- Born
- Birth nameSamuel Atkinson Waterston
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Sam Waterston was born on November 15, 1940 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Killing Fields (1984), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Law & Order (1990). He has been married to Lynn Louisa Woodruff since January 26, 1976. They have three children. He was previously married to Barbara Rutledge Johns.
- SpousesLynn Louisa Woodruff(January 26, 1976 - present) (3 children)Barbara Rutledge Johns(December 28, 1964 - September 16, 1975) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsAlice Tucker Atkinson (Brookline)George Chychele Waterston
- Frequently portrays Abraham Lincoln (three times) and other Presidents of the United States
- Jack McCoy in the Law & Order (1990) franchise and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993).
- Was good friends with Bruce Lee.
- He has appeared in 368 episodes of Law & Order (1990), more than anyone other than S. Epatha Merkerson.
- Direct descendant of Richard Warren and wife Elizabeth Walker, Mayflower passengers.
- All four of his children followed him into the show business industry: Elisabeth Waterston, Katherine Waterston and James Waterston are actors, and Graham Waterston is a writer/director.
- He has played the same character (Jack McCoy) in four different series: Law & Order (1990), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005).
- [on lawyers] It's more fun to play one than to be one.
- I came to New York in 1962 and it began to look like I might be able to make a living in 1972.
- My father said "Success is like smoking. It's wonderful if you don't inhale." That was his own aphorism and I think it's the very best thing he could have said to me or anyone else on the subject.
- If I have to be typecast, I'd like it to be Abraham Lincoln.
- The truth is that, at any time in this business, you could fall off the end of the world.
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