Biography for
Fred Dalton Thompson

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Thompson can be seen on the archival footage of the Watergate Hearings in Oliver Stone's JFK (1991). He was one of the active lawyers on the Watergate commitee during the trial.

He won a special election to the United States Senate in 1994 and was reelected for a full term in 1996. He did not run for reelection in 2002. A Republican, he represented his home state of Tennessee from 2 December 1994 - 3 January 2003.

Was a lawyer/attorney before becoming an actor.

Senator Thompson went to Memphis State University in 1964 and Vanderbilt University in 1967.

Worked as a shoe salesman, truck driver, and even a factory worker prior to becoming a lawyer.

2nd wife Jeri, 35, is a political media consultant at Verner Liipfert law firm in Washington, who once worked for Senate Republican Conference and Republican National Committee.

Although he maintained his membership in the Screen Actors Guild when he was a senator, Thompson generally took the opposite side of the unions in legislation.

He and wife Jeri welcomed a daughter, Hayden Victoria, in October 2003.

When he joined the cast of "Law & Order" (1990) in the fall of 2002, Thompson (District Attorney Arthur Branch) became the first serving U.S. Senator to take a regular TV acting job. His term did not end until January 2003.

Helped introduce President George W. Bush at the Republican National Convention (2004) in New York.

Also has two sons and five grandchildren.

Is the only actor to be a regular on two different "Law & Order" series at the same time. From March to May 2005, he played District Attorney Arthur Branch on both "Law & Order" (1990) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005). He also plays the same character as a recurring guest star in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999). Richard Anderson, Marla Gibbs and David Hasselhoff are among the few other actors to have played the same regular character on two different series simultaneously.

Is one of four cast members from "Law & Order" (1990) whose character became a regular on a "Law & Order" spin-off. He played District Attorney Arthur Branch in both "Law & Order" (1990) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005).

Along with Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin and Leslie Hendrix, he is one of only four actors to play the same character (District Attorney Arthur Branch) on all four "Law & Order" series ("Law & Order" (1990), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005)).

Along with Jerry Orbach, Chris Noth and Dann Florek, he is one of four "Law & Order" (1990)_ cast members who later joined the regular cast of one of the spin-off series. He played District Attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005) from March to May 2005.

He has played the same character, District Attorney Arthur Branch, in five different series: "Law & Order" (1990), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001), "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005) and "Conviction" (2006).

Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma two 1/2 years ago but the cancer is now in remission [April 11, 2007].

For 17 years (1975 to 1992) Thompson worked as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. representing such clients as Westinghouse, General Electric (which owns NBC Universal-NBC television network), and the Tennessee Savings and Loan League.

Ending months of speculation, declared that he is a candidate for President on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on 5 September 2007.

Personal Quotes

[from a speech given before the Commonwealth Club of California] After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood.

Where Are They Now

(2002) Has announced that he will not be seeking re-election for his seat in the U.S. Senate.

(March 2007) Said to be considering a presidential bid for 2008.

(June 2007) Has filed papers to form an exploratory committee, and will announce whether or not he will run on July 4, 2007.

(September 2007) Announced that he is running for President of the United States on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" aired on Wednesday, September 5.

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