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