Hopefully this is going to be an uphill battle for him from this point on.”Ĭlapp: I decided to throw a little spin in, so I said everything twice, basically – I did this kind of stuttering. I’m formulating this in my head thinking that, “Okay, we’re catching him at the very bottom of his slide. Things probably were all going right in his life, but then something went wrong and he started this downhill slide. I appreciate that, but how?” They said, “It’s in your nature.” I kind of realized this is a guy at one time probably was a good provider and a good husband and father. I said, “Well, who the hell is going to care about this guy?” Their response was “Well, you will make that happen.” I said, “Well, thanks for the confidence. I can’t get them.” I meant it as a total joke, and of course they were like, “That’s our girl: she’s the one that should kill people in the pilot.”įranz: When were describing him, he was racist, he’s a womanizer, alcoholic, homophobic, he was a loose cannon, he didn’t believe in God, religion, foul mouthed. Joan! Alexa Fogel, who had been an early champion of mine, said “There’s this one, and if you can come in…” I was actually brought in to play Sherry Stringfield’s part, and I totally loused up the lines - and didn’t really care, because I just was sort of sassy that way, And I famously turned to David Milch, completely joking, and said, “You know, if I’m gonna play this, really, you’re gonna have to change these lines. And my agents in LA were like, “You’re insane - you can’t do a play! It’s pilot season.” And I was like “But it’s St. I look at it, and I thought “Okay, I want to put all my eggs in the Medavoy basket,” because he has a desk in the squad room, and maybe I could come back and sit at that desk a couple of times if this works out.Īmy Brenneman: I had worked out in LA a little bit, but I was back in New York playing “St. And then there was this other guy, Medavoy. There was a guy who was a hostage negotiator, and it was about a seven-page scene, it was very intense. I was, barely, a member of Bochco Rep…They were looking for people to fill out the squad, so I auditioned. Gordon Clapp: I came in for a guest role and I ended up staying for 12 years. I was thinking, ” Oh Christ, I do not want to play another cop.” I told them – and this was probably one of the only, good, smart decisions I’ve made in my lifetime - I said, “If I’m going to play Cop No. They wanted to see if I was available so I was flattered that they were coming to me first.

It was just an idea formulating in their head. while passionately pursuing classical and boundary-pushing theater roles in New York.ĭennis Franz: I got a call from Steven and David talking about a new cop show that they were thinking about doing, similar in style to “Hill Street Blues,” but more focused and more centered on a fewer number of characters, and more introspective.

Meanwhile, Harvard grad Brenneman’s career was just getting started, with toe-dips into TV roles in L.A.

Making his way in Hollywood, he continued to land guest shots on sitcoms, dramas and TV-movies, including Bochco series, including the divorce attorney drama “Civil Wars” and the ill- fated musical police drama “Cop Rock.” Greg Medavoy) and Amy Brenneman (Officer Janice Licalsi), recall the tumultuous journey to launch a TV upstart that would ultimately become an institution.Īlong with a busy movie career that included frequent collaborations with filmmaker Brian de Palma, Franz was a familiar face guesting on television hits and had become part of Bochco’s recurring “repertory company,” having starred in the short-lived baseball drama “Bay City Blues” and played two different roles on “Hill Street Blues,” one of which was spun off to headline the one-season comedy “Beverly Hills Buntz.”Ĭlapp was a frequent presence in the early and mid-career films of director John Sayles and a regular in the Canadian series “Mr. Secy.Here, three of “NYPD Blue’s” first-season standouts, Dennis Franz (Det.

This list mainly contains nonjewish people with Jewish ancestry, though this is not always the case (sometimes it is used to document from which parent Judaism is descended click through to see details in these cases.)Īsst.

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