Law & Order has been to me that one show I could always rely on. I guess because it's been on the air so long, almost as much as my own life, I fel it was always there and I could always turn to it when some other show disappointed me or there was just nothing else on TV. However, a healthy 20-year span on the tubes wasn't enough to keep NBC from being the biggest douchebags this season, and thus cancelling L&O FOREVER.
Having said that (and having mulled it over and over and over and over), I thought it was high time to publish something more contingent, rather than something atemporal, that's more to do with my own personal tastes. L&O has now become a relevant topic for me, which is why I intend to cover it properly, and do it my way, from my taste's point of view.
Which is why I'm gonna talk about Sam Waterston.
Sam Waterston is probably in the minds and retinas of every law (and order)-abiding citizen as Jack McCoy, EADA (and later DA) on long-lasting TV police drama Law & Order. Fuckin' A.
Mr. Sam Waterston (sometimes referred by me as 'that cool old guy from L&O', or 'that fuckin cool old guy', or 'fuck, yeah, that guy's so cool') was born Samuel Atkinson Waterston in Cambridge, Massachusetts, making him instantly super american and super cool at the same time.
His mother could be traced back to the Mayflower, while his dad was scottish, which I'm thankful for, because it gives this picture a nice background (and even some degree of explanation):
Not that I mind a man in a kilt, but I kinda prefer to know why a man would randomly do the catwalk ensconsed in tartan.
Though he's best known for his role in L&O, his earlier career was as varied as it was interesting, not to mention underrated. (I am glad he finally got a star in th Hollywood walk of fame, though! But that's beside the point, as to many people it just seems an effort that's both too little and too late; count me amongst those people...!)
From The Great Gatsby to Reflections of Murder, I think he's played every type of role under the sun. He's a veteran well-seasoned actor, so I don't think I'm crazy for offering my praise. He's an actor's actor with a classical training and a very classical upbringing.
He got his first education at Brooks, which is a boarding school in North Andover, went to school in Yale where he got a BA, attended the Clinton Playhouse and he even attended la Sorbonne. Yes, the Sorbonne. THAT Sorbonne.
THIS Sorbonne.
All the more respect to him!
So what can you expect from such background? The man is pure class, interspersed with talent.
I often tend to separate actors in "can play Shakespeare" and "can't play Shakespeare" (you Demi Lovatos of the world and your Disney-fed brat pack, I'm looking straight at you!) and thank god, the man CAN play Shakespeare. Just watch him on Much ado about Nothing -which you can buy and I will soon, fuck yeah!-, and more recently in Hamlet; care for more modern theatre? Catch him in Tennesse William's The Glass Menagerie, along Katharine Hepburn!)
Rather intense scene from TLG. I just purchased this one from Amazon and I should be getting it in a couple of weeks, for a proper review.
I tend to think his looks, talent and speech, but more than anything his 15 years playing DA Jack McCoy in Law & Order, all have made him a very credible personality. Not for anything he's been used in TV commercials for TD Ameritrade:
And of course...selling insurance against the great robot attack (the SNL "Old Glory" insurance ad spoof, which I found for you here); the man could sell me a sack of used air and I'd buy it. He's that believable.
And let's not forget the comical spin the folks at the Colbert Report put on this reputation, when they introduced a semi-regular feature called "Sam Waterston Says Things You Should Never Believe In A Trustworthy Manner" (found them all here, here and here), which relatedto the time Fred Thompson (also Law & Order veteran ran for president, exploiting on his character's credibility, I'm sure...)
Those were some of my fave episodes. Who could forget such gems as "I'm from the future. Come with me if you want to live"?
For more on his connection to the show, here's Sam's entry on Wikiality (The Truthiness Encyclopedia!), including the Unity '08 scheme (of which you can see a video here)
If the man says it, it's gotta be true!! But I'd like to get out of the acting job and focus for a second in lesser known activities, mainly this one:
The man was a male model. And as I understand, quite good too! Not that male-modelling has always been a very up and coming career, at least not as much as its female counterpart, but he's seen in quite a few spreads! Based on the years of these issues (of Mademoiselle and Vogue), this happened when he was already making a big name for himself in theatre.
I don't know anythng about how he came to score this gig, but I can totally understand him being there,it makes sense; tall, thin, lanky, with great dark hair and puppy dog eyes...absolutely non-threatening; wouldn't you agree he's got the right look for those romantic, almost bucolic Mademoiselle fashion spreads? I just love these pics.Here's a couple more:
From Mademoiselle.
From Vogue.
And the Flickr where I found them, where you can see some more and at orignal size.
According to this blog, he also modeled for Seventeen magazine in the 60s, but since I couldn't find veritable proof of it (pics, or it didn't happen), I should also consider this could very well be misunderstood information (confusing Seventeen with Mademoiselle and the 60s with the 70s, for instance; not saying it couldn't have happened, though, as Seventeen started publishng in the 40s, anyway and I suppose Sam had that same skinny, non-threatening image from later on, and probably the same great hair ^^)I understand Sam's wife was a pretty important fashion model as well (perhaps they met at a shoot???)
Speaking of Sam's family, his children are also quite talented. His son James (a veritable cutie!) does theatre, which is something I can respect more than you'd think, considering I stick to mainly TV as entertainment...
James Waterston.
His daughter Katherine shares his same smart looks and is also an actress (catch her on Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock") and his other daughter, Elisabeth (who looks a lot like Sam, like whoa!), has done Broadway (even starred as Mandy Patinkin's daughter in a revival of "The Tempest"; what luck! Mandy's awesome)
Katherine and Elisabeth Waterston.
Sam is one of those rare cases of "good Hollywood parenting". Why? Cos he didn't live there. Nor New York, nor any big city. He raised his family in the country, which is even more respectable...(am I waxing a bit too poetically about the man? Perhaps; but with that big smile and even bigger eyebrows, it's kinda hard not to!)
For some highlights of his filmography:
His first major movie role had to be the observant Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, though he was completely overshadowed by Robert Redford (at ;east that's what my mom says, though she fell for Sam later in The Fifth Missile) I know Rob's almost too handsome to look at, but since I tend to gravitate towards the quieter, more awckward types, I think I would've preferred Nick, rather than Gatsby...
You can see him right at the beginning of this clip, he's the first character to show up onscreen, and he's doing the narration.
Other highlights of his career include the weird space flick Capricorn One and the critically acclaimed The Killing Fields. But unortunately, I can't about cover everything; however, I invite you to find out more and see more of his earlier work.
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In honor of everyone else on the show this season, check out this fashion spread on harper's Bazaar, featuring members of the cast.
Meanwhile, my own idea of making a video clip of me doing a cover of The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" using members of the Law & Order cast, remains a distant dream...
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