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Acting

Sam Waterston

Career: Active from 1966 to 2026, with a break from 2004 to 2014, with up to 4 main titles a year.

Leading roles: 56
top three billing

Average score: 63/100

Highest rated: The Civil War
85/100

What stands out

Compared with the average well-known movie, over 67 of their titles. Select a trait to filter titles.

Sam Waterston Catalog average

Rarely in their work

Contemporary Realism
4.1, average 5.4
Physical Comedy
1.1, average 2.4
Adrenaline
3.5, average 4.8
Fantasy
0.7, average 1.7

Main genres

Select a genre to see those titles.

Recurring tags

Historical Drama 9
Character-Driven 5
Social Commentary 5
Character Study 5
Political Intrigue 5
Thought-Provoking 5
Slow Burn 3
Political Thriller 3
Moral Dilemma 3
Period Piece 3
Socially Conscious 2
Family Dysfunction 2

Works often with

People in at least two of their main titles.

Movies and TV shows

107

Type

Role

Score

Decade

Genre

Group by

2020s

4 titles · average score 69

Carousel

as Sam

The Six Triple Eight

59

as Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Dropout

79

TV show · as George Shultz

The Man in the Woods

as Headmaster Waldorf

2010s

14 titles · average score 71

On the Basis of Sex

68

as Erwin Griswold

The Mayo Clinic

75

as Charlie Mayo (voice)

Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators

as Narrator (voice)

Dateline: Saigon

as Narrator (voice)

Godless

79

TV show · as Marshall John Cook

Miss Sloane

71

as George Dupont

Anesthesia

49

as Prof. Walter Zarrow

Grace and Frankie

77

TV show · as Sol Bergstein

Dean Smith

as Narrator

Please Be Normal

as Dad

The Newsroom

71

TV show · as Charlie Skinner

Prohibition

82

TV show · as Reader (voice)

2000s

8 titles · average score 60

Masters of Science Fiction

43

TV show

The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays

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

The Colbert Report

72

TV show · as Self (uncredited)

Law & Order: Trial by Jury

77

TV show · as Jack McCoy

The Commission

as J. Lee Rankin

Le Divorce

43

as Chester Walker

The Matthew Shepard Story

64

as Dennis Shepard

A House Divided

63

as David Dickson

1990s

29 titles · average score 67

Family Guy

64

TV show · as Bruce Kaplan (voice)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

73

TV show · as Jack McCoy

Miracle at Midnight

70

as Dr. Karl Koster

Thomas Jefferson

76

TV show · as Thomas Jefferson (voice)

Time Life's Lost Civilizations

TV show · as Narrator

Serial Mom

67

as Eugene Sutphin

The Enemy Within

51

as President William Foster

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

50

as Daniel Chamberlain

I'll Fly Away

62

TV show · as Forrest Bedford

The Man in the Moon

77

as Matthew Trant

Mindwalk

77

as Jack Edwards

The Civil War

85

TV show · as Abraham Lincoln (voice)

1980s

32 titles · average score 66

Crimes and Misdemeanors

82

as Ben

The Nightmare Years

TV show · as Bill Shirer

Lincoln

72

TV show · as Abraham Lincoln

September

63

as Peter

Swimming to Cambodia

71

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

Flagrant désir

as Inspecteur Gerry Morrison

Warning Sign

37

as Cal Morse

The Killing Fields

81

as Sydney Schanberg

Q.E.D.

TV show · as Professor Quentin Everett Deverill

Oppenheimer

74

TV show · as Robert Oppenheimer

Hopscotch

76

as Jack Cutter

Heaven's Gate

61

as Frank Canton

1970s

14 titles · average score 55

Eagle's Wing

49

as White Bull

Capricorn One

59

as Lt. Col. Peter Willis

Sweet Revenge

38

as Le Clerq

Rancho Deluxe

56

as Cecil Colson

Journey into Fear

56

as Mr. Graham

The Great Gatsby

50

as Nick Carraway

Reflections of Murder

67

as Michael Elliott

The Glass Menagerie

75

as Tom

Much Ado About Nothing

as Benedick

Mahoney's Last Stand

as Felix

Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?

54

as Alex Monte

Cover Me Babe

45

as Cameraman

1960s

5 titles · average score 59

Three

49

as Taylor

Generation

as Desmond

Fitzwilly

65

as Oliver

The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean

as Andy

Dr. Kildare

63

TV show · as Mark

1950s

1 title · average score 84

Hallmark Hall of Fame

84

TV show · as Travis Coles