Earning an Oscar nomination doesn't bar you from later joining the force. Here are five A-listers who lent their talent and name recognition to TV police procedurals.
5 Oscar-nominated actors who signed up for TV procedurals
November 21, 2014 at 12:30AM
Rock Hudson, "McMillan & Wife" (1971-77): The hunky actor's affinity for romantic comedies flowed nicely into this lighthearted series, in which he played a police commissioner who wrapped up cases with his spouse (Susan Saint James) in time to hit the cocktail circuit.
Karl Malden, "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972-77): Co-star Michael Douglas went on to be a movie star, but it was the elder statesman who steered the action — when he wasn't reminding us not to leave home without American Express.
Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace" (2007-10): There isn't a rodeo that Hunter's detective character hasn't hit in Oklahoma City — until she kills a pedestrian in a drunken-driving accident. God gives her a second chance, but living a more angelic life turns out to be a tall order.
Laurence Fishburne, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2008-2011): "The Matrix" star took a short spin on the CBS moneymaking machine, playing a forensics expert who looked as if he'd rather be back on the boat in "Apocalypse Now."
Forest Whitaker, "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" (2011): The biggest mystery here is why an actor who continually challenges himself would sign up for such a pedestrian series. The second biggest: Why did Janeane Garofalo tag along?
Neal Justin
