Sam Waterston is an American actor and producer best known for his portrayal of district attorney Jack McCoy in the long-running police procedural and legal drama television show Law & Order .
Waterston made his film debut in the 1965 drama film The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean . [1] Waterston went on to appear as bond salesman Nick Carraway in the 1974 feature film version of The Great Gatsby , earning Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and New Star of the Year. [2] Waterston also portrayed Old West figure Frank Canton in Heaven's Gate (1980). Two years later, Waterston played American journalist Sydney Schanberg in the 1984 British drama The Killing Fields , opposite Haing S. Ngor and John Malkovich. For his performance, Waterston was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. [3] [4]
On television, Waterston played a shoe salesman in the television drama film The Glass Menagerie (1973), receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. [5] [6] Waterston's portrayal of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the 1980 television miniseries Oppenheimer saw him earn a Golden Globe nomination. [2] He also played the title role of President Abraham Lincoln in the miniseries Lincoln (1988) and the 1990 documentary miniseries The Civil War . [7] He portrayed a district attorney in drama television series I'll Fly Away (1991–93), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. [2] [8] In 1994, he made his first appearance as Jack McCoy in Law & Order . Waterston went on to become the show's second longest-running cast member. [9] The role won him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. [5] [2] [9] He has made guest appearances as McCoy on other shows, including Homicide: Life on the Street (1997, 99) and spin-offs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000, '07, '10, '18) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005), and in Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998). [7] Waterston portrayed the president of a fictional news corporation on political drama The Newsroom (2012–14). [10] [11]
Waterston has starred in numerous stage productions at the Public Theatre, including Indians (1969), The Trial of Catonsville Nine (1970), A Doll's House (1975), Hamlet (1975), Measure for Measure (1977), and Benefactors (1980). [12] [13] He portrayed Abraham Lincoln on Broadway in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1993), receiving a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. [14] Waterston has also appeared in La Turista (1967), Halfway Up the Tree (1967), and Henry IV, Part 1 , as well as Henry IV, Part 2 (1968), (1972, 1975–76, 2008), Much Ado About Nothing (1972–73, 2004), The Tempest (1974, 2015), and King Lear (2011). [7]
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Dr. Kildare | Mark | 2 Episodes | [97] [98] |
| 1967 | N.Y.P.D. | Marco | Episode: "Murder for Infinity" | [99] [100] |
| 1973 | Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | Television film | [101] [102] |
| The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | [103] [104] | ||
| 1974 | Reflections of Murder | Michael Elliott | [105] [106] | |
| 1979 | Friendly Fire | C. D. B. Bryan | [107] [108] | |
| 1980 | Oppenheimer | J. Robert Oppenheimer | 7 episodes; Miniseries; First broadcast in the United States in 1982 | [109] [110] |
| 1982 | Q.E.D. | Prof. Quentin Everett Deverill | 6 episodes | [111] [112] |
| Games Mother Never Taught You | David Bentells | Television film | [113] [114] | |
| Freedom to Speak | Theodore Roosevelt | 12 episodes; Miniseries | [115] [116] | |
| 1983 | In Defense of Kids | Paul Wilcox | Television film | [117] [118] |
| Dempsey | Doc Kearns | [119] [120] | ||
| 1984 | The Boy Who Loved Trolls | Ofoeti | [121] [122] | |
| 1985 | Finnegan Begin Again | Paul Broadbent | [123] [124] | |
| Love Lives On | Bernie | [125] [126] | ||
| 1986 | The Fifth Missile | Captain Allard Renslow | [127] [128] | |
| Amazing Stories | Jordan Manmouth | Episode: "Mirror, Mirror" | [129] [130] | |
| 1987 | The Room Upstairs | Travis Coles | Television film | [131] [132] |
| 1988 | Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami | Jim Delmore | [133] [134] | |
| Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln | Miniseries | [135] [136] | |
| 1989 | The Nightmare Years | William L. Shirer | [137] [138] | |
| 1990 | Lantern Hill | Andrew Stuart | Television film | [139] [140] |
| The Civil War | Abraham Lincoln | Voice role; 9 episodes; Miniseries documentary | [141] [142] | |
| 1991–1993 | I'll Fly Away | Forrest Bedford | 38 episodes; Also directed episode "Since Walter" (1992) | [143] [144] |
| 1992 | Warburg: A Man of Influence | Siegmund Warburg | Miniseries | [145] [146] |
| 1993 | Tales from the Crypt | G. G. Devoe | Episode: "As Ye Sow" | [147] [148] |
| I'll Fly Away: Then and Now | Forrest Bedford | Television film | [149] [150] | |
| 1994 | Assault at West Point | Daniel Chamberlain | [151] [152] | |
| David's Mother | John Nils | [153] [154] | ||
| The Enemy Within | President William Foster | [155] [156] | ||
| 1994–2010, 2022–2024 | Law & Order | Jack McCoy | 405 episodes | [157] [158] [159] |
| 1997, 1999 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Episodes: "Baby, It's You", "Sideshow" | [160] [161] | |
| 1998 | Miracle at Midnight | Doctor Karl Koster | TV movie | [162] [163] |
| Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Jack McCoy | [164] [165] | ||
| 2000 | Family Guy | Doctor Bruce Kaplan | Voice roles; 2 Episodes | [166] [167] |
| A House Divided | David Dickson | Television film; Also producer | [168] [169] | |
| 2000–2018 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Jack McCoy | 4 episodes | [170] [171] [172] [173] |
| 2002 | The Matthew Shepard Story | Dennis Shepard | Television film | [174] [175] |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Jack McCoy | Episodes: "The Abominable Snowman", "Skeleton" | [176] [177] |
| 2007 | Masters of Science Fiction | Robert Havelmann | Episode: "A Clean Escape" | [178] [179] |
| 2009 | The National Parks: America's Best Idea | Reader | 2 episodes | [180] [181] |
| 2011 | Prohibition | 3 episodes; Miniseries documentary | [182] [183] | |
| 2012–2014 | The Newsroom | Charlie Skinner | 25 episodes | [184] [185] |
| 2013 | Jo | David Zifkin | Episode: "Le Marais" | [186] [187] |
| 2015–2022 | Grace and Frankie | Sol Bergstein | Netflix; 94 episodes | [188] [189] |
| 2017 | Godless | Marshal John Cook | Netflix Limited series | [190] [191] |
| 2022 | The Dropout | George Shultz | Hulu Limited series | [192] [193] |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Nova | Episode: "Freud Under Analysis" | [194] [195] |
| 1988 | American Experience | Episode: "Views of a Vanishing Frontier" | [196] [197] |
| 1995 | Lost Civilizations | Documentary | [198] [199] |
| 1999 | The Unfinished Journey | Documentary short film | [200] [201] |
| Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs | Documentary | [202] [203] | |
| 2010 | The Last Boat Out | Documentary short film | [204] [205] |
| 2013 | The Path to Violence | Documentary | [206] [207] |
| Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen | [208] [209] | ||
| 2015 | Dateline: Saigon | [210] [211] | |
| 2020 | Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story | [212] |