Samuel J. Groom is an American actor noted for his work on television. Groom was born in Columbus, Ohio. Groom portrayed Tom Eldridge in the CBS drama Our Private World (1965),. Following the cancellation of that prime-time serial, he replaced Ronnie Welch as Lee Pollock on The Edge of Night before he replaced Joey Trent as Dr. Russ Matthews on Another World, and he played the title role in the syndicated television series Dr. Simon Locke (1971), and its spinoff, Police Surgeon. Groom appeared on Gunsmoke in 1972 and 1973 (episodes "No Tomorrow" and "The Child Between" respectively). He also played Hal Sterling, the father of a castaway family, on the 1980s science fiction television series Otherworld. During the 1980s, Groom also was a spokesperson for American Motors, appearing in many c