Story

The Matthew Shepard Story

2002

as Dennis Shepard

5.5
Acting

In a senseless act of hatred, openly gay college student Matthew Shepard was murdered in 1998. This critically-acclaimed, moving film recounts the fin...

A House Divided

A House Divided

2000

as David Dickson

5.0
Acting

In the aftermath of the terrible Civil War which has devastated the South, Amanda America Dixon returns home to find she has become the sole heir to a...

The Unfinished Journey

1999

as Narrator (voice)

6.0
Acting

A short about American life and history produced for the millennium New Year's Eve celebration.

In Bad Taste

In Bad Taste

1999

as Self

8.0
Acting

A documentary on the career of filmmaker John Waters. Featuring interviews with actors and fellow film-makers. The life and death of the actor Divine ...

Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs

Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs

1999

as Self / Host / Narrator

Acting

Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs, hosted by Sam Waterston, tells the compelling stories behind some of the world's most mem...

Exiled

Exiled

1998

as Jack McCoy

5.5
Acting

NYPD Detective Mike Logan, who was reassigned to Staten Island after punching a corrupt politician, takes on a grisly murder case. When the investigat...

Miracle at Midnight

Miracle at Midnight

1998

as Dr. Karl Koster

7.3
Acting

Gripping historical drama presents a triumphant celebration of the human spirit. The true-life story of how one Danish family risked their lives in a ...

Shadow Conspiracy

Shadow Conspiracy

1997

as The President

5.0
Acting

Bobby Bishop is a special assistant to the President of the United States. Accidentally, he meets his friend professor Pochenko on the street. Pochenk...

The Proprietor

The Proprietor

1996

as Harry Bancroft

Acting

An expatriated French novelist returns to Paris when she learns that her childhood home is being placed on the auction block.

Nixon

Nixon

1995

as Richard Helms

6.9
Acting

A look at President Richard M. Nixon—a man carrying the fate of the world on his shoulders while battling the self-destructive demands from within—spa...

The Journey of August King

The Journey of August King

1995

as Mooney Wright

6.7
Acting

The Journey of August King is a multi-dimensional drama about a North Carolina farmer in 1815. August King, a widower, is on his way home as he does e...

The Journey of August King

The Journey of August King

1995

Producer

6.7
Producing

The Journey of August King is a multi-dimensional drama about a North Carolina farmer in 1815. August King, a widower, is on his way home as he does e...

Amazing Stories: The Movie IV

Amazing Stories: The Movie IV

1995

as (archive footage)

Acting

Four tales are compiled from the popular television series. After a death row inmate (Patrick Swayze) is struck by lightning, he discovers he's receiv...

Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage

Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage

1994

as Tom Wingfield (archive footage)

Acting

A study of Tennessee Williams's life and work as a whole, ranging from his youth in Mississippi and in St. Louis to success and acclaim, followed by t...

The Enemy Within

The Enemy Within

1994

as President William Foster

5.7
Acting

A officer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff uncovers a planned military coup of the U.S. government and has only one week to prevent the takeover.

Serial Mom

Serial Mom

1994

as Eugene Sutphin

6.7
Acting

Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascinatio...

David's Mother

David's Mother

1994

as John Nils

8.3
Acting

Sally Goodson has been raising her autistic son David alone since her husband left many years ago. Now a social worker discovers that Sally has been d...

Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker

Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker

1994

as Daniel Chamberlain

6.2
Acting

The story of Johnson Whittaker, one of the first African-American cadets admitted to West Point. Tied down and beaten by his fellow cadets

I'll Fly Away: Then and Now

1993

as Forrest Bedford

8.0
Acting

Lilly Taylor returns to her hometown for the first time in thirty years, where she remembers the dramatic events that led to her leaving, and learns w...

A Captive in the Land

A Captive in the Land

1993

as Royce

5.0
Acting

An American meteorologist attempts to rescue an injured Soviet airman. A killer storm soon maroons them both and the unlikely duo must learn to overco...

Earth and the American Dream

Earth and the American Dream

1992

as Reader (voice)

6.7
Acting

A beautiful and disturbing film recounts America’s story from the environment’s point of view. From the arrival of Columbus to the simple wilderness l...

Mindwalk

Mindwalk

1991

as Jack Edwards

6.8
Acting

On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Sonia meets Jack and Tom. Sonia is a Norwegian physicist who abandoned a lucrative career after discovering...

The Man in the Moon

The Man in the Moon

1991

as Matthew Trant

7.4
Acting

Maureen Trant and her younger sibling Dani share a strong connection, but local boy Court Foster threatens to throw their bond off balance. Dani and C...

Night of 100 Stars III

Night of 100 Stars III

1990

as Self

4.0
Acting

A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.

Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crimes and Misdemeanors

1989

as Ben

7.4
Acting

A renowned ophthalmologist is desperate to cut off an adulterous relationship…which ends up in murder; and a frustrated documentary filmmaker woos an ...

Welcome Home

Welcome Home

1989

as Woody

5.6
Acting

Jake died in Vietnam; his family mourned him, then moved on. When he reappears, quite alive, the question is, what must he do and how will his family ...

Lantern Hill

Lantern Hill

1989

as Andrew Stuart

8.0
Acting

In 1935 Toronto, Jane Stuart's mother has taken ill, and the two of them have temporarily moved in with her rich, snobbish grandmother, where Jane is ...

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami

1988

as Jim Delmore

6.0
Acting

There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero r...

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods

1988

as John Honeyman

Acting

A true story about one US and one USSR delegate who, during 1982 talks in Geneva between USA and USSR on limiting medium-range nukes in Europe, met by...

September

September

1987

as Peter

6.2
Acting

After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer. Lane's ...

Devil's Paradise

Devil's Paradise

1987

as Jones

3.5
Acting

At the start of the 20th century, a man lives in solitude on an island. One day on the mainland, he saves a young woman from some nasty folk and takes...

Swimming to Cambodia

Swimming to Cambodia

1987

as Additional cast from 'The Killing Fields' (archive footage)

6.9
Acting

Spalding Gray sits behind a desk throughout the entire film and recounts his exploits and chance encounters while playing a minor role in the film 'Th...

The Room Upstairs

The Room Upstairs

1987

as Travis Coles

4.0
Acting

A Boston teacher decides to turn her old home into a boarding house to pull in some much-needed extra money. It turns out her tenants help her in more...

Flagrant désir

Flagrant désir

1986

as Inspecteur Gerry Morrison

5.0
Acting

In the Médoc, a young woman is found drowned. An accident, her influential family of winegrowers maintains. Or rather murder, as the American inspecto...

Just Between Friends

Just Between Friends

1986

as Harry Crandall

5.2
Acting

Holly and Sandy strike up an instant friendship; they don't know however that they have more in common than they'd like. When tragedy strikes, their r...

The Fifth Missile

The Fifth Missile

1986

as Capt. Allard Renslow

4.8
Acting

The crew of a Polaris submarine, on a training mission simulating an attack on Russia, is stricken by toxic poisoning. One of the poison's effects is ...

Hannah and Her Sisters

Hannah and Her Sisters

1986

as David (uncredited)

7.5
Acting

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her ...

Warning Sign

Warning Sign

1985

as Cal Morse

6.0
Acting

An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.

Love Lives On

1985

as Bernie

8.0
Acting

A 15-year-old girl must choose between continuing her pregnancy and undergoing treatment for her fast-growing cancer.

Finnegan Begin Again

Finnegan Begin Again

1985

as Paul Broadbent

6.3
Acting

A schoolteacher in her early 40s, involved in a dead-end love affair with a married mortician, drifts into a relationship with an aging newspaperman.

The Killing Fields

The Killing Fields

1984

as Sydney Schanberg

7.5
Acting

New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American ...

The Boy Who Loved Trolls

The Boy Who Loved Trolls

1984

as Ofoeti

1.0
Acting

Paul feels life should be an adventure, and sets out on one to prove that Trolls really exist.

Dempsey

Dempsey

1983

as Doc Kearns

6.0
Acting

Nominated for two primetime Emmy Awards in 1984, this made-for-TV movie follows the true story of American boxer Jack Dempsey, who became a media sens...

In Defense of Kids

In Defense of Kids

1983

as Paul Wilcox

5.0
Acting

When a female lawyer finds a girl hiding in the back of her car, it starts her thinking, and she decides to give up her job to open up a refuge for ne...

Games Mother Never Taught You

Games Mother Never Taught You

1982

as David Bentells

Acting

Hard-working career wife Laura becomes the first female executive in an all-male office and is dismayed to find she now has to learn the rules of the ...

Heaven's Gate

Heaven's Gate

1980

as Frank Canton

6.8
Acting

Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyo., standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished imm...

Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire

1980

as C.D.B. Bryan

7.5
Acting

In March 1970, a U.S. Army officer arrived at the Iowa farm of Peg and Gene Mullen and informed them that their son Michael had been killed in Vietnam...

Hopscotch

Hopscotch

1980

as Jack Cutter

7.0
Acting

When CIA operative Miles Kendig deliberately lets KGB agent Yaskov get away, his boss threatens to retire him. Kendig beats him to it, however, destro...

Sweet William

Sweet William

1980

as William McClusky

4.0
Acting

William McClusky (Sam Waterston) is a dashing and eccentric Scotsman whose charms rapidly overwhelm the sweet and naive Ann Walton (Jenny Agutter), bu...

Eagle's Wing

Eagle's Wing

1979

as White Bull

5.1
Acting

Two men, an aging Native American and a ne'er-do-well trapper from North America, race to claim the stallion Eagle's Wing in antebellum Mexico, meetin...

Interiors

Interiors

1978

as Mike

6.8
Acting

When Eve, an interior designer, is deserted by her husband of many years, Arthur, the emotionally glacial relationships of the three grown-up daughter...

Capricorn One

Capricorn One

1977

as Lt. Col. Peter Willis

6.8
Acting

In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing....

Sweet Revenge

Sweet Revenge

1976

as Le Clerq

5.8
Acting

A young woman with a long rap sheet who steals cars for a living is befriended by a public defender who tries to steer her straight. But her goal is t...

Journey into Fear

Journey into Fear

1975

as Mr. Graham

5.6
Acting

U.S geologist discovers something about Oil that proves VERY threatening to the Turkish and Arab business people.

Rancho Deluxe

Rancho Deluxe

1975

as Cecil Colson

5.4
Acting

Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.

Reflections of Murder

Reflections of Murder

1974

as Michael Elliott

7.0
Acting

The wife and mistress of the abusive headmaster of a boy's school plot and carry out his murder. They dump his body in the murky swimming pool at the ...

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

1974

as Nick Carraway

6.3
Acting

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, t...

The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie

1973

as Tom Wingfield

7.6
Acting

Amanda Wingfield dominates her children with her faded gentility and exaggerated tales of her Southern belle past. Her son plans escape; her daughter ...

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

1973

as Benedick

5.0
Acting

Don Pedro and his men (Teddy Roosevelt Roughriders) have returned from the wars. After Beatrice turns down his proposal, Don Pedro decides to matchmak...

Mahoney's Last Stand

Mahoney's Last Stand

1972

as Felix

5.4
Acting

"A truly remarkable performance!" - Charlie Chaplin In this rare and virtually unseen film we follow the exploits of Leroy Mahoney (Alexis Kanner) as...

Savages

Savages

1972

as James, the Limping Man

5.0
Acting

A tribe of primitive "mudpeople" encounter a croquet ball, rolling through their forest. Following it, they find themselves on a vast, deserted Long I...

Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?

Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?

1971

as Alex Monte

4.6
Acting

A prostitute is murdered on the streets of a tough, low-income neighborhood. A diabetic retired boxer who knew her is appalled by the lack of interest...

Cover Me Babe

Cover Me Babe

1970

as Cameraman

4.6
Acting

Student filmmaker lets nothing stand in the way of his getting a studio contract.

Three

Three

1969

as Taylor

5.0
Acting

Two college friends, traveling in Europe, find themselves rivals for the attentions of a mysterious woman.

Generation

Generation

1969

as Desmond

4.5
Acting

Newlyweds shock the bride's father with plans for natural childbirth in a Greenwich Village loft.

Fitzwilly

Fitzwilly

1967

as Oliver

6.1
Acting

When Miss Vicki's father dies, she becomes the world's greatest philanthropist. Unfortunately, she is flat broke! Her loyal butler, Claude Fitzwilliam...

The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean

The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean

1966

as Andy

7.7
Acting

Written, directed, and self-financed by Juleen Compton, The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean is the story of a clairvoyant teenage girl, Norma Jean (Sharon ...

Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia's Darkest Hour

Rain Falls from Earth: Surviving Cambodia's Darkest Hour

N/A

as Self (voice)

Acting

On April 17, 1975, the face of Cambodia would forever be changed. As Khmer Rouge soldiers marched into the capital city of Phnom Penh, the unsuspectin...