Dann Florek

Born (May 1, 1950) and raised in Flat Rock, Michigan, the son of a chiropractor, bald-domed, serious-looking Dann Harvey Florek majored in math and physics at Eastern Michigan University. A drama scholarship, however, changed his destiny and he left the college before graduating. He moved to New York and, following training at Juilliard, traveled frequently on the late 70's/early 80's stage in plays ranging from the classics ("Love's Labour's Lost," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Philanderer") to contemporary pieces ("Saints," "Bicycle Boys," "Dark Ages," "One Tiger to a Hill," "The Freak," "Winterset," "Strange Snow," "Landscape of the Body," "Chopin in Space"). Younger brother 'Dave Florek' (qv) is also an actor.Making another big move to Los Angeles in the 1980's, Dann appeared on stage at the La Jolla Playhouse and Globe Theatre ("Big River," "The Three Cuckolds") while scouting out film and TV work. He eventually found a "working class" niche playing down-to-earth, pragmatic officials in TV crime dramas. Series credits include "Hill Street Blues," "The Equalizer," "Matlock," "21 Jump Street," Beverly Hills Buntz" and "Almost Grown." Dann also was given a recurring role on _L.A. Law (1986)_ (qv) as the husband of secretary Roxanne (series' regular 'Susan Ruttan' (qv)). He also became a durable support player and definable face in such films _Eddie Macon's Run (1983)_ (qv) (debut), _Sweet Liberty (1986)_ (qv), _Angel Heart (1987)_ (qv), _Sunset (1988)_ (qv) and _Moon Over Parador (1988)_ (qv).Florek would find long-term employment as Captain Cragen on the long-running cop show on _Law & Order (1990)_ (qv). He returned to his role on a spin-off series _Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)_ (qv). In all, he played the supervisory role for two and a half decades. During this lengthy tenure, he found time to play on a few other series, including a regular role on the short-lived baseball comedy _Hardball (1994)_ (qv) and as a wacky 'Abraham Lincoln' (qv) in the irreverent comedy _The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer (1998)_ (qv). He also was handed a recurring coach role on _Smart Guy (1997)_ (qv). Laying low since he retired his TV character, more recent work included the theatre plays "The Front Page" (Broadway revival, 2016) and "The Joy Wheel" (2019), as well as the films _Hard Rain (1998)_ (qv), _Beautiful Joe (2000)_ (qv) and _Santorini Blue (2013)_ (qv).::Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]