Samuel Atkinson Waterston is an American actor, producer, and director. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and film. Waterston, having studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the American Actors Workshop, started his career in theater on the New York stage, appearing in multiple revivals of Shakespeare. In 1977, he starred in an off-Broadway production of Measure for Measure as Duke Vincentio alongside Meryl Streep and John Cazale at the Delacorte Theatre. Throughout Waterston's theater career, he continued to appear alongside actors such as Raul Julia in Indians, James Woods in The Trial of Catonsville Nine, Liv Ullmann in A Doll's House, Jane Alexander in Hamlet, and Glenn Close in Benefactors. In 1993, he portrayed Abraham Lincoln onstage in Abe Lincoln in Illinois where he received a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance.
In 1974 Waterston played Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby alongside Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. He also appeared in Woody Allen's Interiors, the Walter Matthau comedy Hopscotch, and Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.