When he meets his fans, his appreciation of them is evident in the way that he puts them at ease. He comes across as a real human being, someone who is comfortable being himself, and someone who is infinately kind. People who know him call him as "adorable" and the late Jerry Orbach said, "He is almost childlike in his honesty; it's as if the world hasn't soured him or made him overly sophisticated". I have never seen a negative word about him in print.

Sam chose not to go the Hollywood route, but to raise his family in his native New England. He has said numerous times that one of his favorite pastimes is hanging out with his family. He and his wife, Lynn, have been married for over thirty years, and still like to hold hands at award ceremonies. He has four children: James, Elisabeth, Katherine, and Graham. Sam is proud of them all. The three older children are all actors; Graham is studying to be a director. Both James and Elisabeth have had roles on Law & Order. James starred in a series of Christy films shown on PAX TV, and is playing Orlando in As You Like It in Shakespeare in the Park in June 2005. Elisabeth has been working on stage in New York, garnering rave reviews, and finished a run at the American Repertory Theater, where she had a lead role in Lady With a Lapdog. In 2004 she starred with her father in a Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing. Both she and sister Katherine appeared in the first episode of Deadline a few years back. Katherine has made a short film, "Orchids", and is starring in "The Babysitters", to be released in 2007.

Sam Waterston has often chosen to play complex characters, and has succeeded in giving us brilliant performances, whether it be as James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night, Jack McCoy in Law & Order,or Mr. Royce in my all-time favorite movie,A Captive in the Land. His movies are ones that make you think, such as Mind Walk, favorite of mystics everywhere. He was wonderful playing our sixteenth President in Gore Vidal's Lincoln. His production company, Atkinsonway, and has begun producing his own films. His latest was A House Divided, in which he also starred. He has continued making films for others, including his Gemini-award-winning performance as Dennis Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story(2002), and his appearance in a Merchant-Ivory production, Le Divorce(2003). But his true home, and where he is king, is the theater. He was triumphant as Henry Carr in Tom Stoppard's Travesties, a "silly play" to use Sam's words. Sam showed audiences the full range of his talent in this wonderful adaptation of Stoppard's work. To find out more, click here.

When all is said and done, one can say that Sam leads a busy, productive life. He is able to balance career, family, and causes in a way that sets a good example for us all.