Sam Weisman was born in Binghamton, New York, and attended Deerfield Academy and Yale University, where he began acting in and directing plays. On graduation he taught high school English but decided to return to full-time education, this time earning a masters degree in fine arts for acting and directing at Brandeis University. He then started working as an actor on the New York stage and, moving to Los Angeles, took a recurring role in TV comedy series 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'. After several other television roles he took up directing such shows as 'Moonlighting' and 'L.A. Law' and in 1994 made his big screen debut with the sequel to 'The Mighty Ducks'.