Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker (born
Samuel Watenmaker) (
June 14,
1919 –
December 18,
1993) was an American actor and director. He was born in
Chicago, Illinois and died of
prostate cancer in
London, England at the age of 74.
Wanamaker began his acting career at the age of just 17. After training at the
Goodman Theatre, Chicago, he began working with
summer stock theatre companies in Chicago and worked on
Broadway and in travelling shows. He attended
Drake University, Iowa prior to serving in the
U.S. Army between 1943-1946 during the
Second World War. After learning that he had become
blacklisted by the
House Un-American Activities Committee after filming
Mr. Denning Drives North in the UK in the early 1950s, Wanamaker declined to return to the United States.
In 1952, he made his
London debut. In 1957, he was appointed director of the
New Shakespeare Theatre, in
Liverpool. In 1959, he joined the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company at
Stratford-upon-Avon. In the 1960s and 1970s, he produced or directed several works at
Covent Garden and elsewhere including the
Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations in 1974.
He worked both as a director and actor in both films and television, and his appearances included such movies as
The Spiral Staircase (1974),
Private Benjamin (1980),
Superman IV (1986), and
Baby Boom (1987).
And also he directed stage. In 1980, he directed
Giuseppe Verdi's
opera "
Aida" starring
Luciano Pavarotti at
San Francisco Opera (now broadcast version released as DVD).
In 1940 he married
Charlotte Holland, an American radio soap star of the 1940s and later an actress. She died from cancer in 1997, at the age of 82. In the 1970s, Sam Wanamaker began an intimate, long-standing relationship with the then-widowed American actress,
Jan Sterling.
Wanamaker was instrumental in the rebuilding of the
Globe Theatre in London, England, but died prior to its grand opening in 1997.
He is survived by three daughters, Abby, Jessica & British-based American actress
Zoe Wanamaker.
Actor
Bloodlines: Murder in the Family (1993 TV) as Gerald Woodman
Killer Rules (1993 TV) as Gambon
Wild Justice (1993 TV mini-series) as Kingston Parker
City of Joy (1992) (cameo)
Pure Luck (1991) as Highsmith
Guilty by Suspicion (1991) as Felix Graff
Always Remember I Love You (1990 TV) as Grandfather Mendham
Running Against Time (1990 TV) as Doctor Koopman
The Shell Seekers (1989 TV) as Richard
Baby Boom (1988 TV series based on the 1987
film) as Fritz Curtis
Tajna manastirske rakije (1988) as Ambassador Morley
Judgment in Berlin (1988) as Bernard Hellring
Sadie and Son (1987 TV) as Marty Goldstein
Baby Boom (1987) as Fritz Curtis
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) as David Warfield
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987 TV) as District Attorney
Raw Deal (1986) as Luigi Patrovita
Berrenger's (1985 TV series) as Simon Berrenger (1985)
Embassy (1985 TV) as Ambassador Arthur Ingram
The Aviator (1985) as Bruno Hansen
Deceptions (1985 TV) as Jim Nolan
Heartsounds (1984 TV) as Moe Silverman
Irreconcilable Differences (1984) as David Kessler
The Ghost Writer (1984 TV) as E.I. Lonoff
I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982 TV) as Frank Tosconi
Our Family Business (1981 TV) as Ralph
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981 TV mini-series) as Bernard Baruch
The Competition (1980) as Andrew Erskine
Private Benjamin (1980) as Teddy Benjamin
Charlie Muffin (1979 TV) as Ruttgers
Contro 4 bandiere (1979) as Ray MacDonald
Death on the Nile (1978) as Sterndale Rockford
Holocaust (1978 TV mini-series) as Moses Weiss
Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977) as Bailey
Voyage of the Damned (1976) as Carl Rosen
The Sell-Out (1976) as Harry Sickles
The Billion Dollar Bubble (1976) as Stanley Goldblum
The Spiral Staircase (1975) as Lt. Fields
The Law (1974 TV) as Jules Benson
Mousey (1974 TV) as Inspector
Arturo UI (1972 TV)
Danger Route (1968) as Lucinda
The Day the Fish Came Out (1967) as Elias
Warning Shot (1967) as Frank Sanderman
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965) as Peters
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as George Gruber
Man in the Middle (1964) as Maj. Leon Kaufman, a psychiatrist
Taras Bulba (1962) as Filipenko
The Criminal (1960) as Mike Carter
The Battle of the Sexes (1959) as Narrator (voice only)
The Secret (1954) as Nick Delaney
Mr. Denning Drives North (1952) as Chick Eddowes
Give Us This Day (1949) as Geremio
My Girl Tisa (1948) as Mark Denek
Notable TV Guest Appearances
Return of the Saint – as Domenico in "Dragonseed" (episode # 1.22)
February 25,
1979 Rafferty – as Hollander in "Rafferty" (Pilot) (episode # 1.1)
September 5,
1977 Thirty-Minute Theatre in "A Wen" (episode # 1.233)
December 27,
1971 Judd for the Defense – as Shelly Gould in "The Gates of Cerberus" (episode # 2.8)
November 15,
1968 The Baron – as Sefton Folkard in "You Can't Win Them All" (episode # 1.19)
February 1,
1967 Run for Your Life – as Major Joe Rankin in "A Rage for Justice: Part 2" (episode # 2.17)
January 16,
1967 Run for Your Life – as Major Joe Rankin in "The Flight from Tirana: Part 1" (episode # 2.16)
January 9,
1967 Gunsmoke – as Asa Longworth in "Parson Comes to Town" (episode # 11.31)
April 30,
1966The Wild Wild West – as Dr. Arcularis in "The Night of the Howling Light" (episode # 1.14)
December 17,
1965 The Defenders – as United States Attorney Brooker in "A Taste of Ashes" (episode # 4.8)
November 12,
1964 The Defenders – as Edward Banter in "Hollow Triumph" (episode # 3.35)
June 20,
1964 The Outer Limits – as Dr. Simon Holm in "
A Feasibility Study" (episode # 1.29)
April 13,
1964 Espionage – as Sprague in "Festival of Pawns" (episode # 1.10)
December 11,
1963 Man of the World – as Nicko in "The Bandit" (episode # 2.1)
May 11,
1963 The Defenders – as James Henry David in "A Book for Burning" (episode # 2.27)
March 30,
1963 The Defenders – as Dr. Ralph Ames in "The Hundred Lives of Harry Simms" (episode # 1.7)
October 28,
1961 Danger Man – as Patrick Laurence in "The Lonely Chair" (episode # 1.8)
October 30,
1960 Cameo Theatre in "Manhattan Footstep" (episode # 1.4)
June 7,
1950Director
Columbo: Grand Deceptions (1989) (TV)
The Killing of Randy (1981) (TV)
Hart to Hart (TV series) - episode "Death in the Slow Lane" (1979)
Return of the Saint (TV series) - episode "Vicious Circle" (1979)
Kate Love A Mystery (TV series) - episodes "A Puzzle for Prophets" and "Falling Star" (1979)
David Cassidy - Man Undercover (TV series) - episode "Cage of Steel" (1978)
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
Columbo: The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case (1977) (TV)
Catlow (1971)
The Executioner (1970)
The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
Lancer (TV series) - episode "The High Riders" (1968)
Premiere (TV series) - episode "Lassiter" (1968)
The Champions (TV series) - episode "To Trap A Rat
(1968)
*Cimarron Strip (TV series) - episode "Broken Wing" (1967)
*Custer (TV series) - episode "Sabers in the Sun" (1967)
*Dundee and the Culhane (TV series) - episode "The Jubilee Raid Brief" (1967)
*Coronet Blue (TV series) - episodes "The Rebels", "Man Running", "Saturday" and "The Presence of Evil" (1967)
*Hawk (TV series) - episodes "Do Not Mutilate or Spindle", "Game with a Dead End" and "How Close Can You Get?" (1966)
*Court Martial (1964 TV series) - episode?
*The Defenders'' (1961 TV series) - episode?
