A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law & Order. Most crime drama focus on crime investigation and does not feature the court room.

It is widely believed by most practicing lawyers that legal dramas result in the general public having misconceptions about the legal process. Many of these misconceptions result from the desire to create an interesting story. For example, conflict between parties make for an interesting story, which is why legal dramas emphasize the trial and ignore the fact that the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States are settled out of court. Legal dramas also focus on situations where there is an obvious injustice or ones in which either the plaintiff or defendant is very interesting and unusual. As a result, things such as the insanity defense occur far more often in legal drama than in real life. Finally, legal dramas often focus on areas of the legal process which can be portrayed dramatically, such as oral arguments, and ignore areas which are less easily portrayed, such as researching a written legal brief.^{[citation needed]}

Subgenres[link]

• Crime comics
• Crime fiction
• Detective fiction
• List of police television dramas
• Police procedural
• Trial movies
• Whodunit
• Judge show

Television legal dramas[link]

There have been successful legal dramas both serious and comedic. Notable examples of serious legal dramas that deal with the difficulties and the dark side of the law are The Practice and Law & Order. These shows often deal with the morals of dealing with people such as murderers, rapists, con artists, amoral lawyers, insane people, etc. and the difficulty of defending innocents found in situations where spectators and the public find the person to be dishonorable and cruel but in actuality were innocent people who were in the wrong situation at the wrong time. While there are comedic legal dramas that usually deal less with murder cases and more on cases that deal with issues such as divorce, sex, cheating and accidents portrayed in a comedic fashion. Notable examples of this type of legal drama are Ally McBeal and Boston Legal.^{[citation needed]}

There are rarely any legal dramas on television that don't focus on the battle between two opposing sides through litigation. In reality, more often than not, most lawsuits are resolved through a settlement before ever going to court; shows like Damages, and occasionally The Good Wife, do attempt to portray this.

See also[link]

• Films that fall into this category
• Television shows that fall into this category

Further reading[link]

• Bergman, Paul; Asimow, Michael. (2006) Reel justice: the courtroom goes to the movies (Kansas City : Andrews and McMeel). ISBN 0-7407-5460-2; ISBN 978-0-7407-5460-9; ISBN 0-8362-1035-2; ISBN 978-0-8362-1035-4.
• Machura, Stefan and Robson, Peter, eds. Law and Film: Representing Law in Movies (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing, 2001). ISBN 0-631-22816-0, ISBN 978-0-631-22816-5 176 pages.

This television program-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This literature-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

James Spader
James Spader in 2007
Born	James Todd Spader (1960-02-07) February 7, 1960 (age 52) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Spouse	Victoria Spader (m. 1987–2004) «start: (1987)–end+1: (2005)»"Marriage: Victoria Spader to James Spader" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/James_Spader)(divorced) 2 children
Partner	Leslie Stefanson (2008–present; one child)

James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in films such as Pretty in Pink; Less Than Zero; Sex, Lies, and Videotape; Crash; Stargate; and Secretary. His most famous television roles are those of the colorful attorney Alan Shore in The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, for which he won three Emmy Awards, and Robert California in The Office.

Early life[link]

Spader was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of teachers Jean (née Fraser) and Stoddard Greenwood "Todd" Spader.^[1][2] During his early education, he attended The Pike School (where his mother taught art) and enrolled in the Brooks School (where his father taught) for one year in North Andover, Massachusetts. Spader later transferred to Phillips Academy, but dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to pursue acting at the Michael Chekhov School in New York City.^[3] Before becoming a full-time actor, Spader held a variety of jobs including being a yoga instructor, busboy, truck driver, stable boy, and railroad-car loader.^[3]

Career[link]

Spader's first major film role was in 1981 as Brooke Shields' brother in Endless Love, and his first starring role was in Tuff Turf alongside good friend Robert Downey, Jr. But he did not rise to stardom until 1986, when he played Molly Ringwald's foil Steff in Pretty in Pink. He starred opposite Andrew McCarthy, another friend, in Mannequin, and in the film adaptation of Less Than Zero, where he played a drug dealer named Rip. Supporting roles in movies such as Baby Boom and Wall Street followed until his critical breakthrough in 1989. In Sex, Lies, and Videotape, he played a sexual voyeur named Graham Dalton who complicates the lives of three Baton Rouge residents. For this performance, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.^[4] His roles in the early 1990s included playing a young, affluent widower opposite Susan Sarandon in White Palace, John Cusack's best friend in True Colors, and a poker-playing drifter who collides with Mandy Patinkin in The Music of Chance. In 1994, he starred as Egyptologist Daniel Jackson in the blockbuster film Stargate. He played car-accident fetishist James Ballard in the controversial Canadian film Crash in 1996 and assassin Lee Woods in 2 Days in the Valley. In 1997, Spader guest starred in an episode of Seinfeld as an angry recovering alcoholic who refuses to apologize to George for making fun of him. In 2000, he played a drug-addicted detective tracking down serial killer Keanu Reeves in The Watcher. In 2001, he starred as Maggie Gyllenhaal's sadistic boss in the critically acclaimed Secretary.

From 2004 to 2008, Spader starred as the lead character Alan Shore in the television series Boston Legal, in which he reprised his role from the television series The Practice. Spader won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Award^[5] for his portrayal of Alan Shore in 2004, on The Practice and won it again in 2005 and 2007, for Boston Legal.^[6][4] With the 2005 Emmy Win, Spader became one of the few actors (along with co-star William Shatner as Denny Crane) to win an Emmy award while playing the same character in two different series. Even rarer, Shatner and Spader each won a second consecutive Emmy while playing the same character in two different series. Spader also won the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Boston Legal in 2006.^[4]

In October 2006, Spader narrated China Revealed, the first episode of Discovery Channel's documentary series Discovery Atlas. Boston Legal castmate Candice Bergen would follow him in narrating France Revealed. He has also done the voice-over in several television commercials for Acura.^[7]

Spader starred as a lead character in Race, a play written and directed by David Mamet, alongside Richard Thomas, David Alan Grier and Kerry Washington. It opened on December 6, 2009^[8] at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The show closed on August 21, 2010 after 297 performances.^[9]

In March 2011, Spader was named to star in By Virtue Fall, a film written and to be directed by Sheldon Turner. Also set to star in the film are Eric Bana, Carla Gugino, Ryan Phillippe, Treat Williams and Kim Coates. As of June 2011^[update], the movie is in pre-production, and set to be released 2013.^[10]

Spader was one of a number of prominent guest stars in "Search Committee," the final episode of season 7 of The Office. He portrayed a man named Robert California. On June 27, 2011, Ricky Gervais (an executive producer on the show) announced Spader was to join the cast on a permanent basis.^[11] Spader planned to stay only through the eighth season, and while the original plan was just to do the guest appearance, executive producer Paul Lieberstein said, "those two scenes became a season."^[12]

Personal life[link]

Spader met his first wife, Victoria Kheel, a decorator, while working in a yoga studio, after he moved to New York in the 1980s. They married in 1987 and have two sons, Elijah and Sebastian. Spader filed for divorce from Kheel in 2004 and, as of June 2011^[update], has plans to marry his girlfriend (and former co-star), Leslie Stefanson,^[13] with whom he had a child in August 2008.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• James Spader at the Internet Movie Database
• James Spader at the TCM Movie Database
• James Spader at AllRovi
• James Spader at Emmys.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Rider Strong
Strong at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Rider King Strong (1979-12-11) December 11, 1979 (age 32) San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, director, producer
Years active	1990 - present

Rider King Strong (born December 11, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Shawn Hunter on the 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Rider King Strong was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Lin (née Warner), a teacher and nutritionist, and King Strong, a firefighter. He graduated from high school in Sebastopol, California in 1997. His brothers are Shiloh Strong, an actor and still photographer, and Alex Tapper Strong.^[1]

Career[link]

Strong began his acting career at the young age of nine, when he starred as Gavroche in the San Francisco production of Les Misérables. After the stage production, he appeared in small screen roles on television. In 1992, he received his first regular television series role as Julie Andrews's son on Julie. When the series was canceled, Strong made his debut on film as Amy Irving's son in Benefit of the Doubt. It was not until he was chosen for the role of Shawn Hunter in the ABC series Boy Meets World that he received widespread recognition.

During the seven year run he was nominated twice for the Young Artist Award and nominated for a Hollywood Reporter YoungStar Award. When the series ended, Strong returned to the big screen to star as Paul in the indie horror film Cabin Fever, directed by Eli Roth. In 2006, he returned to television for a regular series role in Pepper Dennis on the WB. The show was short-lived and was not chosen as one of the transferring shows to The CW Television Network. He has a brief cameo appearance in Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, the sequel to Cabin Fever. It was released in 2009.

Along with his brother, Shiloh Strong, he wrote and directed the short film, Irish Twins, which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. It went on to win both the Jury Award and Audience Award at the Woods Hole Film Festival, a Special Jury Prize in the Action/Cut Short Film Competition and Best First-Time Director at DC Shorts. Speaking to Pure Movies in 2010 he expressed that he wanted to expand his writing and directing career: 'Acting is always there and I enjoy it but it’s kind of got a little unfulfilling lately. You know, I’m in the low budget horror world… I have a whole lot of other stuff I want to do.'^[2]

In April 2008, Strong co-created (with his brother and his girlfriend, actress Alexandra Barreto) a 30-second television ad in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, titled "It Could Happen to You." The ad, submitted to MoveOn.org, became one of 15 finalists from a pool of over 1,100 submitted ads, and was chosen as the funniest ad in May 2008. In August, MoveOn raised $200,000 to air the ad on MTV and Comedy Central; it was the first political commercial to ever appear on Comedy Central. In early 2009, Strong narrated the audiobook of The Obama Revolution by Alan Kennedy-Shaffer. In 2010, Strong starred in the science fiction-thriller film The Darkening Sky alongside Ezra Buzzington, Charley Rossman, Sally Berman, Daniel Kirschner and LaShan Anderson under the direction of Victor Bornia.^[3]

Personal life[link]

In 2004, Strong graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University as an English major. While a student at Columbia, he wrote the foreword for fellow Columbian Steve Hofstetter's "Student Body Shots". Before Columbia, Strong attended Occidental College. He completed his Master of Fine Arts degree in June 2009 at Bennington College. Rider currently runs a literature podcast/blog along with Julia Pistell and Tod Goldberg called Literary Disco.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rider Strong at the Internet Movie Database

Kathy Bates
Bates in 2006
Born	Kathleen Doyle Bates (1948-06-28) June 28, 1948 (age 63) Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Occupation	Actress, director
Years active	1971–present
Spouse	Tony Campisi (m. 1991–1997) «start: (1991)–end+1: (1998)»"Marriage: Tony Campisi to Kathy Bates" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Kathy_Bates)

Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress and film director. After appearing in several minor roles in film and television during the 1970s and the 1980s, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery (1990), for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe.^[1] She followed this with major roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Dolores Claiborne (1995), before playing a featured role as Margaret "Molly" Brown in Titanic (1997). During this time, she began her directing career, primarily in television.

Bates received a Tony Award nomination for her 1983 performance in the Broadway play 'night, Mother. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in Primary Colors (1998), for which she also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for About Schmidt (2002). Her television work has resulted in nine Emmy Award nominations. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, Bates has stated that she has made a full recovery.^[2]

Early life[link]

Bates was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the youngest of three daughters of Bertye Kathleen (née Talbert; 1907–1997), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates (1900–1989), a mechanical engineer.^[3] Her paternal grandfather was lawyer and author Finis L. Bates. Her great-great-grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland to New Orleans and served as President Andrew Jackson's doctor.^[4] She graduated from White Station High School, and later attended Southern Methodist University, where she majored in theatre, is a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and graduated in 1969. She moved to New York City in 1970 to pursue an acting career.^[5]

Career[link]

Bates' history of Broadway appearances includes Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July and the Robert Altman-directed Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean opposite Karen Black and Cher. She received a Tony Award nomination in 1983 for her stage role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother opposite Anne Pitoniak. The production of 'night, Mother ran for more than a year. One of her other successful New York stage productions was, Off Broadway, in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune which ran 533 performances. McNally specifically wrote the play for Bates and F. Murray Abraham, who had to drop out and was replaced by Kenneth Welsh. The play was later filmed as Frankie and Johnny, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. She also replaced Amy Irving in the Off Broadway production of The Road to Mecca in 1988.

Bates' first feature film was the 1971 Miloš Forman comedy Taking Off (credited as "Bobo Bates"), wherein she sings an original song "Even Horses Had Wings". Bates' next feature was the 1978 Dustin Hoffman vehicle Straight Time. (In 1990, she would appear again with Hoffman in Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy as a stenographer.) Bates continued to appear in little-seen films such as Summer Heat and The Morning After while guest-starring in television shows such as L.A. Law before landing the role of obsessed fan Annie Wilkes, who holds her favorite author (played by James Caan) captive, in the 1990 thriller Misery, based on the novel by Stephen King. Bates received her first Academy Award nomination for that role, winning Best Actress. Soon after, she starred with Jessica Tandy in the acclaimed 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

In 1977, Bates made her soap opera debut as Phyllis on NBC's soap opera The Doctors. From 1983 to 1984, she played prison inmate Belle Bodelle on All My Children and from 1984 to 1985, she played Evelyn Maddox on One Life to Live. She also made an appearance on Two and A Half Men as Ghost Charlie.

In 1995, Bates turned in another applauded portrayal as the title character in Dolores Claiborne, a film adaption of another Stephen King novel, although she was not nominated for an Oscar. In 1997, Bates played Margaret "Molly" Brown in James Cameron's Titanic. Based on the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, the film went on to earn more than US$1.8 billion in box-office receipts worldwide.^[6]

Bates also excelled in her role as the acid-tongued "dustbuster" political advisor Libby Holden in the 1998 drama Primary Colors which was adapted from the book in which political journalist Joe Klein novelized his experiences on the Presidential campaign trail in 1991–1992. For this performance, she received her second Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002 she received her third nomination, for About Schmidt. More recently, she and Terry Bradshaw played the parents of Matthew McConaughey's character in the 2006 film Failure to Launch. Bates was also featured in an uncredited cameo in the miniseries of Stephen King's The Stand.

Bates has been nominated for an Emmy Award^[7] eight times: Outstanding actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, for her performance as Jay Leno's manager Helen Kushnick in HBO's The Late Shift (1996), and, twice again in the same category; as Miss Hannigan in Disney's remake of Annie (1999) and for the HBO Franklin Roosevelt biopic Warm Springs (2005). She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Lifetime Television's Ambulance Girl (2006), which she also directed and received a Supporting Actress nomination for Alice.

Bates appeared on 10 episodes of the HBO cable television series Six Feet Under for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, as Bettina, in 2003. She also was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1999, the same year that she was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Movie for the Dashiell Hammett-Lillian Hellman biopic Dash & Lilly. She also had a recurring guest role on the American version of The Office as Jo Bennett, the head executive of the company that buys Dunder Mifflin known as Sabre.

Starting in the 1990s, Bates forged a formidable career as a director. She has directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, Oz, Six Feet Under, and Everwood. Bates has also directed the television movies Dash and Lilly and the self-starring Ambulance Girl.

Bates directed and co-starred in Have Mercy (2006) with Melanie Griffith. In 2008, she re-teamed with her Titanic co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road.

Bates stars in David E. Kelley's legal drama Harry's Law, which began airing on NBC on January 17, 2011.^[8]

Affiliations[link]

Bates is the Executive Committee Chair of the Actors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Bates was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003, but she did not reveal her illness to the general public until 2009.^[2] She stated that she has been "in total remission" for over five and a half years, as of January 2009.^[10]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	Film portal
	Television portal
	Theatre portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kathy Bates

• Kathy Bates at the Internet Broadway Database
• Kathy Bates at the Internet Movie Database
• Kathy Bates at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Kathy Bates at the TCM Movie Database
• Kathy Bates at AllRovi
• Kathy Bates at Yahoo! Movies
• Kathy Bates at Emmys.com