Sam Rockwell

American actor known for offbeat independent film roles.

Samuel Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor known for offbeat and charismatic character roles in independent films over a career spanning more than three decades. He has received an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Silver Bear, along with nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.

Quick Facts

Born: 5 November 1968
Birthplace: Daly City, California, U.S.
Education: William Esper Studio
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1988–present
Partner: Leslie Bibb (2007–present)

Facts from the source article.

Did You Know?

Rockwell has never been married and said in 2007 that he does not want to become a parent.
He has been in a long-term relationship with actress Leslie Bibb since 2007.
In 2013, Rockwell contracted Lyme disease and was briefly hospitalized.

Early life and education

Sam Rockwell, the only child of actors Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess, was born in Daly City, California. His parents split when he was five, and he grew up with his father in San Francisco, spending summers with his mother in New York. At ten, he joined his mom onstage for a quick turn as Humphrey Bogart in an East Village improv sketch. He started high school at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts but finished at Urban Pioneers, an alternative school. Later, he trained at New York’s William Esper Studio.

Career

Rockwell's film debut was in the horror film Clownhouse (1989), produced by Francis Ford Coppola; the film was later pulled from distribution after its director was convicted of abusing the 12-year-old male star. Rockwell moved to New York and trained at the William Esper Studio, joining the LAByrinth Theater Company in 1992. In the early 1990s he alternated between television guest spots on series such as The Equalizer, NYPD Blue, and Law & Order, and small film roles including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He also worked as a busboy, delivered burritos by bicycle, and briefly as a private detective's assistant. A well-paying Miller commercial in 1994 allowed him to pursue acting full-time. The turning point came with Tom DiCillo's independent film Box of Moonlight (1996), in which he played a Tennessee hillbilly; the acclaim from that role put him on the independent film map and led to further roles in Lawn Dogs, Safe Men, and Jerry and Tom.