Posted on 08/17/2002 7:23:08 AM PDT by The Raven
| URL: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/politics/article/0,1406,KNS_356_1331128,00.html |
By Nancy Zuckerbrod, Associated Press Writer
August 17, 2002
WASHINGTON - Retiring U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson is expected to return to his acting and legal roots as the new chief prosecutor on NBC's "Law & Order."
His Senate term ends in January, but he is in talks with Universal Television to appear regularly during the show's 13th season beginning Oct. 2, according to a source close to the negotiations. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a contract had not yet been finalized.
The Tennessee Republican would replace Dianne Wiest, who played a district attorney during the past two seasons. He also could appear on two "Law & Order" spin-offs, "Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent."
Thompson spokesman Harvey Valentine would not comment on the talks and said the senator was in Romania Friday on a congressional trip and could not be reached for comment. Valentine said Thompson would finish his term regardless of any outside projects he undertook.
Filming for the series already is under way, according to NBC. Neither NBC nor Universal would comment on the talks. "When someone is signed to a final deal, we'll make that known," NBC spokeswoman Caroline Perez said.
Thompson was chief minority counsel on the committee investigating Watergate in 1973. He later represented the head of the Tennessee Parole Board, who was fired after exposing a pardon-selling scheme. The story became a movie titled "Marie," and the producers asked Thompson to play himself.
It was the first of nearly 20 film roles for the 6-foot-6 actor with a booming voice. Some of his other credits include "In the Line of Fire" and "The Hunt for Red October." His small screen roles have included appearances on "Wiseguy," "Matlock" and "Roseanne."
Thompson, who turns 60 Monday, was elected to former Vice President Al Gore's old Senate seat in a 1994 special election. He won a full term two years later.
Thompson unexpectedly announced in March that he was retiring, citing personal reasons. That decision came shortly after his daughter, 38-year-old Elizabeth Thompson Panici, died.
Thompson married political and media specialist Jeri Kehn in June.
Copyright 2002, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
Garbage!!!!
Fred was great in his role on "Wiseguy". He played a con artist named Knox Poolie who ran an anti-semitic white supremecist group. He came off like David Duke but really was only interested in selling books. There was a great scene where he was on a TV show exchanging insults with an ADL type. Afterwards they meet in the restroom and chat cordially about each other's book sales. At the end one of his followers kills a cop and commits suicide, spoiling his scam. The last scene has him in Florida selling a condo to an elderly Jewish couple.
Regardless wheter or not he is a good Senator, he took a seat from the DemcRATS. In fact it was the exact same seat that Algore occupied prior to becoming Vice-President. Remember, if Tennessee had voted for Algore in 2000, he would be President right now. The fact that both Senators and the governor (although he's a major RINO) were campaigning for Bush rather than Algore probably helped a great deal in denying Algore his home state.
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