Sam Waterston's 4 Children: All About Elisabeth, Katherine, James and Graham

Sam Waterston has shared both the stage and the screen with his kids

Sam Waterston’s four children — James, Elisabeth, Katherine and Graham — have all followed in his footsteps.

The Law & Order star wed Barbara Rutledge Johns in 1964, per The New York Times. Though the couple ultimately split, they welcomed one child together, son James, during their marriage. The actor remarried and wed model Lynn Louisa Woodruff in 1976. The pair celebrated the arrival of three kids: daughters Elisabeth and Katherine and son Graham.

Sam paved the way for his children in Hollywood, with all of them pursuing creative careers both in front of and behind the camera. The Grace and Frankie star told The New York Times in July 2004 that he didn’t specifically set out to have his children become actors, but was happy with the outcome nonetheless, describing his parenting style as ''oversight without imposition.''

Here’s everything to know about Sam Waterston’s children: James, Elisabeth, Katherine and Graham.

James Waterston

Sam and Johns welcomed their first and only child together, son James, a handful of years after they married. The actor spoke to The New York Times in 1972 about the birth of his eldest child. “We went through the whole thing, natural childbirth, all the training. I was in the hospital, the delivery room," he said. "It was fantastic.”

Much like his father, who graduated from Yale University in 1962, James studied at the prestigious university where he received a degree in English with a minor in theater, according to the Los Angeles Times.

As an actor, he initially made his film debut in 1989’s Dead Poets Society as Gerard Pitts. James has several other acting credits across movies, stage and television productions, including Christy: Return to Cutter Gap, Red Oaks and several episodes across the Law & Order television franchise.

When it came to pursuing a career as an actor, James told the Los Angeles Times that his father was “very unopinionated” about the decision. He recalled Sam telling him, "'If you’re interested in this, here’s some books you should read. But there are a lot of other things to do in the world.' "

James decided on his career in time, citing the moments he spent on set and backstage as a child as partial inspiration. It wasn’t until he was an adult, however, that he realized acting was his true passion. “I didn’t really find out how exciting it was to act until I did a production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night when I was 26. And from there I thought, ‘This is what I want to do,’ ” he told the newspaper.

After appearing in a Pittsburgh production of the play, Playbill reported that James starred alongside his father in a 2000 stage production of Long Day's Journey Into Night in Syracuse, New York.

James has been married to Line Lillevik since 2000.

Elisabeth Waterston

Sam and Lynn welcomed their first child together, daughter Elisabeth, about a year after they wed.

Their elder daughter pursued a similar educational path as her father in addition to his career. Elisabeth graduated from Groton School in Massachusetts before attending Yale as a theater major.

As an actress, Elisabeth made appearances on several TV shows in the early 2000s, including Deadline and The Practice and also held a supporting role in 2004’s The Prince & Me. That same year, Elisabeth starred with her father in a production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in New York City's Central Park. Sam portrayed Leonato while she took on the role of his daughter, Hero.

In a July 2004 interview with The New York Times, Sam said their real-life dynamic added to their delivery. “The fact that we are father and daughter in real life gives the performance an extra bit of muscle," he explained.

Nearly two decades later, Sam and Elisabeth acted alongside each other once again, this time for the season 22 finale of Law & Order. She played his on-screen daughter, defense attorney Rebecca McCoy. While the moment marked Sam's 400th episode of the show, the milestone was bested by spending time on set with Elisabeth.

“That topped everything,” he told TV Insider in May 2023. “She’s a beautiful actress, quick to react, full of intelligence and ready emotion. I have three actor children and there isn’t anything more fun than acting with them.”

Elisabeth married her husband, actor Louis Cancelmi, in 2006. While they remain private about their personal lives, Cancelmi revealed on the Filmwax Radio podcast in February 2020 that the couple live outside of N.Y.C. with their two children.

Katherine Waterston

Sam and Lynn celebrated the arrival of their second child, daughter Katherine, a few years later.

Katherine attended The Loomis Chaffee School, where she graduated in 1998. Her father even served as the commencement speaker that year, according to the Hartford Courant. Afterward, she attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts to study acting.

Speaking to Town & Country in October 2015, Katherine said she didn’t initially aspire to be a professional actress. “I was so naive about the business," she explained. "Maybe I just perceived it as a grown-up world because it was what my father was doing.”

As an adult, Katherine made her debut in 2007's The Babysitters alongside Cynthia Nixon. She went on to appear in several stage productions, including Los Angeles in 2007 and Kindness a year later. In 2014, she had a breakout role in Inherent Vice, alongside Joaquin Phoenix before going on to star in the Fantastic Beasts series, appearing as Tina Goldstein in all three films.

While she referred to her father as “such a brilliant actor" in her discussion with Town & Country, she said that being his daughter didn’t necessarily help her book roles in the industry.

After noting that he was better at comforting her than giving advice, the actress said, "People think the advantage of a parent in the business is that they'll open doors for you. But the true advantage for me is having someone who knows exactly what you're going through. The business is mysterious and hard to navigate, and he really feels that way too.”

Katherine reflected on having a famous father again during a March 2021 interview with Collider, including opening up about some of her earliest memories of her dad.

"It's a strange thing when you're the child of a successful actor, because you don't see all the years of training and blood, sweat and tears and humiliating auditions. You just see them in their element,” she explained, noting that it “gives a child a very false sense of how the business works."

Katherine was previously in a relationship with playwright Adam Rapp for six years before the pair split, according to The Standard. In 2018, Katherine revealed she was expecting her first child but hasn't shared further details since.

During a July 2021 interview with the Financial Times, she gave rare comments about parenthood and discussed how becoming a mother affected her approach to characters.

“Before I had a kid it never occurred to me when I was cast as someone who had children that I needed to do research,” she said. “I thought: ‘Well, my siblings have children, I’ve been around a lot of kids, I was a kid once, I know what this is ... massive mistake. I regret every performance I did before I had kids where I played a mother because I didn’t know.”

Graham Waterston

Sam and Lynn completed their family with their third child, son Graham.

Like his older sister, Katherine, Graham attended college at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to study film, according to his bio for the Brooklyn Film Festival. After graduation, he began his career in film production before moving into production design.

He has created video installations for Fendi as a video designer, as well as for Rent star Anthony Rapp and Design Miami.

Graham directed his first short film, And It Was Good, in 2015, which starred his brother, James, dad, Sam, and brother-in-law, Cancelmi. The project even won the Spirit Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival.

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