Adam Schiff (Law & Order)

:"For the U.S. Congressman of the same name, see Adam Schiff."

LawandOrderCharacter
name = Adam Schiff


time on show = 1990—2000
succeeded = Nora Lewin
proceeded = Alfred Wentworth
start = "Prescription for Death"
finish = "Vaya Con Dios"
portrayed = Steven Hill

Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series "Law & Order". He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Hill was the one of the main characters of the series to have appeared in every episode with the exception of the pilot.

Character overview

Schiff is District Attorney of New York County. He is a pragmatic Democrat of faintly liberal stripe, but regardless of political inclinations, he is never perturbed by his critics nor by uncooperative judges. Political persuasions sometimes cloud his decisions with regard to certain cases such as the death penalty, however. According to the episode "Aftershock", he wrote a brief protesting the death penalty in 1971. ["Law & Order" episode "Aftershock", aired May 22, 1996.]

While he is often stern and unforgiving in his professional conduct, he has amicable relationships with his assistants. He is closest to Benjamin Stone (Michael Moriarty), seeing him as a kind of surrogate son, and so is disturbed to see him resign when a witness he is trying to protect is murdered. ["Law & Order" episode "Old Friends", aired May 25, 1994.] His relationship with Stone's successor, Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), is more problematic, as McCoy is far more ruthless and unconventional. His habitual bending of trial rules occasionally garners Schiff some bad publicity. The two eventually grow to like and respect each other, however. Schiff is more critical of the junior assistant DAs, especially Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), whom he sees as too idealistic to do her job effectively.

He has many friends among New York's elite, including powerful politicians, judges, and businessmen. Over the show's run, however, many of these friends prove themselves to be either corrupt or hiding dark secrets. For example, one of his closest friends, Judge Edgar Hynes, commits suicide after being caught taking bribes; ["Law & Order" episode "Jeopardy", aired November 1, 1995.] another, Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), a high-powered CEO, is discovered to be suffering from bipolar disorder and attempts to arrange an unjust punishment for his similarly affected grandson to hide his own condition. ["Law & Order" episode "Burned", aired December 10, 1997.]

Schiff's wife dies of complications from a stroke, after he elects to remove her from a ventilator while she is in a vegetative state. ["Law & Order" episode "Terminal", aired May 21, 1997.] Their son, Josh, is mentioned in several episodes, as are Josh's own wife and son, but he never appears onscreen.

Schiff leaves the DA's office to accept a role in coordinating commemorations of the Holocaust Project. He goes on to work with Simon Wiesenthal. He is replaced by Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest). ["Law & Order" episode "Endurance", aired October 18, 2000.]

The character of Adam Schiff may be based upon long-serving New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. [Cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/02/marvin.kitman.lat|title=CNN.com - Entertainment - Another crime perpetrated on 'Law & Order'|author=Marvin Kitman|publisher=CNN|date=2000-08-02|accessdate=2008-07-01]

References