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Who is Sam Jaeger?
A versatile and accomplished actor with over 50 acting credits to his name, Sam Jaeger caught the industry’s attention with his breakout role as Joel Graham in the critically acclaimed series “Parenthood”. His exceptional talent and dedication quickly led to a myriad of roles in both independent and mainstream projects. From heartwarming dramas to intense thrillers, Sam showed why the critics are impressed with him, with many of them saying that Sam embarked on his acting journey with passion and determination.
More about his journey from “Law & Order” to “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and all about his life, you’ll find here.
Early life, family, and education
Born Samuel Heath Jaeger under the zodiac sign of Aquarius on 29 January 1977, Sam is today aged 46. A native of Toledo, Ohio USA, he holds American nationality, and his ethnicity is of mixed German, English, Scottish and Irish descent, raised by his parents, Charles and LeAnne (nee Graening), alongside his three siblings, whose names he hasn’t shared since they prefer to keep their lives away from the media’s attention.
Sam dreamed of becoming an actor from an early age, and upon matriculating from Perrysburg High School in 1995, he enrolled at Otterbein College, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, in 1999. While at college, he made his television series debut, and after he graduated, Sam moved to New York City, where he worked in a casting office, concurrently auditioning. He performed in several theater stages, and then moved to Los Angeles, California to follow his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor.
Roles in series
Sam made his first TV series appearance as Bill Conway in an episode of the popular crime-drama series “Law & Order” in 1999. He was next seen as Bill Kelley in an episode of the political drama “The West Wing” in 2000, and in the following year, he landed a guest role as Andy Paulsen in “That’s Life”.
Sam was next cast to play Kevin O’Neil in the 2002 drama “Girls Club”, followed by his guest roles in “Scrubs” (2003), “NYPD” (2004), “Commander in Chief” (2006), and “Notes from the Underbelly” (2007).
In the following year, Sam landed the role of Matt Dowd in the series “Eli Stone”, and during 2008 and 2009, he was seen in 26 episodes of this comedy-drama about Eli Stone, a San Francisco lawyer who begins to see things, later realizing that they are caused by his brain aneurysm. The show was nominated for the Prism Award-Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline.
#Parenthood throwback! Sam Jaeger and Erika Christensen revisited Joel and Julia’s house. (Bring on the tears!) https://t.co/fRlWXXImok pic.twitter.com/mPoXSZuj1o
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) July 20, 2017
From 2010 through 2015, Sam played his most recognizable role to date, as Joel Graham in “Parenthood”. He made an appearance in 103 episodes, starring opposite Peter Krause, Lauren Graham and Dax Shepard. The show followed the lives and tragedies of the Braverman family; it had 41 award nominations, including one for Primetime Emmy, and 15 wins.
Two years later, Sam was seen as Richard in the TV mini-series “When We Rise”, and later in 2017, he played Detective Les Zoeller in the mini-series “Law & Order True Crime”, also starring Eddie Falco. Sam followed with his role as Tim Powell in the thriller “Tell Me a Story”, the show in which popular fairy tales are intertwined in a subversive story of love, greed, revenge, loss, and murder. Sam was seen in ten episodes during 2018 and 2019.
Concurrently, he was cast to play Mark Tuello in “The Handmaid’s Tale”, a science-fiction thriller, starring Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, and Yvonne Strahovski, which follows the story of a woman forced to live as a concubine and handmaid after trying to escape from Gilead, a country where women are second-class citizens. The show had 277 award nominations and 88 wins, including 15 Primetime Emmys. Sam was seen in 19 episodes between 2018 and 2022, and he shares with the rest of the crew nominations for the Screen Guild Award (Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series), and Pena de Prata Award (Best Ensemble in a Drama Series).
Concurrently with “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Sam was seen in “Why Women Kill” (2019), “The Politician” (2019-2020), and “Devil in Ohio” (2022).
Roles in movies
Sam made his film debut as a Waiter in the 1999 TV movie “Double Platinum”. Two years later, he landed his first big-screen role as Red Crown Operator in the action drama “Behind Enemy Lines”, starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman.
Later in 2002, Sam was seen as Captain R. G. Sisk in the war drama “Hart’s War”, starring Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, and Terrence Howard, followed by Sam’s role as Deputy in Clint Eastwood’s “Blood Work”.
His next movie role came in 2004 when he was cast to play Jerry’s Best Friend in the comedy “Sexual Life”. Later that year Sam landed his first lead role, as Dave Reichart in the biographic crime drama “The Riverman”, based on the series of interviews with Ted Bundy, a serial killer.
Sam was next cast to play Nick Fisher in the 2006 thriller “Lucky Number Slevin”, starring Morgan Freeman and Josh Hartnett, which was nominated for the Golden Schmoes Award for Most Underrated Movie of the Year.
Next, Sam was seen in “Within” (2009), and two years later in the romantic comedy, “Take Me Home”, which he also wrote and directed. The movie had four wins, including the Las Vegas International Film Festival Golden Ace Award for Feature Film.
Sam followed with his roles in “The Truth About Emanuel” (2013), “American Sniper” (2014), and “To Dust Return” (2015), among others.
In 2016, he landed the role of Paul Davidson in the historical comedy “Brave New Jersey”, which followed the story of a small town in New Jersey whose citizens, among millions of others, also believed that the US had been invaded by Martians after hearing Orson Welles’ 1938 Radio Show “War of the Worlds”. Sam and his co-stars won the Phoenix Festival Award for Best Ensemble Acting.
In the following year, Sam was seen starring as Travis Hall in the action thriller “S.W.A.T: Under Siege”, which was his first lead role. However, the movie was poorly rated. Most recently, Sam was seen in “Asylum: Twisted Horror and Fantasy Tales” (2020), and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (2021).
Love life and wife
Since the beginning of his acting career, Sam has been the subject of various rumors about his dating history, however, it’s widely known that he’s been a married man since 2007. Sam met his future wife, Amber Marie Mellot, while they were both studying at Otterbein College. It is assumed that she was married before since she has a daughter named Aubrey, born in 1995. However, Amber hasn’t spoken about Aubrey’s father and her relationship with him, so the assumption about her marriage stays unconfirmed.
Sam and Amber married on 25 August 2007, in an outdoor, double-ring ceremony held at a resort in Logan, Ohio. The couple welcomed their first son, August in 2010, while their second son, Redford, was born in 2014, and the youngest, Calvin in 2016.
Amber is also an actress, and was seen starring in the movie “Take Me Home”.
As of July 2023, the family of six is living in their residence in Los Angeles, California.
How rich is Sam Jaeger?
Sam’s appeared in hit movies alongside some huge celebrities, and has earned some important TV series parts, which besides fame brought him decent wealth. According to sources, as of July 2023, his net worth has been estimated at over $2.5 million.
