Sam Waterston is an American actor, 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-nominated 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 television productions during his forty-five-year career. Allmovie has characterized Waterston as having "cultivated a loyal following with his quietly charismatic, unfailingly solid performances. In January 2010, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.