On ‘Boston Legal,’ she’s more than just eye candy
Candice Bergen is trading in journalism for the law – on the tube, anyway. Bergen, 58, a five-time Emmy winner as TV newswoman “Murphy Brown,” will join ABC’s “Boston Legal” – known for its sexy young female lawyers – in January.
She’ll play Shirley Schmidt, as in Crane (William Shatner), Poole (Larry Miller) & Schmidt.
As with Crane and Shatner, David E. Kelley created Schmidt specifically for Bergen, says co-executive producer Bill D’Elia.
“David is uncanny in this regard,” he said. “He just had Candice in mind when he created another fantastic character. He called her, sent her the script, and it was done.”
Schmidt is a “no-nonsense, top-flight lawyer” who once had a fling with Crane. Having dumped him and relocated to the firm’s New York office, she returns to Boston “to get things back on track,” D’Elia says.
Bergen also will have a recurring role in NBC’s “Law & Order: Trial by Jury,” which also launches in January.
Cancer can’t keep Orbach down
Jerry Orbach, set to star in “Law & Order: Trial by Jury,” has been diagnosed with prostate cancer but is doing well, his manager says.
“We expect he’ll be fine. He’s been playing golf, shooting his episodes and doing real well,” manager Robert Malcolm said.
Orbach, 69, starred for 12 seasons as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the original “Law & Order” series. So far his illness has not disrupted production of the new spinoff.
D’Onofrio out of ‘Order’?
Original “Law & Order” player Chris Noth will reportedly replace troubled “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” star Vincent D’Onofrio in that ongoing spinoff.
Noth is set to reprise Detective Mike Logan, his role on “L&O” from 1990 to ‘95, in a January episode of “Criminal Intent.”
D’Onofrio, who reportedly has been behaving erratically for months, was hospitalized after a fainting spell on the set and returned to the hospital a week later after passing out at home.
Suppose there’ll be a Fife and drum corps?
Speaking of TV lawmen, city officials in his West Virginia hometown plan to honor Don Knotts with his own festival during Arts Celebration Week next August.
The Morgantown festival will include showings of some of Knotts’ film and television work. The 80-year-old actor is mainly identified with the role that won him five Emmy Awards, that of bumbling deputy Barney Fife on the ‘60s family comedy “The Andy Griffith Show,” which also starred Ron Howard and Jim Nabors.
Our money was on Leonardo DiCaprio
It’s official: Tom Hanks will reunite with director Ron Howard to star in “The Da Vinci Code,” the film adaptation of Dan Brown‘s best-selling novel that dissects the origins of Christianity. Production will begin next year for a 2006 release.
It will mark Hanks’ third collaboration with Howard and producing partner Brian Grazer. The three previously worked together on “Splash” and “Apollo 13.”
The birthday bunch
Country singer Ferlin Husky is 79. Singer Andy Williams is 77. Director Jean-Luc Godard is 74. Singer Jaye P. Morgan is 73. Singer Ozzy Osbourne is 56. Actor Steven Culp (“Desperate Housewives”) is 49. Actress Daryl Hannah is 44. Actress Julianne Moore is 44. Actor Brendan Fraser is 36. Singer Montell Jordan is 36. Actor/comedian Royale Watkins is 35. Actress Holly Marie Combs (“Charmed”) is 31. Actress Anna Chlumsky is 24. Actor Brian Bonsall (“Family Ties”) is 23.