Played by: Scott Bakula
Job: Quantum Physicist / Leaper (currently lost in time)
First Appearance: Pilot Episode, ?Genesis? (original series)
Social Security Number: 563-86-9801
DOD UMBRA Clearance Number: 004-02
Drivers License Number: 5738457, expires 1998
Address: P.O. Box 555 Stallions Gate, New Mexico 87901-4093
Date of Birth: August 8, 1953
At an early age Sam showed he was gifted. He learned how to read at the young age of two, could do advanced calculus in his head at age five. Despite being so exceptional, Sam grew up having a fairly normal childhood. He grew up on a dairy farm, helping his father with the chores.
In the fall of 1970, Same went away to college at MIT. He went through four years of college in two years and became the youngest ever to graduate summa cum laude. Dr. Beckett has a photographic memory, which has aided him in his endeavors. He has earned six doctorates; some of them being Music, Medicine, Quantum Physics (which is his gift), Archaeology and Ancient Languages (Japanese, French, Spanish, German, and Egyptian hieroglyphics). He won a Nobel Prize and for this, Time Magazine called him the "next Einstein." He also knows several kinds of Martial Arts and only uses them when defending himself.
Dr. Beckett's sole purpose in the making of the Project Quantum Leap was to view the past; to revisit places to see what had actually happened; to see people that were already gone. Sam's father, John, died when Sam was twenty-one and Sam carries a load of guilt on him because he was not able to be there for his family.
Sam met Albert Calavicci in the lab at a project called Star Bright. Sam helped out the naval officer from being washed out of the project. Sam saw that there was a terrific person inside and went to bat for Al, helping him through one of the toughest times in his life. In return, Al repaid the favor for fighting for funding for Project Quantum Leap.
Al seems Sam as terminally good, and characterized him as a Boy Scout, but the truth is that Sam actually does want to help people and "put right what once went wrong." Sam sees himself as the champion of underdogs everywhere.
Dr. Beckett's immediate family consists as follows:
Father:
John Samuel Beckett: Named after his grandfather. Sam's father died in 1973 of a heart attack. John was a kind man who never degraded his wife. He smoked, and claimed he was healthy because he worked hard, slept good, and ate plenty of dairy products. He worked on the dairy farm, sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. Despite his hard work, the farm was taken away from him.
Mother:
Thelma Louise Beckett: Thelma is a wonderful cook, according to Sam. She was a very patient woman and she thought that Women's Lib was probably a good thing - for other women. She is currently residing in Hawaii.
Sister:
Katherine Beckett/Bonnick: She was born in 1957, during a flood. She got married for the first time at the age of seventeen to get away from the farm. Her husband abused her, and she got out of the marriage. Later she married Navy officer, Lt. Jim Bonnick. She currently resides in Hawaii with their two children and her mother.
Brother:
Lt. Thomas Beckett USN: Sam's older brother was a talented athlete and made All-State in 1964. He finished his SEAL training in 1969. In the original history, Tom died on April 8, 1970. Sam changed that.