Favorite NYPD Blue Characters!

Dennis Franz was born Dennis Franz Schlacta in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and is the son of Eleanor (Mueller) and Franz Ferdinand Schlachta, who were postal workers. He has two sisters, Marlene (born 1938) and Heidi (born 1935). He graduated from Southern Illinois University and was immediately drafted into the military. He served eleven months in Vietnam in a reconnaissance unit, and after his service he suffered depression for some time afterwards. In 1972 he joined the Organic Theatre Company. Robert Altman discovered him at an auditions and urged him to go to Los Angeles, where he became part of Altman's resident company. He met Joanie Zeck on April Fool's Day 1982 and aided her in raising her two daughters, Krista (born 1976) and Tricia (born 1974). They married thirteen years later in Carmel, California.

His low-keyed intensity, deep-voiced somberness, pale skin, puffy-eyed baby face and crop of carrot-red hair are all obvious and intriguing trademarks of TV star David Caruso. A hugely popular item in the 1990s as a result of a smash crime series, he got way too caught up in all the hoopla surrounding him. Those working with him on the innovative cop series were not exactly unhappy when he decided to abandon ship after only one season in order to pursue movie star fame. Despite his own predictions, the show prospered quite well after the loss of his focal character...but it would be a major understatement to state that Caruso did not fare as well.

TV to film crossover fame is tricky and David did not have the right formula to pull it off. Bad judgment calls, bad publicity after his departure from his TV series, a couple of poor film vehicles, and virtual unemployment in its wake eventually led him back to the small screen again a somewhat humbler person. Not many are given a second chance but Caruso, the enigmatic talent that he is, found gold a second time as (again) a wan, brooding lead in a hip, unconventional cop series.

David Stephen Caruso was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, the son of Charles Caruso, a magazine and newspaper editor, and Joan, a librarian. The Irish Catholic youngster attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and then Archbishop Molloy High School, both in Queens.

Following high school graduation in 1974, he toyed with some commercial work. A few years later he began to make a slight dent in films. He first appeared in Getting Wasted (1980) and Without Warning (1980), which led to a succession of secondary roles in such 80s movies as An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), First Blood (1982) (as a sheriff's deputy), Thief of Hearts (1984), Blue City (1986), China Girl (1987) and Twins (1988). But the break into full-fledged TV stardom proved elusive. It was argued that the thin and lanky actor was not handsome enough to become a leading man in film and didn't have the charisma credentials to carry a big movie.

Making his unbilled debut in a daytime episode of "Ryan's Hope", TV proved to be a more inviting medium and police stories seemed to be the name of the game for him. He had a strong recurring role as a gang leader on Hill Street Blues (1981) and showed to good advantage in the series Crime Story (1986). This sudden notoriety on police TV gave way to some even stronger stuff in streetwise film crimers such as King of New York (1990) as a cop gone bad, and Mad Dog and Glory (1993), in which he earned excellent marks as a cynical urban cop. But his star-making role came via TV and his portrayal of Detective John Kelly the critically-acclaimed series NYPD Blue (1993). Audience adoration was immediate.

His volatile but principled character on the gritty, boldly-written, unconventional show earned him impressive and sexy notices with a Golden Globe Award and Emmy nomination placed in his hands. Confident now that he could be a magnetic force in front of a movie camera, stories began to circulate that the instant fame had gone to his head, that he was moody, demanding and difficult on the set, and that he was quickly alienating not only his co-stars but the show's directors and writers.

Ready to prove all those naysayers wrong about his chances in film, Caruso made tabloid headlines when he announced his decision to leave the highly-rated show after only one season (and only four episodes into the second season) to pursue film stardom. Rumors also bounced around that he left following unresolved salary negotiations. For whatever reason, he wasted no time in scouting out movie vehicles for himself. Again, he focused on his specialty -- crime thrillers. The first, Kiss of Death (1995), in which he played a petty thief trying to go straight, did not go over well box-office-wise despite its good reviews, and the second, Jade (1995), in which he portrayed a homicide detective, was a grisly, unappetizing thriller that was given the thumbs down almost immediately. As a comeuppance for coming up short, he was nominated for the dubious "Razzie" award as the "Worst New Star" of those two films. With no movie releases at all in 1996, by the time Cold Around the Heart (1997) was released, in which he played a jewel thief who is betrayed by his sexy partner-in-crime (Kelly Lynch), the TV star had lost all of his movie star momentum.

In 1997, Caruso made an inauspicious return to the small screen as the placid title prosecutor Michael Hayes (1997), a law series, but it was a very short-lived experience. Audiences had become fickle and indifferent to his "heralded comeback". Finding a serious lack of offers, he returned to supporting others in films such as Russell Crowe in Proof of Life (2000), and copped a couple of leads for himself in such low-budgeted films as Session 9 (2001) and the Canadian film Black Point (2002).

But in 2002, he found TV magic once again behind a badge as Lt. Horatio Caine in the popular CSI spin-off series CSI: Miami (2002). Strongly anchoring the show, which focuses more on crime methodology and whodunnit twists than character development, Caruso has nevertheless earned cult fame for his slick demeanor and deliberately slow speech patterns, reminding one of William Shatner's heady, methodical approach to Captain Kirk. Known for his deep, dry tones and parade of droll one-liners, many of which include him slipping on his dark shades during mid-sentence, he has been the subject of many a late-nite parody and satire.

A difficult interviewee who has admitted to keeping his monumental ego in check since his return to TV, he has been little seen since the "Miami" series ended in 2012 after ten season. David has been married and divorced three times, which includes a brief 1980s union to actress Rachel Ticotin. He has a daughter, Greta, from that union. On the sly, Caruso was a co-owner of now long-defunct Steam, a clothing and furniture store in Miami, Florida. He and his current girlfriend (since 2005), Liza Marquez, have two children -- son Marquez Anthony and and daughter, Paloma Raquel.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar was born March 1, 1974 in Panorama City, California. His father, Hans Gosselaar, who is from the Netherlands, is of German and Dutch Jewish descent, and was a plant supervisor at Anheuser-Busch. His mother, Paula (van den Brink), is of Dutch-Indonesian background; she worked as an airline hostess. His parents are divorced. He has an older brother, Mike, and two older sisters, Linda and Sylvia. In 1989, after a career with small movies and commercials, Gosselaar started in the teen hit Saved by the Bell (1989), co-starring Tiffani Thiessen who played his girlfriend, Kelly Kapowski, throughout the show's run. The characters eventually married each other after the show and its spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993) , ended production.

He starred with Geena Davis in Commander in Chief (2005) for executive producer Steven Bochco, with whom he also worked when he starred as detective John Clark in Bochco's critically-acclaimed drama NYPD Blue (1993) Gosselaar's other television credits include TV movies Atomic Twister (2002), The Princess & the Marine (2001), For the Love of Nancy (1994), Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994), She Cried No (1996), Dying to Belong (1997) and Born Into Exile (1997).

On the big screen, Gosselaar appeared in Dead Man on Campus (1998), as well as the independent films Beer Money (2001) and Sticks and Stones (2008).

In 2019, Mark-Paul began starring on the show Mixed-ish (2019). He returned in a supporting role for the revival Saved by the Bell (2020), with Mitchell Hoog as his son.

Gosselaar's sporting interests include cycling, motocross and auto racing. He is also an avid pilot. Gosselaar lives outside of Los Angeles. He married model Lisa Ann Russell in 1996 in Maui, Hawaii. The two divorced in 2011. In 2012, he married advertising executive Catriona McGinn. He has two children with Lisa and two children with Catriona.

Sharon Lawrence grew up in North Carolina (Charlotte and Raleigh), graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism and spent her college summers doing musicals in summer stock. She became an Actors Equity Member in 1984 and a SAG-AFTRA member in 1987. She may be best known for her multiply Emmy Award-nominated and SAG Award-winning portrayal of ADA Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in NYPD Blue. She also played, among many roles, a stay-at-home prostitute in Desperate Housewives, a charming but murderous realtor on Monk, the twisted jailbird mother of a sociopath on Criminal Minds, a serial killer on Law and Order: SVU, and a mother coming to terms with her long-lost daughter on Rizzoli & Isles -- not to mention bantering with Alfred Molina on Ladies Man or beating up Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

More recent work includes Blunt Talk (opposite Sir Patrick Stewart) and an arc on NBC's Game Of Silence. Recent film includes Solace (opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins), Of Music and Mind (with Joaquim de Almeida and Aunjanue Ellis), and the award-winning The Bridge Partner (with Beth Grant).

An accomplished stage actress, Lawrence played twenty different female characters in the Noel Coward cabaret, Love, Noel at the Wallis. Lawrence starred in Sir Noel Coward's final play, A Song at Twilight, at the Pasadena Playhouse, and as Vivien Leigh in Orson's Shadow (winner LA Drama Critics Circle Award, nominated for Ovation Award). At the Mark Taper Forum, she created the role of Maureen in the premiere of Theresa Rebeck's Poor Behavior and was featured Carl Reiner's gala, Enter Laughing. Her Broadway credits include revivals of Cabaret, Fiddler On The Roof and Chicago (as Velma Kelly).

A former Chair of Women In Film Foundation, she is affiliated with the Board of Directors of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation as well as WeForShe.org, HealTheBay.org and UNC-Chapel Hill General Alumni Association.

Born and raised in Winnetka, Illinois to Princeton and Harvard grads, it was expected that Charlotte Ross would follow in her parent's footsteps and continue in the field of education. However, falling in love with acting (and singing) in the tender years of her childhood, Charlotte had other plans in mind and decided at an early age she would follow the "Hollywood" route instead.

From that moment on, Charlotte studied with anyone and everyone she possibly could to polish and sharpen her craft (especially adored, Roy London). She worked at Second City and the Goodman Theater in Chicago and earned a early living with numerous commercial and modeling gigs. Then a month after graduating from the famous New Trier High School, Charlotte made the move to Los Angeles where she quickly landed her first role in Hollywood as "Eve Donovan" on Days of Our Lives (1965), a role that later garnered her 2 Emmy Nominations. After a wonderful four years on the infamous Soap, she went on to pursue other roles. Charlotte then quickly jumped into starring in numerous TV movies including, A Kiss So Deadly (1996), Kidnapped in Paradise (1999), Fall Into Darkness (1996), and She Says She's Innocent (1991), to name a few. She also landed the lead in Aaron Spelling's The Heights (1992) (FOX), which earned a Gold record for her and the cast's singing. She went on to release 3 albums.

Since then, Charlotte has remained a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, starring in TV series such as CBS's comedy The 5 Mrs. Buchanans (1994) by Marc Cherry, FOX's Pauly (1997) (Mommie and Me) with Pauly Shore, NBC's/John Wells' ER (1994) and later his family drama, Trinity (1998). She also starred in Showtime's critically-acclaimed Beggars and Choosers (1999) as 'Lorri Valpone', a role the Los Angeles Times said made Charlotte an "Emmy Shoe-in".

Before "Beggars and Choosers" was officially canceled after two seasons, Charlotte was asked to consider replacing Kim Delaney on the Emmy Award-winning show, NYPD Blue (1993). Charlotte gratefully jumped at the opportunity and made her debut on the ever- successful cop drama, as the tough talking Irish Detective, "Connie McDowell". Again, the media's response to Charlotte echoed that of "Beggars and Choosers" with the LA Times saying "If NYPD Blue still had the popularity it once had, Charlotte would have a shelf of Emmy's"... not to mention her famous "Ass scene" that caused a succession of Court appeals about standards and practices ending in the Supreme Court with President Barack Obama weighing in.

At the end of her fifth season as 'Detective Connie McDowell' on "NYPD Blue", Charlotte was 8 months pregnant with her first child and eager to take a break from acting to just be a Mom. After so many years of being so grateful for work, she craved a break and today still says that time off was the best decision she ever made.

Two years after the birth of her beautiful little boy, Max, Charlotte went back to work starring in the "re-tooled" second season of ABC's Jake in Progress (2005) Jake in Progress , Lifetime's Nora Roberts film, Montana Sky (2007), Christmas in Paradise (2007), VH1's Hit the Floor (2013) and Law & Order (1990) as the memorable character "Anne Coltour", which once again generated Emmy buzz.

Guest starring as Deacon's ex girlfriend on ABC's Nashville (2012), Charlotte also recurs as Quinn's mom on the hit show, Glee (2009) Glee_, and on CW's hit show, Arrow (2012), as the beloved Felicity's mother, Donna (aka "Mama Smoak"). Charlotte continues to challenge and reinvent herself for a diverse array of roles. Whether it be showing off her athleticism as the first female umpire in professional baseball in the highly anticipated short film, The Umpire (2011), seducing Nicolas Cage as the white trash, tattoo covered sex cougar, 'Candy' in Summit's 3D film, _Drive Angry (2012)_, or starring in _Street Kings: Motor City (2013)_ opposite Ray Liotta, Charlotte continues to captivate audiences and impress critics with her unbelievable range as an actress.

A successful actress for over two decades, a proud single mom to her son Max, a passionate recognized animal rights activist (widely known for PETA "I'd rather go naked..." campaign ) who received the HSUS Animal Advocate of the Year Award for her lobbying work on Capitol Hill to release Chimpanzee's from testing labs, a vocal fitness fanatic (recently summited Kilimanjaro) who inspires women to be in the best shape of their lives and, filming her own fitness video, Charlotte is fortunate to be able to do what she loves. She is passionate about producing as well. Once a Winnetka gal with a love of finding the truth on screen, Charlotte is now living her dream and couldn't be in a happier more grateful place in her life.

Jimmy L. Smits is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s-1990s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s-2000s police drama NYPD Blue, Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing, and for appearing in Switch (1991), My Family (1995), and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. He also appeared as Bail Organa in Star Wars. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla. Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law.

Henry Simmons was born in Stamford, Connecticut, one of three children to Aurelia, a school teacher, and Henry Simmons, Sr., an IRS agent. One of his sisters is his twin. Simmons earned a basketball scholarship at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. He graduated with a business degree and went to work for a Stamford financial firm. He quickly realized that was not his calling and left to pursue acting.

He moved to New York City to study and pursue a career in acting. His first acting job was the movie Above the Rim (1994), starring Tupac Shakur. He made his TV debut in a 1994 Saturday Night Live (1975) skit, that infamously starred Martin Lawrence. He then got numerous guest star roles on television, roles in film, as well as making his New York theater debut in William Inge's "Boy In The Basement". After working six years in New York, he then moved to Los Angeles to pursue more opportunities. He went on to star on "NYPD Blue" for six seasons, CBS drama "Shark", and has been featured in The Cleaner (2008), Raising the Bar (2008), Bones (2005) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013). He most recently was the lead for the Ava DuVernay series, "Cherish The Day".

For seven seasons, acclaimed stage, screen and television actor James McDaniel portrayed Lt. Arthur Fancy on legendary television series NYPD Blue (1993). McDaniel recently completed shooting The Battle for Bunker Hill (2008), with director Kevin Willmott (CSA: Confederate States of America). McDaniel stars alongside Saeed Jaffrey (Gandhi), and is also executive producer. Other recent films include War Eagle, Arkansas (2007), Living Hell (2008) and El Cortez (2006).

McDaniel received an Emmy and a Peabody Award for his performance in Edge of America (2004) and an Emmy Award nomination for Public Television's Storytime (1992). An accomplished stage actor, he won the prestigious Obie Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Wendall in the New York stage production of Before It Hits Home. He also received the Clarence Derwent Award for the Tony Award-winning Broadway play Six Degrees of Separation.

His additional feature films include John Sayles's Sunshine State (2002), Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), Strictly Business (1991), El Cortez (2006), Woody Allen's Alice (1990), Rocket Gibraltar (1988), Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) with Kiefer Sutherland, Crack in the Mirror and Banzaï (1983). On television, McDaniel has appeared on Hill Street Blues (1981), Law & Order (1990), Taken (2002), "Las Vegas" (2003)_, "L.A. Law" (1986)_; television movies such as Love Kills with Kristin Davis and The Road to Galveston (1996) opposite Cicely Tyson; and mini-series including Common Ground, The Old Man and the Sea (1990), and Internal Affairs (1988) (TV)_. He co-hosted the ABC special More Secrets Revealed (1995).

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., McDaniel attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in veterinary medicine. McDaniel lives in New York City with his wife Hannelore. They have two sons.

Bill Brochtrup is a stage, film, and television actor, best known for playing "John Irvin," the cheerful administrative aide on ABC TV's Emmy Award-winning police drama, NYPD Blue (1993). Along with the rest of the cast, he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble.

In addition to series regular roles on two other Steven Bochco dramas, Public Morals (1996) and Total Security (1997) he has had recurring roles on Jon Avnet's web-series Kendra (2012) and Showtime's Shameless (2011), as well as a five season run as police psychologist "Dr. Joe" on TNT's Major Crimes (2012).

His film work includes Hypnotized, Life as We Know It (2010), He's Just Not That Into You (2009), Duck (2005), Ravenous (1999), and Space Marines (1996).

Onstage he has appeared at Primary Stages, South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, LA Theatre Works, NY Fringe Festival, Odyssey Theatre, Black Dahlia Theatre, Rogue Machine, and the Fountain Theatre.

He is the Co-Artistic Director of the Antaeus Theatre Company, Los Angeles' acclaimed Classical Theatre ensemble.

He has told his original comic stories at numerous Spoken Word events and has written for Out magazine and the bestselling collection of essays I Love You, Mom!

He has hosted AIDS Walks across the country, is an SPCA "Friend for Life," and has spent numerous holidays abroad with the USO and Armed Forces Entertainment, visiting our Troops in the Persian Gulf, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Germany, Japan, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

He was born in Inglewood, CA, raised in Tacoma, WA, studied at NYU, and resides in Los Angeles.

Award-winning actor Esai Morales is a graduate of New York's High School for the Performing Arts. He was born in Brooklyn, to Puerto Rican parents, and began his acting career on the stage, first appearing in El Hermano at the Ensemble Theatre Studio and at New York's Shakespeare Festival In The Park in The Tempest. He had his feature film debut in Bad Boys and his breakthrough role as Bob Morales in La Bamba made him a star, contributing to making the film the most commercially successful Latino-themed Rock biopic of all time.

In 1997 Esai Morales co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, created to advance the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications and entertainment industries. The NHFA has provided scholarships to hundreds of Hispanic students in excess of 1 million dollars. Theater performances include Oscar Wilde's Salome with Al Pacino (Broadway) Joe Papp's production of The Tempest with Raul Julia (New York's Shakespeare in the Park Festival) Tamer of Horses (Los Angeles Theater Center) The Exonerated, directed by Bob Balaban and his musical theater debut on The Mambo Kings. Film credits include Bad Boys, La Bamba, Rapa Nui, Mi Familia, Fast Food Nation, Paid in Full, The Line, Atlas Shrugged: Part II, Jarhead II: Field of Fire, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca and Gun Hill Road a film he starred and executive produced. The film was a grand Jury Nominee at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Television credits comprise the Emmy award-winning series NYPD BLUE (ABC) Resurrection Blvd (Showtime) American Family (PBS) Miami Vice (NBC) Fame (NBC) Law and Order: SVU (NBC) The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (HBO) Vanished (FOX) Burn Notice (USA) Jericho (CBS) Caprica (Syfy) Fairly Legal (USA) Criminal Minds (CBS) Major Crimes (TNT) and Saving Westbrook High. Morales plays the role of President of The United States on The Brink, HBO's dark comedy about a geopolitical crisis.