Dann Florek
Encyclopedia
Ezekial Dann Florek professional name Dann Florek, is an American actor and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

.

Early life

Florek was born in Flat Rock, Michigan
Flat Rock, Michigan
- Racial makeup :As of the census of 2000, there were 8,488 people, 3,181 households, and 2,306 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,266.9 per square mile . There were 3,291 housing units at an average density of 491.2 per square mile...

. He attended Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...

, but never graduated. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to pursue an acting career in the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

.

Career

Florek worked his way into supporting roles in such diverse '80's films as Sweet Liberty
Sweet Liberty
Sweet Liberty is an American comedy film written and directed by Alan Alda, and starring Alda in the lead role, alongside Michael Caine and Michelle Pfeiffer, with support from Bob Hoskins, Lois Chiles, Lise Hilboldt and Lillian Gish....

, Moon Over Parador
Moon Over Parador
Moon over Parador is a 1988 romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled Caviar for His Excellency by Charles G...

and Angel Heart
Angel Heart
Angel Heart is a 1987 North American/British mystery-thriller film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet...

.

Law & Order

After a brief stint as the boring husband of Susan Ruttan
Susan Ruttan
Susan Ruttan is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on L.A. Law . She reprised the role in 2002 for the TV reunion L.A...

 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

's hit drama L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

, Florek co-starred in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...

 and legal drama
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...

 television series Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

as Capt. Don Cragen
Donald Cragen
Donald "Don" Cragen is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Dann Florek.-Character appearances:...

. The first few years of Law & Order had mediocre ratings and finally after the close of the 1992-1993 season, NBC told creator/executive producer Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...

 that they would cancel the show, unless he added a few women to the all-male cast. Wolf reluctantly complied and fired Florek as well as Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks (actor)
Richard L. Brooks is an African-American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette during the first three seasons of the NBC TV drama Law & Order .Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brooks studied acting, dance, and voice work at...

 (who played Paul Robinette
Paul Robinette
Paul Robinette, played by Richard Brooks, is a fictional character who appeared in the TV drama series Law & Order from the pilot episode in 1990 until the final episode of the third season, "Benevolence," in 1993...

), replacing them with S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations...

 and Jill Hennessy
Jill Hennessy
Jillian Noel "Jill" Hennessy is a Canadian actress and musician known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan.-Early life:...

, respectively. However, Florek was allowed to direct a few Law & Order episodes in 1994 and 1995.

Florek reprised the role of Cragen in the 1995 episode "Bad Faith"
Bad Faith (Law & Order episode)
"Bad Faith" is a fifth season episode of the NBC legal drama Law & Order.-Synopsis:The apparent murder of a New York City police officer — and Logan's childhood friend — leads back to an ex-priest with a history of child molestation.-Law:...

 (which he also directed), and in the 1998 TV-movie Exiled
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie is a 1998 television film that is based on the Law & Order police procedural and legal drama television series; it originally aired on NBC. Written by Charles Kipps and Chris Noth, the movie revolves around Noth's Det. Mike Logan character...

, centered on former L&O star Chris Noth
Chris Noth
Christopher David "Chris" Noth is an American actor. He is known for long-running television roles as Det. Mike Logan on the police procedural and legal drama television series, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and as Big on Sex and the City. For the latter role, he has been...

's character, Mike Logan. In 1999 he returned to the Cragen role, only this time on the Law & Order spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...

, as the unit captain, a part he plays to this day.

Florek also had a recurring role in the WB sitcom Smart Guy
Smart Guy
Smart Guy is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis. The series ran on The WB for three seasons from April 2, 1997 to May 16, 1999.-Premise:The show centers on the misadventures of boy genius T.J...

as the high school gym coach. He also appeared in several episodes of Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

.

Personal life

Florek's wife, Karen, works as an artist. His brother, Dave
Dave Florek
Dave Florek is an American actor. Florek is the brother of actor Dann Florek. He is known for playing Mr. Chopsaw, the wood shop teacher, in the Nickelodeon sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. He also he portrayed Coach Smiley on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and appeared in one episode of...

, is also an actor. All three trained in the Daniel L. Quirk Jr. drama school at Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...

. On December 13, 2008 Dann received an honorary Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Michigan University from President Susan Martin and the EMU board of registrants. During the Winter 2008 Eastern Michigan Graduation Commencement on December 14, 2008 he received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Eastern Michigan University from EMU president Susan Martin; Florek was the head speaker at this event as well.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1983 Eddie Macon's Run
Eddie Macon's Run
Eddie Macon's Run is a 1983 film starring Kirk Douglas and John Schneider, based on the 1980 novel by James McLendon.- Plot :Eddie Macon was wrongly convicted of a crime. While performing at a prison rodeo in Huntsville, Texas, he escapes and heads for the border, hoping to join his family in Mexico...

Men in bar
1986 Sweet Liberty
Sweet Liberty
Sweet Liberty is an American comedy film written and directed by Alan Alda, and starring Alda in the lead role, alongside Michael Caine and Michelle Pfeiffer, with support from Bob Hoskins, Lois Chiles, Lise Hilboldt and Lillian Gish....

1987 Angel Heart
Angel Heart
Angel Heart is a 1987 North American/British mystery-thriller film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet...

Herman Winesap
Five Corners Policeman
1988 Sunset
Sunset (film)
Sunset is a 1988 film released by TriStar Pictures. Written and directed by Blake Edwards, the movie stars Bruce Willis as legendary western actor Tom Mix and James Garner as legendary lawman Wyatt Earp....

Marty Goldberg
Moon Over Parador
Moon Over Parador
Moon over Parador is a 1988 romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled Caviar for His Excellency by Charles G...

Toby
1989 An Innocent Man
An Innocent Man (film)
An Innocent Man, is a 1989 crime thriller film directed by Peter Yates, and starring Tom Selleck. The film follows James Rainwood, an airline mechanic sent to prison when framed by crooked police officers.-Plot:...

Prosecuting Attorney Uncredited
1991 Flight of the Intruder
Flight of the Intruder
Flight of the Intruder is a 1991 film directed by John Milius, which is based on the novel of the same name by A-6 Intruder pilot Stephen Coonts...

Lt. Comdr. Mad Jack/Doc
1994 The Flintstones
The Flintstones (film)
The Flintstones is a 1994 American live-action comedy film based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon television series of the same name about a Stone-Age man, his family and his best friend. The film was directed by Brian Levant, written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein and Steven E...

Mr. Slate
Getting Even with Dad
Getting Even with Dad
Getting Even With Dad is a 1994 American comedy film starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson.- Plot :The movie is about a dysfunctional father-son relationship. Timmy Gleason is Ray Gleason's estranged son, who tries to blackmail his ex-con father into spending time with him...

Wayne
1998 Hard Rain
Hard Rain (film)
Hard Rain is a 1998 American/British action thriller disaster movie, produced by Mark Gordon, written by Graham Yost and directed by former cinematographer turned director Mikael Salomon...

Mr. Mehlor
2000 Beautiful Joe
Beautiful Joe (film)
Beautiful Joe is a 2000 American - British film written and directed by Stephen Metcalfe. It stars Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly, with supporting roles by Ian Holm, Dann Florek, and Gil Bellows.-Plot:...

Happy
2002 Law & Order: The Beginning Himself Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 
aka The Creation of 'Law & Order' with Dick Wolf
2003 Focus Room William
SVU Beginning Himself Direct-to-video
2004 Law & Order: The First 3 Years Himself Direct-to-video
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Police Sketch: Dann Florek Himself Direct-to-video
2005 Jerry Orbach Tribute Himself Direct-to-video
2006 Copy That Dann
2007 TV Land Confidential Himself - interviewee Episode: "Locations"
aka TV Land Confidential: The Untold Stories
2010 Santorini Blue Trent Parker Post-production

Television

Year Film Role Notes
1982 The Country Girl Larry TV film
1985 Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...

Episode: "Intestinal Fortitude"
Braker Hayes TV film
1986 The Equalizer
The Equalizer
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...

Lieutenant Episode: "Breakpoint"
Alex: The Life of a Child Dr. Tom Dolan TV film
1988-93 L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

David Meyer / Dave Meyer 22 episodes
1987 CBS Summer Playhouse
CBS Summer Playhouse
CBS Summer Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from June 12, 1987 to August 22, 1989 on CBS. It aired unsold television pilots during the summer season.-Overview:...

Winthrop Episode: "Doctors Wilde"
Hunter John Edleton Episode: "Night on Bald Mountain"
1988 Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...

Ken Pritchard Episode: "The Hucksters"
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...

Jim Crawford Episode: "Brother Hanson & the Miracle of Renner's Pond"
The Trial of Bernhard Goetz Judge Crane TV film
CBS Schoolbreak Special
CBS Schoolbreak Special
CBS Schoolbreak Special is an American anthology series for teenagers that aired on CBS from April 1980 to January 1996. The series originally premiered under the title CBS Afternoon Playhouse, and was later changed during the 1984 - 85 season...

Stan Pallon Episode: "Gambler"
1989 The Edge Strip-Joint Operator TV film
Free Spirit
Free Spirit (TV series)
Free Spirit is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran on ABC during the 1989-1990 television season. The series was originally produced by ELP Communications. It ran from September 22, 1989 to January 14, 1990.-Overview:...

Bill / Mr. Flynn Episode: "The Bosses Are Coming"
Major Dad
Major Dad
Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly...

Buzz Episode: "Rescue Mission"
1990 Grand
Grand (TV series)
Grand was a half-hour situation comedy that aired on the NBC network in 1990. The series featured an ensemble cast including Pamela Reed, Bonnie Hunt, Michael McKean, John Randolph, Andrew Lauer, John Neville, Joel Murray and Sara Rue. It was created by Michael Leeson, executive produced by...

Robert Episode: "The Healing"
Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

Principal Hiller Episode: "Bird Is the Word"
1990–93 Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

Captain Donald Cragen
Donald Cragen
Donald "Don" Cragen is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Dann Florek.-Character appearances:...

66 episodes
1994 Hardball Ernest 'Happy' Talbot Unknown episodes
Wings Bob Episode: "Insanity Claus"
1995 Ellen
Ellen (TV series)
Ellen is a U.S. television sitcom that ran on the ABC network from March 29, 1994 to July 22, 1998, producing 109 episodes.The theme song, "So Called Friend" is by Scottish band Texas...

Mr. Woodruff Episode: "$5,000"
The John Larroquette Show
The John Larroquette Show
The John Larroquette Show is a situation comedy that ran on the NBC network from 1993 to 1996. The show, created by Don Reo, was a vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on Night Court. The series took place in a seedy bus terminal in St. Louis, Missouri and focused on the...

Lennox Episode: "Love on the Line"
1996 Champs Ernie Episode: "It's Must Have Been Gridlock"
1997 A Nightmare Come True Det. Ron Shaye TV film
aka A Dream of Murder
Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

Doctor/Dr. Rudmen Episode: "A Second Chance" (as Doctor)
Episode: "The Miracle" (as Dr. Rudmen)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Bob Gordon Episode: "Cat Showdown"
Total Security Morris Silver Episode: "Dental Men Prefer Blondes"
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

Gary Hogan Episode: "Sheedy Dealings"
1998 The Pentagon Wars
The Pentagon Wars
The Pentagon Wars is a 1998 HBO film, starring Kelsey Grammer, Cary Elwes and Richard Schiff, based on a book of the same name by Colonel James G. Burton, USAF...

Maj. Gen. Bob Braden TV film
The Pretender
The Pretender (TV series)
The Pretender is an American television series that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series starred Michael T. Weiss as Jarod, a genius and former child prodigy with "the ability to become anyone he wants to be," i.e., to flawlessly impersonate anyone in virtually any line of work...

Don Larson Episode: "Crash"
From the Earth to the Moon Robert Seamans HBO Miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 
Episode: "Apollo One"
Episode: "Spider"
The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...

Father Michael Ryan Episode: "Duty Bound"
Little Girl Fly Away Chief Gelbart TV film
aka The Poet
The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer
The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer
The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer is an American sitcom that aired on UPN in 1998. Before it was even debuted, the series set off a storm of controversy because of a perceived light-hearted take on the issue of American slavery.-Story:...

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

Episode: "School DaZe"
Episode: "Kidnapped"
Episode: "A.O.L.: Abe on Line"
Episode: "Saving Mr. Lincoln"
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie is a 1998 television film that is based on the Law & Order police procedural and legal drama television series; it originally aired on NBC. Written by Charles Kipps and Chris Noth, the movie revolves around Noth's Det. Mike Logan character...

Captain Donald Cragen
Donald Cragen
Donald "Don" Cragen is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Dann Florek.-Character appearances:...

TV film
1997-99 Smart Guy
Smart Guy
Smart Guy is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis. The series ran on The WB for three seasons from April 2, 1997 to May 16, 1999.-Premise:The show centers on the misadventures of boy genius T.J...

Coach Gerber Episode: "Below the Rim"
Episode: "Most Hated Man on Campus"
Episode: "T.A. or Not T.A."
Episode: "List of Smart Guy episodes#Season 3: 1998-99Break Up Not to Make Up"
Episode: "Can't Buy Me Love"
Episode: "The Graduate?"
1999–present Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...

Captain Donald Cragen
Donald Cragen
Donald "Don" Cragen is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order and its spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Dann Florek.-Character appearances:...

Supporting character

Producer

Year Film Role Notes
2010 Santorini Blue Associate Producer Post-production

Director

Year Film Role Notes
1993-95 Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

Television Director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...

Episode: "The Pursuit of Happiness"
Episode: "Big Bang"
Episode: "Bad Faith"

External links

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