Sam Anderson was born on April 2, 1947, in Wahpeton, North Dakota.
He is an American actor. He received a Master of Arts degree in American literature and creative writing at the University of North Dakota and the University of Wisconsin.
He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on Perfect Strangers, Holland Manners on Angel, dentist Bernard Nadler on Lost, and in film, as the principal in Forrest Gump.
During the 1970s, he taught drama at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.
Anderson is best known for his roles as mailroom supervisor Mr. Gorpley on Perfect Strangers, the lawyer Holland Manners on the first two seasons of Angel, and as Bernard on Lost. He notably played the school principal in Forrest Gump. He is also known as the assistant manager of the Hotel Royale in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Royale”, and as Mike Seaver’s adversarial Principal DeWitt on Growing Pains.
In addition, he was one of the recurring actors on various episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati, playing various roles, including an immigration officer in the episode “The Americanization of Ivan”. Anderson has guest-starred in Season 8 of NCIS as Walter Carmichael, a middle school teacher whose classroom becomes a crime scene where one of his students is kidnapped.
Sam Anderson’s top movies and TV shows
Sam Anderson’s top movies are Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). La Bamba (1987), Dark Angel (1990), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), The Puppet Masters (1994), Forrest Gump (1994) Permanent Midnight (1998), NetForce (1999), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Water for Elephants (2011).
Sam Anderson’s top tv shows are Married to the Kellys 2003 – 2004, Perfect Strangers 1986 – 1993, The Sleepwalker Killing 1997, Painkiller, and Lost 2004 – 2010.
Sam Anderson awards and nominations
Sam Anderson 2019 was 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.
