Law & Order’s Fred Dalton Thompson Dies

Fred Dalton Thompson died Sunday, November 1, 2015, at the age of 73, in Nashville, TN, from a recurrence of lymphoma. Fred played DA Arthur Branch on Law & Order from 2002 to 2007, and also appeared on Law & Order spin-offs SVU, Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury and Conviction.

Before his tenure in the Law & Order universe, Fred had an impressive career in politics, serving as a U.S. senator from Tennessee and a candidate for president. He also served as committee counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee which investigated President Richard Nixon.

A full story of Fred’s life can be found here:

The Tennessean: Fred Thompson, with larger-than-life persona, dies at 73



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Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Thompson Attends Nixon's 100th Birthday Gala

Fred Thompson (Law & Order), along with Jeri Kehn,  attended President Nixon's 100th Birthday Gala on January 9, 2013 in Washington, United States. Here is a photo from this event.

Photo by: Kris Connor/Getty Images North America

For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Dalton Thompson Attends 137th Kentucky Derby

Fred Dalton Thompson (Law & Order) attended the 137th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. Here are photos of Fred’s arrival, including a photo of Fred with his wife Jeri Kehn and a guest.


Please note: I am sorry, but the photos are no longer available.

For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Dalton Thompson Appears on “The Good Wife: Foreign Affairs”

Here are two photographs from CBS of Fred Dalton Thompson’s appearance on last night’s “The Good Wife: Foreign Affairs.” Fred plays himself – and an attorney. (A few references were made to Fred’s previous role as a DA on Law & Order.)

Photo by JEFFREY NEIRA – © 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc.

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Fred Dalton Thompson Appears in “Secretariat”

Fred Dalton Thompson (Law & Order) will be appearing in the movie “Secretariat” which will be opening this weekend. Here’s the trailer which includes Fred.





For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Thompson on CNN’s American Morning

Fred Thompson (Law & Order), who is now a talk show host, was on CNN’s American Morning today, making some political comments that I don’t agree with. (If you want to read how I feel about politicians who wish for failure, I have it on my editorial blog, The Frequent Critic, here. I won’t force my opinions on Law & Order fans!)

Here’s a short video of Fred’s appearance on the show.







For the latest information, check out my blog home page, These Are Their Stories, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Thompson Moves To Radio

I always thought that former presidential candidate, former senator, and former fictional Law & Order DA Fred Dalton Thompson had a face best suited for radio. Now he gets his chance to add “radio talk show host” to his resume when the 2-hour The Fred Thompson Show debuts on March 2, replacing "The Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly."

His radio show will contain commentary on Fred’s conservative views on politics, plus topical issues with guest interviews and listener calls. The show will be broadcast from the Westwood One studios in Washington DC, and will air live from noon to 2 p.m. on weekdays. If it's anything like his presidential campaign, it will likely put listeners to sleep!





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Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Dalton Thompson Speaks Out on Sarah Palin

I try very hard to keep politics out of my Law & Order and my other non-political blogs. But in this case, I’ll make an exception since it involves the only Law & Order actor that spent a lot of his career as a respected politician...well, except up until recently!

Fred Dalton Thompson (“DA Arthur Branch”, Law & Order) made a case for his opinion that Sarah Palin is qualified to be the Vice President of the United States. For those of you who read my ”Frequent Critic” blog, you probably know exactly how I feel about Fred’s comments, so I won’t put them here. But I thought I’d share with you an except of Fred’s article, and you can read the entire piece on the ChronWatch web site and decide for yourselves.

Excerpt:
Here was a woman who chose to have children and a career. Aging Washington socialites weighed in with newly discovered sensitivity for mothers with careers outside the home. Here was a woman who became upset because her ex-brother-in-law had tasered her nephew and threatened her father. The Democrats and their friends had to save the country from a woman like this.

Governor Palin’s every comment was scrutinized by the media and judged against what Jefferson or Lincoln might have said. Never mind that her counterpart, the 30-year-Washington-veteran Joe Biden, apparently is unaware that America relies upon coal for a lot of its electricity or that he recently referred to a top level U.S. official’s visit to Iran that never happened. That’s just Joe being Joe--protected by the sheer number of his gaffes and the fact that he is Barack Obama’s running mate.

For a while there it seems the fact that so many uninformed yahoos (average people) love her was going to drive the main stream media nuts. They had a hard time grasping the fact that people like her because she is precisely the kind of politician that everyone has been saying they’ve wanted: Independent, not a captive of the Beltway including a Congress with a 9% approval rating, who will take on hacks of either party; who has the tenacity to win and the courage to fight for the long-term benefit of those she represents.

Read the rest at link.




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Also, see my companion Law & Order site, All Things Law & Order.

Fred Thompson Speaks at RNC Convention

Fred Thompson, former Tennessee Senator, one-time presidential candidate, and who also played DA Arthur Branch in the Law & Order Universe, gave a speech at the Republican National Convention last night. Here’s the video of his speech, and the AP Press release covering it. Maybe it’s just me, but he sounded like he was slurring his words a bit. It could be something as simple as a set of bad dentures. I know Fred was treated for cancer a while back, so I hope he is in good health.





Thompson raps Obama on abortion answer

Thompson raps Obama on abortion answer
By ANDREW DeMILLO

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Fred Thompson, "Law & Order" actor and former senator, used a Republican National Convention speech to denounce Barack Obama for declining to say when human life begins, although Thompson's own record on abortion is mixed.

"We need a president who doesn't think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade," Thompson said, according to excerpts of his remarks planned for Tuesday night.

The comment was a clear reference to an answer that Obama gave at a forum at California's Saddleback Church sponsored by the popular evangelical pastor Rick Warren. On a question referring to the number of abortions in the country, Warren asked Obama at what point he believed babies had human rights.

"Well, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade," the Illinois senator replied.

Obama supports abortion rights, while GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain is opposed. Thompson also is opposed, though he faced criticism during his presidential campaign because he lobbied in 1991 for an abortion rights group. He also answered a 1994 newspaper survey by saying, "The ultimate decision on abortion should be left with the woman and not the government."

After Monday's opening session of the convention was abbreviated and toned down in deference to Hurricane Gustav, Thompson's prepared remarks indicated politics was back on the agenda, with the actor highlighting McCain's status as a maverick.

Thompson said that McCain has the "kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders."

Best known recently as the gruff district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order," Thompson once was a rival of McCain. But the Tennessean dropped out of the presidential race in January after his much-anticipated campaign failed to gain strong support among conservatives.

Thompson's address included a defense of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose announcement as McCain's running mate has been overshadowed by disclosures that an attorney has been hired to represent Palin in an investigation into an Alaska controversy and that her unmarried daughter is pregnant.

"Let's be clear: the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic," Thompson said. "She is a courageous, successful, reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment."

Thompson said he believes McCain and Palin will "take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking."

He also said that McCain, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, has traveled to Iraq eight times since 2003 "seeking truth, not publicity.

"This man, John McCain, is not intimidated by what the polls say or what is politically safe or popular," Thompson said.

McCain restored people's faith in government by pushing for reform during his time in Washington, he added.

Said Thompson: "Confronting when necessary, reaching across the aisle when possible, John personified why we came to Washington in the first place."




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Fred Thompson (Smartly) Calls it Quits

Reuters

Fred Thompson, Republican actor-politician, quit his bid for the White House on Tuesday, January 22. This was after lackluster finishes in early primary and caucus states.

In a short statement, Thompson said, “Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort."

There seemed to be far more interest in Thompson before he officially threw his hat into the ring, when he seemed to rate high in the polls. This interest quickly died when Thompson seemed to lack the interest in, or the energy for, the campaign process, and his polls numbers took a subsequent dive as well.

The New York Times TV Decoder speculates:

“…will the actor Fred Thompson return to the comfortable set of the long-running NBC drama “Law & Order?

It looks unlikely, but the parties involved would be foolish to rule it out. Mr. Thompson played Arthur Branch, the Manhattan district attorney, on the NBC series until May. Mr. Branch’s long-time deputy Jack McCoy, played by Sam Waterston, was promoted to the top job in the most recent season of the series, which premiered Jan. 2.

If Mr. Thompson does re-appear on “Law & Order,” it would likely not occur until the 2008/09 television season, and even then, he would probably only appear in a cameo. Dick Wolf, the creator of “Law & Order,” was not available to comment on Tuesday.”

Hopefully, Dick Wolf et.al. won’t even consider bringing Thompson back, even for a cameo role. Sam Waterston seems to be doing an excellent job in his role of District Attorney Jack McCoy, thank you. And Sam looks happier than ever. I don't think the show needs Fred's help.

So long Fred – here’s one Law & Order fan that won’t miss you, either on the show or the campaign trail.

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here.

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All Things Law & Order.