Samuel Atkinson Waterston first appeared in 1965 movie ‘The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean,’ and TV-series ‘Dr. Kildare.’
Waterston’s performance in TV-film ‘The Glass Menagerie’ (1973) and romantic-drama film ‘The Great Gatsby’ (1974) won him nominations. He appeared in ‘Interiors’ (1978), ‘Hopscotch,’ (1980), ‘Heaven’s Gate’ (1980). He earned acclaim for miniseries ‘Oppenheimer’ (1982), and biopic ‘The Killing Fields’ (1984).
Waterston portrayed ‘President Lincoln’ in miniseries ‘Lincoln’ (1988), documentary-miniseries ‘The Civil War’ (1990). His notable films include ‘Hannah & Her sisters’ (1986), ‘September’ (1987), ‘Crime & Misdemeanors’ (1989), ‘The Man in the Moon’ (1991), ‘Serial Mom’ (1994).
Waterston won awards for TV-drama series ‘I’ll Fly Away’ (1991-1993). From 1994 to 2010 he starred as ‘DA Jack McCoy’ in legal-drama TV-show ‘Law & Order’ and its spinoffs, fetching several accolades. He also featured in crime-series ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ (1997), ‘Exiled: A Law & Order Movie’ (1998) and others.
Waterston starred in movies including ‘Nixon’ (1995), ‘Shadow Conspiracy’ (1997), ‘Miss Sloane’ (2016), ‘On the Basis of Sex’ (2018), and drama-series ‘The Newsroom’ (2012-2014), Netflix-series ‘Godless’ (2017). Presently he appears in Netflix-comedy ‘Grace & Frankie’ (2015---)
He has performed in numerous stage productions earning several accolades.