Jay O. Sanders

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 (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.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Personal life

Sanders married Maryann Plunkett in 1991. They met while acting on the television series A Man Called Hawk. They have a son, Jamie.

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.

References

References

1. Isherwood, Charles. (December 13, 2011). "I Wouldn't Touch That Pie, if I Were You". The New York Times.
2. "Jay. O Sanders (Performer)".
3. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/564 ''Buried Child''] lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016.
4. Black Theater, City Life: African American Art Institutions and Urban Cultural Ecologies, Macelle Mahala, 2022, p. 221
5. (2008). "Jay Sanders Biography". filmreference.
6. Miller, J. Michael. "J. Michael Miller talks to Maryann Plunkett and Jay O. Sanders". The Actors Center.
7. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/564 ''Buried Child''] lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016.
8. "The Day After Tomorrow". Rotten Tomatoes.
9. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111023134922/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/684119/Revolutionary-Road/ ''Revolutionary Road''], tcm.com; accessed November 10, 2016
10. (November 21, 2020). "What The True Detective Season 1 Cast Is Doing Now".
11. (27 May 2008). "About the series". Wide Angle Credits.
12. [http://www.playbill.com/production/loose-ends-circle-in-the-square-theatre-vault-0000003280 "'Loose Ends' Broadway"], Playbill.com, accessed November 10, 2016
13. [http://www.playbill.com/production/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-circle-in-the-square-theatre-vault-0000003267 "'The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial' Broadway"], Playbill.com, accessed November 10, 2016
14. [http://www.playbill.com/production/saint-joan-lyceum-theatre-vault-0000007110 "'Saint Joan' Broadway"], Playbill.com, accessed November 10, 2016
15. [http://www.playbill.com/production/pygmalion-american-airlines-theatre-vault-0000010373 'Pygmalion' on Broadway], Playbill.com, accessed November 10, 2016
16. "Jay O. Sanders at IBDB". Internet Broadway Database.
17. Brantley, Ben. (April 14, 2006). "David Hare's 'Stuff Happens': All the President's Men in 'On the Road to Baghdad'". The New York Times.
18. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/4287 ''Stuff Happens''], lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016.
19. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/5326 ''Titus Andronicus''], lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016
20. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/CreditableEntity/2646 "Sanders Off-Broadway"], lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016
21. (19 November 2015). "Exploring six degrees of Jay O. Sanders: Unexplored Interior playwright's brilliant career - DC Theatre Scene".
22. Marks, Peter. (November 3, 2015). "Mosaic opens its inaugural curtain with 'Unexplored Interior'". [[The Washington Post]].
23. Miller, J. Michael. "J. Michael Miller talks to Maryann Plunkett and Jay O. Sanders". The Actors Center.
24. "Measure for Measure".
25. [http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/564 ''Buried Child''] lortel.org, accessed November 10, 2016.
26. "Loose Ends (Broadway, 1979)".
27. "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Broadway, 1983)".
28. "Saint Joan (Broadway, 1993)".
29. "Pygmalion (Broadway, 2007)".
30. "Girl from the North Country (Broadway, 2020)".
31. "Go Inside Opening Night of Primary Trust, Starring The Good Place's William Jackson Harper".
32. "Purlie Victorious (Broadway, 2023)".
33. Kilian, Michael. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/03/21/stage-struck-5/ "Stage-struck"], ''Chicago Tribune'', March 21, 1993.
34. Spaner, Whitney. [http://www.playbill.com/article/how-jay-o-sanders-and-maryann-plunkett-became-co-stars-in-life-and-onstage "How Jay O. Sanders and Maryann Plunkett Became Co-Stars In Life and Onstage"] Playbill, February 27, 2016
35. Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/article/alison-fraser-and-jay-o-sanders-are-winners-of-2018-joe-a-callaway-awards# "Alison Fraser and Jay O. Sanders Are Winners of 2018 Joe A. Callaway Awards"] Playbill, December 7, 2018
36. Culwell-Block, Logan. (2024-05-13). "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Wins Best Play; See the Full List of Winners".