Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at The Public Theatre.

Early life and education

Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, to Phyllis Rae (née Aden) and James Olcutt Sanders. After attending the acting conservatory at SUNY Purchase, Sanders made his off-Broadway debut in a

Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This c ...

production of ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'' in 1976. He played Bradley in the first New York production of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

Buried Child ''Buried Child'' is a play written by Sam Shepard that was first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright. The play depicts the fragmentation of the American nuclear family ...

in 1978.

Career

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 ''The Day After Tomorrow'' is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Roland Emmerich. Based on the 1999 book '' The Coming Global Superstorm'' by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, the film stars De ...

'' (2004), ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' (2011) and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

''Alex Cross'' films. He has appeared in many other notable films, including '' Glory'' (1989), ''

Mr. Destiny ''Mr. Destiny'' is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film starring James Belushi. Other actors in this film included Linda Hamilton, Michael Caine, Jon Lovitz, Courteney Cox, Jay O. Sanders and Rene Russo. It is heavily inspired by the 194 ...

'', ''JFK'' (1991), '' Angels in the Outfield'' (1994), ''

The Big Green ''The Big Green'' is a 1995 American family sports comedy film by Walt Disney Pictures starring Olivia d'Abo and Steve Guttenberg, written and directed by Holly Goldberg Sloan. It also stars Bug Hall, Chauncey Leopardi, and Patrick Renna. The f ...

'' (1995), ''

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunligh ...

'', ''

Tumbleweeds A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure. Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to: Films * ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film * ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935 film), Gene Autry film * ''Tumbleweed'' (1 ...

'' (1999), ''

Music of the Heart ''Music of the Heart'' is a 1999 American biographical musical drama film directed by Wes Craven and written by Pamela Gray, based on the 1995 documentary '' Small Wonders''. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Roberta Guaspari, po ...

'' (1999), '' Half Nelson'' (2006), ''

Cadillac Records ''Cadillac Records'' is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-compan ...

'' (2008) and ''

Revolutionary Road ''Revolutionary Road'' is American author Richard Yates's debut novel about 1950s suburban life in the East Coast. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1962, along with ''Catch-22'' and ''The Moviegoer''. When published by Atlant ...

'' (2008). On television, Sanders played mob lawyer Steven Kordo in the 1986–88

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

detective series '' Crime Story'', Norbert "Ziggy" Walsh on two episodes of ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Rosea ...

'', and recurring characters on shows such as ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

'' and ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

''. He is the narrator for the PBS series ''

Wide Angle Wide angle may refer to: * Wide-angle lens, type of camera lens * ''Wide Angle'' (TV series), television series * '' Wide Angle'', 1999 album by Hybrid * '' Wide Angles'', 2003 album by Michael Brecker * Wide-angle X-ray scattering * Wide Angle ...

'' from 2002 to 2009, and has served as narrator for a number of ''

Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

'' episodes starting in 2007. On stage, Sanders has appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in ''Loose Ends'' (1979), ''

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial ''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'' is a two-act play, of the courtroom drama type, that was dramatized for the stage by Herman Wouk, which he adapted from his own 1951 novel, '' The Caine Mutiny''. Wouk's novel covered a long stretch of time ...

'' (1983), ''Saint Joan'' (1993), and ''Pygmalion'' (2007). Off-Broadway, he appeared as George W. Bush in Sir David Hare's ''Stuff Happens'' in 2006. He then played in a number of Shakespearean plays: ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict a ...

'' (Bottom, 2007), ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (Ghost of Hamlet's Father/Player King/Gravedigger, 2008), ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'' (as Sir Toby Belch, 2009), and the title role in Shakespeare's ''

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emul ...

'' (2011). Sanders appeared in the Richard Nelson ''Apple Family Plays'', a series of plays that 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 The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. Over five million people have attended more than ...

(Shakespeare in Central Park) than any other actor to date. Sanders' first play, ''Unexplored Interior'', about the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, debuted in November 2015 at the

Atlas Performing Arts Center The Atlas Performing Arts Center is a multiple space performing arts facility located on H Street in the Near Northeast neighborhood of Washington, DC. Housed in a renovated Art Deco movie house, the facility is home to several arts organizations. ...

in Washington, DC. Sanders had been working on it for more than a decade. 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 ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the di ...

''.Gans, Andrew
"Alison Fraser and Jay O. Sanders Are Winners of 2018 Joe A. Callaway Awards"
Playbill, December 7, 2018 He also received the Drama Desk Award for 2019 for Actor in a Play for ''Uncle Vanya''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * *
Jay O. Sanders AudiographyeBooks and/or Audio Books by Jay O. Sanders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Jay O. 1953 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male actors American male dramatists and playwrights American male film actors American male Shakespearean actors American male stage actors American male television actors Audiobook narrators Living people Male actors from Austin, Texas State University of New York at Purchase alumni 21st-century American male writers Writers from Austin, Texas