Val Avery. I'm not thinking of any particular role, but he played a cop or a mobster in practically every crime film of the 60s and 70s. It got so he didn't need to do anything but appear on screen to lend the movie authenticity.
Yes to Frank Pembleton (and Andre Braugher is amusing on the otherwise weak Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Andy Sipowicz. Also Phil Esterhaus on HILL STREET BLUES. Robert Ironside.
Jackie said Sipowicz but she also liked Cagney & Lacey.
The partners at the center of LIFE (played by Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis)...the cast of HOMICIDE and THE WIRE...the marshals of JUSTIFIED and KAREN SISCO...William Conrad as radio cop Matt Dillon...CAGNEY AND LACEY...SOUTHLAND was pretty solid, indeed, as was COLUMBO (in the first series, not even Falk could quite carry the revival)...really, too many.
I did prefer the other pairings on CRIMINAL INTENT, such as Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra (as the Sherlock of that duo), then with Julianne Nicholson and Alicia Witt (whom I've enjoyed this season on JUSTIFIED)...and the tall duo of Saffron Burrows and Jeff Goldblum, possibly the tallest duo in any cop show so far.
Jerry Orbach, Andre Braugher(Pretty much the whole cast of Homicide could be listed)and Timothy Olyphant. Never could stand Dennis Franz or Cagney & Lacey.
In BANSHEE, Jeff, the protagonist finds out that by pretending to be a cop tends to make him a cop (uniform and even more expectations can make the man)...and the rest of the small-town force is interesting as well.
No love for the Brits? John Nettles as Bergerac or Barnaby; John Thaw as Morse; David Jason as Frost. (Although I can't stand the TV incarnations of Dalziel and Pascoe.) Stateside, no one will top Jerry Orbach as Lenny Briscoe--he really inhabited that character.
Frank Pembleton
ReplyDeleteLester Freeman
Val Avery. I'm not thinking of any particular role, but he played a cop or a mobster in practically every crime film of the 60s and 70s. It got so he didn't need to do anything but appear on screen to lend the movie authenticity.
ReplyDeleteClint Eastwood as DIRTY HARRY.
ReplyDeleteYes to Frank Pembleton (and Andre Braugher is amusing on the otherwise weak Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Andy Sipowicz. Also Phil Esterhaus on HILL STREET BLUES. Robert Ironside.
ReplyDeleteJackie said Sipowicz but she also liked Cagney & Lacey.
Jeff M.
How could I forget Cagney and Lacey!
ReplyDeleteLots of memorable cops.
As you know, I'm not impressed with hyperreal acting. I like the quirky characters:
ReplyDeleteVincent D'Onofrio as Goren in LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT
Jack Soo on BARNEY MILLER - the perfect example of the cop fed up with the routine of all the desk work, and done with wry humor
Teresa Graves on GET CHRISTIE LOVE! "You're under arrest, sugar!"
I don't think I ever saw CHRISTY LOVE.
ReplyDeleteI liked GET CHRISTY LOVE a lot as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThe partners at the center of LIFE (played by Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis)...the cast of HOMICIDE and THE WIRE...the marshals of JUSTIFIED and KAREN SISCO...William Conrad as radio cop Matt Dillon...CAGNEY AND LACEY...SOUTHLAND was pretty solid, indeed, as was COLUMBO (in the first series, not even Falk could quite carry the revival)...really, too many.
I did prefer the other pairings on CRIMINAL INTENT, such as Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra (as the Sherlock of that duo), then with Julianne Nicholson and Alicia Witt (whom I've enjoyed this season on JUSTIFIED)...and the tall duo of Saffron Burrows and Jeff Goldblum, possibly the tallest duo in any cop show so far.
ReplyDeleteAnd BANSHEE...forgot BANSHEE above...
Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews in HIGHWAY PATROL. More recently Dennis Weaver as McCloud.
ReplyDeleteDiane and I have been watching SCOTT & BAILEY, a British version of Cagney & Lacey shown on our local PBS station. Highly recommended!
ReplyDeleteAa, Rick. More recently like forty years ago. Just when did you give up on TV.
ReplyDeleteWill look for it, George.
ReplyDeleteBefore her sight deteriorated, Southland was the only cop show I could ever convince my wife to watch. It was all because of Detective Lydia Adams.
One of my ambitions is to have Chris Noth tell me personally, "Geddadda here."
ReplyDeleteShe was such a fully realized woman!
ReplyDeleteAh but he's not really a cop, is he Todd? (on BANSHEE)
ReplyDeleteJeff M.
Jerry Orbach, Andre Braugher(Pretty much the whole cast of Homicide could be listed)and Timothy Olyphant.
ReplyDeleteNever could stand Dennis Franz or Cagney & Lacey.
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ReplyDeleteI can't understand why the obvious one has not yet been mentioned - Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in PRIME SUSPECT. Such a real person.
ReplyDeleteFor the surreal - Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin.
- Who are you and how did you get in here?
- I'm a locksmith and...I'm a locksmith.
In BANSHEE, Jeff, the protagonist finds out that by pretending to be a cop tends to make him a cop (uniform and even more expectations can make the man)...and the rest of the small-town force is interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteORPHAN BLACK to a lesser extent had a similar dynamic in place in the first season, at least.
ReplyDeleteJack Webb, far and away the best. The Adam 12 team next. Lee Marvin in M Squad.
ReplyDeleteNo love for the Brits? John Nettles as Bergerac or Barnaby; John Thaw as Morse; David Jason as Frost. (Although I can't stand the TV incarnations of Dalziel and Pascoe.) Stateside, no one will top Jerry Orbach as Lenny Briscoe--he really inhabited that character.
ReplyDeleteJane Tennison and Morse would be my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI would have to go go for either Frank Pemberton in HOMICIDE or COLUMBO. INSPECTOR MORE remains my favourite UK cop
ReplyDelete