Sam Henderson is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Film at Baylor University. In 2023, Sam was selected by the Provost as one of 10 Baylor Fellows, a recognition of Professors across the disciplinary spectrum who exemplify excellence in teaching. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from Baylor University and his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The Old Globe Professional Actor Training Program through the University of San Diego. At The Old Globe, Sam also wrote, directed and performed his one-man show, The Man with the Horn, about the life of Miles Davis, as his thesis production.
In New York, Sam was a teaching artist with the Coming Up Taller (presented by Michelle Obama) Award-winning, Off-Broadway theatre, Epic Theatre Ensemble. He was involved with several castings working alongside Suzanne Ryan (Law and Order) and Martin Scorsese’s longtime casting director and collaborator, Ellen Lewis (Boardwalk Empire).
As a professional actor, Sam has become a mainstay at the Tony-award winning (2017) Dallas Theater Center, where he has appeared as Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop, Romeo and Juliet, Our Town and the annual classic, A Christmas Carol (featured in The New York Times). At DTC, he was also set to appear in Dominic Morrisseau’s Pipeline in Spring 2020. Also in the DFW area, Sam performed in the Regional Premiere of Under the Skin, winner of the DFW Critics’ Choice Award for Best Ensemble, at Circle Theatre; August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at the oldest running African-American theatre in North Texas, Jubilee Theatre; Hillary and Clinton by Lucas Hnath and Lynn Nottage’s Mlima’s Tale at Second Thought Theatre; as Coach Jones in King Liz at Amphibian Stage Productions, and as Torvald in A Doll’s House at WaterTower Theatre.
On screen, Sam is a SAG-eligible performer who has appeared in numerous short films and in print ads and commercials for FedEx and Bestway. Sam can also be seen in Chris Hansen’s award-winning feature film, Blur Circle, and in the LA Film Festival Best Picture nominee, A Country Called Home, produced by Nicolas Gonda (Tree of Life, To the Wonder) and starring Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later, Knight of Cups).
However, Sam’s creative passion mostly lies within his work as an award-winning film director and writer and co-founder of the filmmaking venture, 4amtentrevial, whose most recent short film, BREAK, shot on black and white 35mm, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Austin Film Festival and went on to screen at the Oscar-qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival. It was nominated for Outstanding Music at the Micheaux Film Festival in Los Angeles and won Best Drama Short at Cincinnati’s Cindependent Film Festival. Sam’s earlier film, Con Alma, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying RSF Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and again at the St. Louis International Film Festival, as well. Con Alma was also a finalist for WeScreenplay Diverse Voices competition.
In 2016, Sam made his first foray into television writing, winning the Cine Pitchfest, Sponsored by the A+E Network, with the teleplay, The Walls. A community drama set in 90s-Huntsville, Texas, The Walls won a direct pitch to the Director of Scripted Programming in the spring of 2017, was selected as a Second Rounder at Austin Film Festival and is currently seeking representation. After the run of Satchmo, Sam will be going to Los Angeles to shoot his next short film, ADO, starring the beloved actress and Hollywood icon, Jenifer Lewis.
Sam is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.