In January 2006, the actor and former senator Fred Thompson visited the offices of THE WEEKLY STANDARD to discuss the state of the Supreme Court, which was in the midst of filling a vacancy—Thompson had been providing advice to then-nominee Samuel Alito. It was an in-depth conversation about the direction of the Court, and Thompson, a lawyer who rose to prominence during the Watergate hearings, discussed both the historical and political implications of the current nomination process. But at some point during our editorial lunch, I couldn’t resist asking if he’d mind talking about Hollywood. “Sure,” he said with a grin, knowing it was inevitable.
Thompson, who died of lymphoma on Sunday at the age of 73, first appeared on screen in the political drama Marie (1985). He played himself. As an attorney, Thompson represented a Tennessee parole board whistleblower, Marie Ragghianti (the movie stars Sissy Spacek in the lead role, alongside Jeff Daniels and Morgan Freeman). Although having lawyers play themselves is not that unusual (assistant U.S. attorney Ed McDonald did the same in Goodfellas), Thompson made quite the impression. Marie‘s director, Roger Donaldson, would subsequently cast him as the CIA director in No Way Out (1987), a terrific thriller featuring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman—with one of the most surprising endings ever.
On television, Thompson was best known for playing Manhattan district attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law & Order. But when he came to our office, he expressed frustration at the tinkering being done inside the network in order to capture the coveted 18-34-year-old category. He complained about twentysomething writers not knowing the first thing about legal dramas, and he especially disliked having to make room for a new L&O spinoff, Conviction. As Brian Lowry of Variety put it at the time, “this new drama about crusading lawyers could easily be dubbed, ‘Law & Order: Hot Young Prosecutors Edition,’ or ‘HYPE’ for short.”
Thompson scoffed at the notion of there even being prosecutors in their 20s, all attractive, partying hard, doing shots, and throwing up afterwards (all on camera). Is that what the network thinks is going to get ratings, he wondered? He shook his head in disbelief. (Although D.A. Branch would be gone by 2007, Law & Order would continue on until 2010. NBC canceled Conviction after one season.)
As for the big screen, the one film Thompson said he was proudest to be a part of was The Hunt for Red October. He played an admiral on a carrier and his time on screen is short. He does, however, have a memorable exchange with Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin):
Admiral Painter: What’s his plan?
Jack Ryan: His plan?
Admiral Painter: The Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan.
It was the realism, the accuracy of all the technical specs, and the writing that he loved about The Hunt. If memory serves correct, he called the entire project “a beautiful thing.” At which point a colleague of mine asked, “What about Rebecca De Mornay?” (My friend knew Thompson had starred with the sultry actress in Feds). Thompson chuckled and said, “Yeah, she was great, too.”
