Waxman's career began at the age of twelve on CBC Radio, but it was not until 1975, when he began playing the role of Larry King on CBC's King of Kensington, that he became a Canadian icon.
In the 1980 award-winning film Atlantic City, starring Burt Lancaster, Waxman appeared as a rich cocaine buyer with a seemingly endless amount of cash.
Waxman, who attended Central Technical School in Toronto, returned to play Detective Stewiski in Class of 1984 (1982).
During the 1980s, Waxman starred as the gruff but endearing Lt. Bert Samuels in the highly successful CBS television drama Cagney & Lacey.
During the 1990s, Waxman appeared in a variety of films and television shows, but began spending more time acting and directing in the theatre. In 1991, Al hosted Missing Treasures: The Search for Our Lost Children, a TV show which profiled missing children in . He was also a founding member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.