TVSquad's Best "L&O" Guest Stars

[JamesG]

Best "Law & Order" Guest Stars
by Jane Murphy
posted May 29th 2010


With TNT's reported pass on providing a home for new episodes of "Law & Order" (or 'Law & Order Prime,' if you please), we move through denial to acceptance. Sigh.

Goodbye Cutter, Rubirosa and Lupo. Sure, we sympathize with those who stopped watching. For some, the "O" in "L&O" will always stand for 'Orbach'.




Truth is, we'll miss the guest stars as much as the regulars.

During the show's 20-year run, "L&O's" visitors almost always matched the series' stellar cast. From up-and-comers to Broadway veterans, Manhattan is an island of great actors, and "L&O" used them all.

Another consistent casting coup of this serious procedural – comedians appeared in many a killer role.



Since there are over 450 episodes to choose from, here's our stab at some of the most memorable guest stars from 'L&O Prime's' lifetime






Zach Galifiankis





Okay, he never appeared on "L&O" (but wouldn't he make a great defense attorney on "Law & Order: Los Angeles"?)

Back in March, he headlined a Digital Short. In "Zach Drops by the Set", Galifiankis hilariously disrupts the production of several NBC shows.

And you say Lupo and Bernard never cracked a smile.


*Note: If you click the website link on the bottom you can watch the video of this.









Claire Danes





As a wannabe supermodel in an episode called 'Skin Deep,' she's a suspect in a photographer's death.

Danes' precocity was on full display; she was barely 13 when the episode aired in 1992.

Her star-making role, in "My So Called Life", would be on ABC's schedule two years later.









Tovah Feldshuh





The mamma from Kissing Jessica Stein recurred as ardent defense counsel Danielle Melnick.

Her first "L&O" case was against original A.D.A. Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) -- Feldshuh's appearances spanned 16 of the show's 20 years.

In Melnick's career, she made friends (Jack McCoy was an admiring adversary) and enemies (in season 13, she survives a gunshot wound).









Laura Linney





At her brittle best in 'Blue Bamboo.' This 1994 episode showcases Linney as an ambitious singer looking for a break.

When she's hauled in for the murder of her ex-boss, she fesses up with steel in her voice, claiming self-defense.

The two-time Emmy winner will return to television later this year in Showtime's "The Big C".









Denis O'Hare





In 1996, little-known character actor Denis O'Hare won the tricky role of a homicidal schizophrenic in 'Pro Se.'

Before the troubled man's murder trial begins, he resumes taking his anti-psychotic medication and asks to defend himself. Turns out, he's a legal genius.

O'Hare's transitions from proficiency to insanity are astonishing.


The actor is now nearly ubiquitous, flipping out on George Clooney in Michael Clayton and soon to be seen in "True Blood".









Jerry Adler





Best known as Hesh the loan shark on "The Sopranos", Adler was unforgettable in season 7's 'I.D.' as past-his-prime judge Nathan Marks.

Judge Marks' compulsive harassment of Jamie (Carey Lowell) threatens to derail the state's case.

This episode also provides one of Steven Hill's best moments as D.A. Adam Schiff, when he tells his old friend Nathan it's time to step down.









Regina Taylor





In 1993, Sam Waterston and Regina Taylor were Emmy-nominated for their roles on the NBC drama "I'll Fly Away".

After "Fly's" cancellation, both found work with Dick Wolf.

Waterston has been on "L&O" ever since, and Taylor was wrenching as a reluctant accuser in 'Virtue,' a compelling season 5 episode.









Larry Miller





Two episodes starring the bravely abrasive Miller explore the question: can you get 20 to life for being really annoying?

In 1994's 'Coma,' Michael Dobson (Miller) possesses a personality so off-putting that it may be the prosecution's ace in the hole.

Two years later, the appropriately titled 'Encore' sees Miller's return as Dobson, and for a suspiciously similar crime.









Chevy Chase





Arguably, Cornelius Crane Chase does his best work on NBC.

In a 17th season episode called 'In Vino Veritas,' "Saturday Night Live's" first breakout star and current "Community" regular appears as an actor between gigs.

Things begin to unravel for Chase's Mitch Carroll when he's brought into the 2-7 on a DWI and launches into an anti-Semitic tirade.



"L&O" isn't always Ripped From the Headlines, but we'll let you, and a certain Oscar-winning actor-director, be the judge on this one.









John Doe





The plot of 'Blaze' recalled the tragic Rhode Island nightclub fire of 2003.

Punk pioneer Doe is piercing as a smug rock star pestered by a teenage fan


In addition to "L&O", Doe has guest starred on everything from "Party of Five" to "Wizards of Waverly Place".









The Sklar Brothers





Stunt casting was rare on "L&O", and neither Randy nor Jason Sklar -- stand-up comics by trade -- will ever grace 'Masterpiece Theatre.'

But we have to admit it's fun trying to solve the mystery of 2005's 'Dining Out' when two of the suspects are identical twins (they're pictured, looking less identical).









Tony Hale





Buster, is that you?
To Bluth-iacs, the "Arrested Development" cast member will always be long-suffering youngest sib Buster Bluth.


This year, Hale also suffered plenty -- but not for laughs -- in a mid-season "L&O" episode.

As a father caught in an international custody dispute, he was at times enraged or quietly desperate -- Hale kept you guessing.

'Brazil' was perhaps the best episode of "L&O's" final season.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/05/29/be...r-guest-stars/

[catlover79]

I remember most of those guest performances. Tovah Feldshuh was one of my favorite recurring guest stars (and a terrific actress, period - she and Michael Moriarty also both appeared in the 1978 miniseries Holocaust).