Actor · Acting

Jay O. Sanders

Born 1953-04-16

📍 Austin, Texas, USA

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 (1994), 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.

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Filmography 168

Queens of Combat: Rome's Female Gladiators

The Rise & Fall of the Colosseum

Girl From the North Country

His Three Daughters

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

as Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee

Decoding the Universe

When You Finish Saving the World

BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

as Ambassador Jones

The Road to Galena

Incidental Moments of the Day

as Richard Apple

And So We Come Forth

as Richard Apple

What Do We Need to Talk About?

as Richard Apple

That Hopey Changey Thing

as Richard Apple

Regular Singing

as Richard Apple

as Richard Apple

as Richard Apple

Stars in the House

as Boss (voice)

NOVA: Decoding da Vinci

as Narrator (voice)

Saving the Dead Sea

The Violin Alone

as Narrator (voice)

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Prediction by the Numbers

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: First Face of America

as Narrator (voice)

Ghosts of Stonehenge

as Narrator (voice)

Holocaust Escape Tunnel

as Narrator (voice)

The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Three: Women of a Certain Age

as George Gabriel

The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Two: What Did You Expect?

as George Gabriel

The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play One: Hungry

as George Gabriel

NOVA: Why Trains Crash

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Secrets of the Sky Tombs

as Narrator (voice)

Secrets of the Dead: Graveyard of the Giant Beasts

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Iceman Reborn

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Mystery Beneath the Ice

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Life's Rocky Start

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Secret Tunnel Warfare

as Narrator (voice)

Inside Einstein's Mind: The Enigma of Space and Time

as Narrator (voice)

Secrets of the Dead: The Real Trojan Horse

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Secrets of Noah's Ark

as Narrator (voice)

Dawn of Humanity

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: The Great Math Mystery

as Narrator (voice)

Northern Borders

as Agent Sanders

The Mystery of Mona Lisa

as Narrator (voice)

The Gathering Swarms

as Narrator (voice)

as Billy Lee Tuttle

NOVA: Cold Case JFK

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Ground Zero Supertower

as Self - Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?

as Narrator (voice)

The Man Who Saved the World

as Narrator (voice)

NOVA: Secrets of the Viking Sword

as Narrator (voice)

Earth from Space

as Narrator (voice)

A Novel Romance

as Walter Evans

as Douglas Vanderway

Person of Interest

as Special Counsel

as Jonathan Hedstrom

as Harvey Brady

as Jimmy Reagan

Edge of Darkness

Riddles of the Sphinx

as Narrator (voice)

Secrets of Stonehenge

as Narrator (voice)

as Judge Hal Ferris

I Hate Valentine's Day

as Tim the Delivery Guy

as Dr. Russell Lassiter

Revolutionary Road

as Bart Pollock

Cadillac Records

NOVA: Arctic Dinosaurs

as Narrator (voice)

The Dissection of Thanksgiving

NOVA: Judgement Day - Intelligent Design on Trial

as Narrator (voice)

Greetings from the Shore

as Commodore Callaghan

as Calder Security Executive

The Valley of Light

The Day After Tomorrow

as Frank Harris

as Football Announcer (voice)

as Kevin's Father

D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear

as Douglas Duncan

Salem Witch Trials

as Thomas Putnam

Salem Witch Trials

as Thomas Putnam

as Detective John Maynard

as Frank Edmonds

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

as Harry Rowan, Sr.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

as Joseph Hannah

The Last Brickmaker in America

as Joseph O'Brien

Along Came a Spider

My Husband's Double Life

as Patrick Hennessy Welsh

Secrets of the Dead

as Narrator (voice)

as Howard Bevens

Wild Costa Rica

Earthly Possessions

Music of the Heart

as Sam Sinclair

The Secret Life of Girls

as Atty. Gen. Metcalfe

as Jack Renoble

The Odd Couple II

Wrestling with Alligators

For Richer or Poorer

as Samuel Yoder

as Senator John McGlory

as FBI Agent Kyle Craig

as Steven Crighton

The Prosecutors

as DA Alan Baker

as Lucas Hughes

as Coach Schramka

Down Came a Blackbird

Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years

as Federal Agent

The Outer Limits

New York Undercover

Angels in the Outfield

as Ranch Wilder

Nobody's Children

State of Emergency

as Dr. Jeffrey Forrest

My Boyfriend's Back

as Sheriff McCloud

as Terry Anderson

as Stephen Taylor

V.I. Warshawski

as Murray Ryerson

as Jackie Earle

as Nick Taska / Bill Fallon

as Defense Attorney Alan Fenwick

Northern Exposure

as Dr. John Summer

Revealing Evidence: Stalking the Honolulu Strangler

as Tom Marshall

as Gen. George Crockett Strong

Cold Sassy Tree

as Clayton McAllister

Just Like in the Movies

as Ryan Legrand

The Prince of Pennsylvania

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

The Misfit Brigade

as Detective Michael Phillips

Spenser: For Hire

as Father Crawford

as Det. Tim Duryea

A Doctor's Story

as Charles Rawlings

Eddie Macon's Run

Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story

as Narrator (voice)

The Day Christ Died

The Scarlet Letter

as Robert Salter

as Self - Narrator (voice)

ABC Afterschool Special

Hallmark Hall of Fame