Sanford's most notable roles are Narim in Stargate SG-1 and Simon Wallace in Stargate Atlantis. In 1994-95, he played Captain Taylor Shields in the historical Adventure series Hawkeye. Sanford has also made guest appearances on such television series as Smallville, Airwolf, North of 60, MacGyver, Sliders, Dead Man's Gun, Highlander: The Series, Merlin's Apprentice, The Odyssey, The Outer Limits, Earth: Final Conflict, Dark Angel, The 4400, Eureka, So Weird and Supernatural. He appeared in Another Cinderella Story as Rod Parker, Joey's father. He has also appeared in several Bryan Adams music videos.