Actor and director Sam Wanamaker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Molly (Babell) and Maurice Wattenmaker, a tailor. He studied at DrakeUniversity, IA, then trained at Goodman Theatre, Chicago, worked withsummer stock companies in Chicago as an actor and director, and madehis London debut in 1952. In 1957, he was appointed director of the NewShakespeare Theatre, Liverpool, and in 1959 joined the ShakespeareMemorial Theatre company at Stratford-upon-Avon. He produced ordirected several works at Covent Garden and elsewhere in the 1960s and1970s, including the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations in 1974. Heworked both as director and actor in films and television, hisappearances includedThe Spiral Staircase (1975),Private Benjamin (1980),Superman IV: The Strongest Enemy (1987),andBaby Boom (1987).

Married toCharlotte Holland, his daughter is actressZoë Wanamaker.