Samuel Wanamaker (né Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director, whose career on stage and in film and television spanned five decades. He began his career on Broadway, but spent much of his professional life in the United Kingdom, where he emigrated after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950s due to his communist views.

Wanamaker became extensively involved in British theater, while continuing film and television work, eventually returning to some Hollywood productions while continuing to live in the UK. There, he is also credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London, where he is commemorated in the name of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the site's second theatre. He was awarded an honorary CBE for his work.

Wanamaker was the father of actress Zoë Wanamaker, and the uncle of film historian Marc Wanamaker.

Wanamaker was born in Chicago, the son of tailor Maurice Wattenmacker (Manus Watmakher)^[1] and Molly (née Bobele). His parents were both Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire.^[2] His father Maurice was from Mykolaiv, in present-day Ukraine.^[3] He was the younger of two brothers, the elder being William, who became a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

He trained at the Goodman School of Drama, then at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) and at Drake University. He began working with summer stock theatre companies in Chicago and northern Wisconsin, where he helped build the stage of the Peninsula Players Theatre in 1937.

Wanamaker began his acting career in traveling shows and later worked on Broadway. In 1942, he starred with Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Lorraine and directed Two Gentlemen from Athens the following year.^[4]

In 1943, Wanamaker was part of the cast of the play Counterattack at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. During the play, he became enamored of the ideals of communism. He attended Drake University before serving in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946, during World War II. In 1947, he returned to civilian life as an actor and director. In 1948, he starred in and directed the original Broadway production of Goodbye, My Fancy.^[5]

In 1951, Wanamaker made a speech welcoming the return of two of the Hollywood Ten. In 1952, at the height of the McCarthy "Red Scare" period, Wanamaker, who was then acting in the UK, learned that despite his distinguished service in the Army during World War II, his years as a communist could lead to his being blacklisted in Hollywood.^[a] He consequently decided to remain in England, where he reestablished his career as a stage and film actor, along with becoming a director and producer.^[7] He explained:

In 1940, Wanamaker married Canadian actress Charlotte Holland.

In the 1970s, he reportedly entered into a long-lasting personal relationship with the American actress Jan Sterling. In the 2014 memoir I Said Yes to Everything, Lee Grant claimed that during production of the film Voyage of the Damned (1976), Wanamaker engaged in an affair with British actress Lynne Frederick, who was 21 at the time.^[19]

Actress Zoë Wanamaker (b. 1949) is his daughter, and film historian Marc Wanamaker (b. 1947) is his nephew.^[20]

• Sam Wanamaker at IMDb
• Sam Wanamaker at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sam Wanamaker at Theatricalia
• "The Building of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse" on YouTube, video
• Interview with Sam Wanamaker, September 18, 1992 [Mostly about directing opera]