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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jay O. Sanders, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2027Remain
• 2026Queens of Combat: Rome's Female Gladiators — Narrator
• 2025The Rise & Fall of the Colosseum — Narration
• Decoding the Universe — Narrator
• 2024Girl From the North Country — Nick Laine
• 2024His Three Daughters — Vincent
• 2024Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch — Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee
• 2023Outrage — Frank Brand
• 2023When You Finish Saving the World — Roger
• 2022BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths — Ambassador Jones
• 2022The Road to Galena — John Baird
• 2020And So We Come Forth — Richard Apple
• 2020Incidental Moments of the Day — Richard Apple
• 2020Regular Singing — Richard Apple
• 2020Sorry — Richard Apple
• 2020Sweet and Sad — Richard Apple
• 2020Tapes
• 2020That Hopey Changey Thing — Richard Apple
• 2020The Assistant — Boss (voice)
• 2020What Do We Need to Talk About? — Richard Apple
• 2019DC Noir — Sgt. Peters
• 2019NOVA: Decoding da Vinci — Narrator (voice)
• 2019Saving the Dead Sea
• 2019Secrets of the Dead: The Nero Files — Narrator (voice)
• 2019The Violin Alone — Narrator (voice)
• 2019Uncle Vanya — Vanya
• 2019World War Speed: The Drugs That Won WWII — Narrator
• 2018Broken Places — Narrator (voice)
• 2018NOVA: First Face of America — Narrator (voice)
• 2018NOVA: Prediction by the Numbers — Narrator (voice)
• 2018Vice — Governor
• 2017Catfight — Angry Guy
• 2017Ghosts of Stonehenge — Narrator (voice)
• 2017Holocaust Escape Tunnel — Narrator (voice)
• Manhunt — Watson Bryant
• 2017NOVA: Secrets of the Sky Tombs — Narrator (voice)
• 2017NOVA: Why Trains Crash — Narrator (voice)
• 2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play One: Hungry — George Gabriel
• 2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Three: Women of a Certain Age — George Gabriel
• 2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Two: What Did You Expect? — George Gabriel
• 2016Iceman Reborn — Narrator (voice)
• 2016NOVA: Life's Rocky Start — Narrator (voice)
• 2016NOVA: Mystery Beneath the Ice — Narrator (voice)
• 2016NOVA: Secret Tunnel Warfare — Narrator (voice)
• 2016Secrets of the Dead: Graveyard of the Giant Beasts — Narrator (voice)
• Blindspot — Bill Weller
• Chicago Med — Cray
• 2015Dawn of Humanity — Narrator (voice)
• 2015Inside Einstein's Mind: The Enigma of Space and Time — Narrator (voice)
• 2015NOVA: Secrets of Noah's Ark — Narrator (voice)
• 2015NOVA: The Great Math Mystery — Narrator (voice)
• 2015Northern Borders — Agent Sanders
• 2015Secrets of the Dead: The Real Trojan Horse — Narrator (voice)
• Sneaky Pete — Sam
• 2014The Gathering Swarms — Narrator (voice)
• True Detective — Billy Lee Tuttle
• 2013NOVA: Cold Case JFK — Narrator (voice)
• 2013NOVA: Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby? — Narrator (voice)
• 2013The River — Phil
• 2012Earth from Space — Narrator (voice)
• 2012NOVA: Secrets of the Viking Sword — Narrator (voice)
• 2012The Man Who Saved the World — Narrator (voice)
• 2011A Novel Romance — Walter Evans
• Body of Proof — Harvey Brady
• 2011Green Lantern — Carl Ferris
• Hunting the Edge of Space — Presenter
• 2011I'm Coming Over — Walter
• Pan Am — Douglas Vanderway
• Person of Interest — Special Counsel
• 2011The Jewel — Mr. Rothman
• Unforgettable — Jonathan Hedstrom
• Blue Bloods — Jimmy Reagan
• 2010Edge of Darkness — Whitehouse
• 2010Riddles of the Sphinx — Narrator (voice)
• 2010Secrets of Stonehenge — Narrator (voice)
• 2009I Hate Valentine's Day — Tim the Delivery Guy
• The Good Wife — Judge Hal Ferris
• 2009The Undying — Dr. Russell Lassiter
• 2008Cadillac Records — Mr. Feder
• 2008Kill the Day — Dr. Susskind
• 2008NOVA: Arctic Dinosaurs — Narrator (voice)
• 2008Revolutionary Road — Bart Pollock
• 2008The Dissection of Thanksgiving — Cliff
• Damages — Calder Security Executive
• 2007Greetings from the Shore — Commodore Callaghan
• 2007Happenstance — Bob
• 2007NOVA: Judgement Day - Intelligent Design on Trial — Narrator (voice)
• 2007The Valley of Light — Howard
• 2006Half Nelson — Russ Dunne
• 2006Wedding Daze — Sheriff
• 2004Hair High — Football Announcer (voice)
• 2004The Day After Tomorrow — Frank Harris
• 2003Abby Singer — Kevin's Father
• 2003Citizen Berlusconi — Narrator
• 2003D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear — Douglas Duncan
• Salem Witch Trials — Thomas Putnam
• Widows — Detective John Maynard
• 2001Along Came a Spider — Kyle Craig
• 2001Boss of Bosses — Joseph O'Brien
• 2001Dead Dog — Frank Edmonds
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent — Harry Rowan, Sr., Joseph Hannah
• 2001My Husband's Double Life — Patrick Hennessy Welsh
• 2001The Last Brickmaker in America — Mike Potter
• 2000Endsville — Bo Tatum
• 2000Picnic — Howard Bevens
• Secrets of the Dead — Narrator (voice)
• 2000Wild Costa Rica — Narrator
• Wonderland — Ed Butowski
• 1999ATF — Sam Sinclair
• 1999Earthly Possessions — Zack Emery
• 1999Music of the Heart — Dan Paxton
• 1999The Confession — Jack Renoble
• 1999The Jack Bull — Atty. Gen. Metcalfe
• 1999The Secret Life of Girls
• 1999Tumbleweeds — Dan Miller
• 1998The Odd Couple II — Leroy
• 1998Wrestling with Alligators — Rick
• 1997For Richer or Poorer — Samuel Yoder
• 1997Kiss the Girls — FBI Agent Kyle Craig
• 1997The Matchmaker — Senator John McGlory
• 1996Daylight — Steven Crighton
• 1996The Prosecutors — DA Alan Baker
• 1995Down Came a Blackbird — Jan Talbeck
• 1995Kiss of Death — Federal Agent
• Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years — Xander
• 1995Silver Strand — Lucas Hughes
• 1995The Big Green — Jay Huffer
• The Outer Limits — Ed Barkley
• 1995Three Wishes — Coach Schramka
• 1994Angels in the Outfield — Ranch Wilder
• New York Undercover — Howard
• 1994Nobody's Children — Joe Stevens
• 1994State of Emergency — Dr. Jeffrey Forrest
• 1993My Boyfriend's Back — Sheriff McCloud
• 1993Rio Shannon — John Cleary
• 1992Hostages — Terry Anderson
• 1991Defenseless — Bull Dozer
• 1991JFK — Lou Ivon
• 1991Meeting Venus — Stephen Taylor
• 1991V.I. Warshawski — Murray Ryerson
• Law & Order — Nick Taska / Bill Fallon, Defense Attorney Alan Fenwick
• 1990Mr. Destiny — Jackie Earle
• Northern Exposure — Dr. John Summer
• 1990Revealing Evidence: Stalking the Honolulu Strangler — Tom Marshall
• Booker — Gordon Rudd
• 1989Cold Sassy Tree — Clayton McAllister
• 1989Glory — Gen. George Crockett Strong
• 1989Just Like in the Movies — Ryan Legrand
• Roseanne — Ziggy
• 1988The Prince of Pennsylvania — Trooper Joe
• 1988The Revolt of Mother — Adam Penn
• 1988Tucker: The Man and His Dream — Kirby
• 1987The Misfit Brigade — Tiny
• Crime Story — Steve Kordo
• L.A. Law — Detective Michael Phillips
• Spenser: For Hire — Father Crawford
• 1984A Doctor's Story — Dr. Curtis
• Kate & Allie — Tim Merr
• Miami Vice — Det. Tim Duryea
• 1983Cross Creek — Charles Rawlings
• 1983Eddie Macon's Run — Rudy Potts
• 1983Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story — Dick Willey
• American Playhouse — Adam Penn
• 1982Hanky Panky — Katz
• Nature — Narrator (voice)
• 1981Starstruck — Mr. Miller
• Texas — Seth
• 1980The Day Christ Died — Peter
• 1979Starting Over — Larry
• The Scarlet Letter — Robert Salter
• ABC Afterschool Special — Mr. Miller
• Great Performances — Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Howard

Appearances as themselves (6)

• 2024Decoding the Universe: Cosmos — Self - Narrator
• 2024Decoding the Universe: Quantum — Self - Narrator
• Stars in the House — Self
• 2013NOVA: Ground Zero Supertower — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2011Adventures in Plymptoons! — Self
• NOVA — Self - Narrator (voice)