Dann Florek gained attention for his portrayal of direct-marketing whiz Dave Meyer on the Emmy Award-winning "L.A. Law." Florek's additional television credits include guest-starring roles on NBC's "Wings" and "The Pretender," as well as "The Practice," "NYPD Blue," "Roseanne," "Ellen," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Smart Guy." He also starred as Abraham Lincoln on the controversial series "The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer." As pragmatic Capt. Donald Cragen, Dann Florek reprises the role he originated on the first three seasons of sister series "Law & Order." Prior to the debut of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Florek also got the chance to play Cragen in the "Law & Order" movie "Exiled."
After fighting in Vietnam, Capt. Donald Cragen started his career as a homicide detective in the 1960s with partner Max Greevey, gradually rising up through the ranks to police captain. An alcoholic for much of his early career, Cragen went sober after pulling a gun on a taxi driver in a drunken rage when he was still a detective. He did not touch another drop until 1999, following the death of his wife, Marge, a flight attendant, in a plane crash. Cragen is portrayed as a kind of stern, but understanding, father figure to the detectives who work under him, although he had an early habit of haranguing them about the weaknesses of their investigations.
(Photos courtesy of NBC)