Jay O. Sanders

Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American actor who has worked in theatre, film, and TV, known for JFK (1991). He frequently appears in plays at The Public Theatre in New York City.[1]

Early life and education
Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, Texas, to Phyllis Rae (née Aden) and James Olcutt Sanders.[2] After attending the acting conservatory at SUNY Purchase, Sanders made his Off-Broadway debut in a Shakespeare in the Parkproduction of Henry V in 1976.[3] He played Bradley in the first New York production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child in 1978.[4]

Career
Sanders has had a long career in film and television. He is perhaps most recognized for his work in the blockbuster films The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Green Lantern (2011).[5] He has appeared in many other notable films, however, including Glory (1989), Mr. Destiny (1990), JFK (1991), Angels in the Outfield (1994), The Big Green (1995), Daylight (1996), Kiss the Girls (1997), For Richer or Poorer (1997), Half Nelson (2006), Cadillac Records (2008) and Revolutionary Road (2008).[6]

On television, Sanders played mob lawyer Steven Kordo in the 1986–88 NBCdetective series Crime Story. He played Norbert "Ziggy" Walsh on two episodes of Roseanne. He played recurring characters on shows such as Person of Interest and True Detective. He is the narrator for the PBS series Wide Anglefrom 2002–2009 and has served as narrator for a number of Nova episodes starting in 2007.[7]

On stage, Sanders has appeared on Broadway in Loose Ends (1979),[8] The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1983),[9] Saint Joan (1993),[10] and Pygmalion (2007).[11][12]

Off-Broadway, he appeared as George W. Bush in Sir David Hare's Stuff Happensin 2006.[13][14] He then played in a string 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).[15]

Sanders appeared in the Richard Nelson Apple Family Plays, a series of plays which ran Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in 2010 (That Hopey Changey Thing), 2011 (Sweet and Sad), 2012 (Sorry), and 2013 (Regular Singing).[16]

Sanders has appeared in more plays by the Delacorte Theatre (Shakespeare in Central Park) than any other actor to date.[17]

In 2015, Sanders debuted his first play, Unexplored Interior, about the Rwandan Genocide, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C.[18]