- 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 bySteven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Hill was the one of themain character s of the series to have appeared in every episode with the exception of the pilot.Character overview
Schiff is
District Attorney ofNew 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 uncooperativejudge s. Political persuasions sometimes cloud his decisions with regard to certain cases such as thedeath penalty , however. According to the episode "Aftershock", he wrote a brief protesting the death penalty in 1971. ["Law & Order" episode "Aftershock", airedMay 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 ismurder ed. ["Law & Order" episode "Old Friends", airedMay 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 badpublicity . The two eventually grow to like and respect each other, however. Schiff is more critical of the junior assistant DAs, especiallyClaire 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
politician s, 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, commitssuicide after being caught taking bribes; ["Law & Order" episode "Jeopardy", airedNovember 1 ,1995 .] another, Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn ), a high-poweredCEO , is discovered to be suffering frombipolar disorder and attempts to arrange an unjust punishment for his similarly affected grandson to hide his own condition. ["Law & Order" episode "Burned", airedDecember 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 byNora Lewin (Dianne Wiest ). ["Law & Order" episode "Endurance", airedOctober 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
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