It is not everyday that you see a successful transition from politician to actor or actor to politician.
Many have tried, but several have fallen flat on their face as they seem unable to navigate through the political system or acting world. Former Republican Tennessee Senator and actor Fred Dalton Thompson was one of the few exceptions.
The actor-politician passed away in Nashville last Sunday from a recurrence of lymphoma, a fight he had been battling for several years. In some social spheres, many knew the Senator from his time in Washington, DC as a minority counsel on the Watergate Scandal committee, as a lobbyist in Congress and as Senator for eight years.
In 2008, he even had a short bid as a possible presidential nominee. For many however, he was know for his excellent acting roles as a lawyer, politician and district attorney in popular television shows and hit movies.
His first role was for Marie: A True Story, in which Thompson played himself, an attorney who exposed a bribery scheme involving top officials in the Tennessee governor’s office.
The role opened the door for Thompson to several other acting roles throughout the
1990s and early 2000s as he made appearances in blockbuster films such as The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard 2, and In the Line of Fire.
With a solid acting career already in the works, Thompson turned his attention towards politics. In 1994, Thompson won a special election to fill the Tennessee senate seat vacated by Vice President Al Gore.
After winning re-election in 1996, he decided to switch back to his acting and became well known for his role as District Attorney Arthur Branch in the hit NBC television show Law & Order.
With NBC and the Law & Order team, Thompson made a name for himself as the
hard hitting D.A. bringing a special knowledge and his personal experiences to the role, making it as believable as possible. Appearing in over a dozen episodes of “Law & Order,” Thompson made other appearanes in “The Good Wife” and cameo appearances in several movies.
When asked about his acting in a 2002 New York Times article he was quoted in saying “I told people, I had to get into show business in order to get my political views taken seriously.”
Whether you believe in his political views or not, there is no denying his ability to take his roles to another level using his own political history.