Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Principal Willis DeWitt on ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that ran on ABC for seven seasons from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The series follows the misadventures of the Seaver family, including psychiatrist and fathe ...

'', Holland Manners on ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', dentist

Bernard Nadler Rose and Bernard Nadler are fictional characters on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television series ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', played by L. Scott Caldwell and Sam Anderson respectively. Rose and Bernard visit a faith healer on thei ...

on '' Lost'', Doctor Harad in ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'', and in film, as the principal in ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...

''.

Early life

Anderson was born in

Clark, South Dakota Clark is a city in and county seat of Clark County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,148 at the 2020 census. History A post office was established at Clark in 1880. Clark was platted in 1882. The city took its name from Clark ...

and grew up in

Wahpeton, North Dakota Wahpeton ( ) is a city in Richland County, in southeast North Dakota along the Bois de Sioux River at its confluence with the Otter Tail River, which forms the Red River of the North. Wahpeton is the county seat of Richland County. The populat ...

. He received a Master of Arts degree in American literature and creative writing at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. During the 1970s, he taught drama at

Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College (AVC) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Lancaster, California. It is part of the California Community College system. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Communi ...

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

Career

Anderson is best known for his roles as mailroom supervisor Mr. Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Mike Seaver's adversarial Principal DeWitt on ''

'', a chief of Cardiology on '' ER'', the lawyer

Holland Manners This article features minor fictional characters who appear as guest stars on the television program ''Angel'', ordered alphabetically. For the show's main characters, please see the article list of ''Angel'' characters. A Alonna Gunn Alonna ...

on the first two seasons of ''

'' and as

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''be ...

on '' Lost''. In addition, he was one of the recurring actors on various episodes of ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences obs ...

'', playing various roles, including an immigration officer in the episode "The Americanization of Ivan". In film, he notably played the school principal in ''

''. Anderson is also known as the assistant manager of the Hotel Royale in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "

The Royale "The Royale" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', the 38th episode overall. It was originally released on March 27, 1989, in broadcast syndication. ...

", and as Doctor Harad in ''

''. His other guest-starring roles include ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on NBC from October 1, 1982, ...

'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'', ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', ''

Picket Fences ''Picket Fences'' is an American family drama television series about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on CBS in the United States. ...

'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'', and many other shows. Anderson guest-starred in Season 8 of ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'' as Walter Carmichael, a middle school teacher whose classroom becomes a crime scene where one of his students is kidnapped. Anderson's most recent (2024) role is being a part of the reboot of the '' Matlock'' series on CBS. He plays the husband (Edwin) of

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress. Kathy Bates filmography, Her work spans over five decades, and List of awards and nominations received by Kathy Bates, her accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, t ...

character Matty Matlock.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Ovation Awards The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: Nominated for Lead Actor in a Play for the role of Ichabod Banks in the Road Theatre Company production of ''The Bird and Mr. Banks''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Sam 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Antelope Valley College alumni Educators from South Dakota Living people Male actors from South Dakota People from Clark, South Dakota University of North Dakota alumni 1947 births