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Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American character actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).
Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest in the Bronx.He moved to Manhattan around age 19 to study acting under William Esper Studio in the Two-Year Professional Actor Training Program and work in theater.
Sandow made his debut appearing in an episode of television series Law & Order in 1992 and worked as a bartender while taking small acting jobs in New York City. He appeared in a number of films, such as Grind (1997), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), Return to Paradise (1998) and On the Run (1999). Sandow performed in the 1999 off-Broadway production of Halfway Home. He played mobster Henry Hill in the 2001 made-for-television crime drama film, The Big Heist. Sandow guest-starred on New York Undercover, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, How to Make It in America and Blue Bloods. He began his directing career in theater on Off-Off-Broadway directing Dark Yellow, Chicken and From Riverdale to Riverhead. In 2011 he directed the immigrant drama film, Ponies based on play with the same name.
In 2013, Sandow was cast in the Netflix comedy-drama series, Orange Is the New Black, as prison administrator Joe Caputo, was originally supposed to have been for a handful of episodes for the show's first season. Instead, his role was expanded during the second season, and Sandow was made a series regular with the start of the third season. He received three Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the cast. In 2015 he wrote, directed and acted in The Wannabe. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and later got a wider release. In 2017 he received News and Documentary Emmy Awards nomination for producing the documentary series, Time: The Kalief Browder Story. In 2021 he was regular cast member in the short-lived CBS crime drama series, Clarice.
