Jay O. Sanders

Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. He has received a Drama Desk Award and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.

Sanders made his off-Broadway debut in a Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V in 1976. He originated the role of Bradley in Sam Shepard's Buried Child (1978). He made his Broadway debut in the play Loose Ends (1979). He returned to Broadway in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1983), Saint Joan (1993), Pygmalion (2007), Girl from the North Country (2020), and Purlie Victorious (2023).

He made his feature film debut in the comedy Starting Over (1979). He had notable roles in films such as Cross Creek (1983), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), Glory (1989), JFK (1991), Hostages (1992), Angels in the Outfield (1993), Music of the Heart (1999), Tumbleweeds (1999), and Revolutionary Road (2008). He took recurring roles in television series including Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, Blindspot, and Sneaky Pete. He has served as the narrator for the shows Wide Angle, Nova, and Secrets of the Dead.

Early life and education
Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, Texas to James Olcutt Sanders, an arts organization executive and violinist (1917-1983), and Phyllis Rae née Aden. His parents were Quakers. He attended the acting conservatory at SUNY Purchase.

Career
Sanders made his off-Broadway debut in a Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V in 1976. He played Bradley in the first New York production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child in 1978.

Sanders has had a long career in film and television. He is perhaps most recognized for his work in the films The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Green Lantern (2011), and the Alex Cross films starring Morgan Freeman. He has appeared in many other notable films, including Glory (1989), Mr. Destiny (1990), JFK (1991), Angels in the Outfield (1994), The Big Green (1995), Daylight, Tumbleweeds (1999), Music of the Heart (1999), Half Nelson (2006), Cadillac Records (2008), and Revolutionary Road (2008). On television, Sanders played mob lawyer Steven Kordo in the 1986–88 NBC detective series Crime Story, Norbert "Ziggy" Walsh on two episodes of Roseanne, and recurring characters on shows such as Person of Interest and True Detective. He is the narrator for the PBS series Wide Angle from 2002 to 2009, and has served as narrator for a number of Nova episodes starting in 2007.

On stage, Sanders has appeared on Broadway in Loose Ends (1979), The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1983), Saint Joan (1993), Pygmalion (2007)., Girl from the North Country (musical) (2020), and Purlie Victorious (2023). Off-Broadway, he appeared as George W. Bush in Sir David Hare's Stuff Happens in 2006. He played in a number of Shakespearean plays: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bottom, 2007), Hamlet (Ghost of Hamlet's Father/Player King/Gravedigger, 2008), Twelfth Night (as Sir Toby Belch, 2009), and the title role in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (2011).

Sanders appeared in the Apple Family Plays, a series of plays written by Richard Nelson which ran off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in 2010 (That Hopey Changey Thing), 2011 (Sweet and Sad), 2012 (Sorry), and 2013 (Regular Singing). Sanders has appeared in more plays at the Delacorte Theatre (Shakespeare in Central Park) than any other actor to date. His first play, Unexplored Interior, about the Rwandan genocide debuted in November 2015 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C. He had been working on it for more than a decade.

Awards and honors
He received the 2018 Joe A. Callaway Award, presented by the Actors’ Equity Foundation for "best performance in a professional production of a classic play", for his performance in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. He also received the Drama Desk Award for 2019 for Actor in a Play for Uncle Vanya. In 2024, he received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Performer in an Off-Broadway Play for his performance in Primary Trust.