Profile

'NYPD Blue' yields seventh nod for Dennis Franz

Dennis Franz has won four Emmys and has a chance to add a fifth at the awards show September 10   Nominees Who won? Celebrity bios Cast your vote Vote for your favorites Message board Cook up an Emmys party Fun & games Match the Stars Map the shows TV trivia test Emmy fun facts

From Paul Vercammen
CNN Entertainment Correspondent

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Dennis Franz, the man with a silver badge and a heart of gold, has won an Emmy nomination for every single season of "NYPD Blue" (ABC). He took home the award in 1999, 1997 and 1996.

The Vietnam War veteran has won much acclaim for his portrayal of another veteran: the complex and tortured Andy Sipowicz, a hard-bitten character always trying to be a good police officer and decent human being, yet sometimes failing.

"I'm fortunate in the sense that people want to stick around and share the misery that Sipowicz has to deal with on a weekly basis for this long of a time," he said.

Franz has a reputation of helping to elevate the performance of other actors. He has been awarded four Emmy statuettes for "NYPD Blue" and nominated seven times, including this year.

"That in itself is such a huge reward -- to be recognized by your peer group and in our particular case, this would be the seventh year of the show," Franz said. "This might be the most satisfying one."

Franz kicked off his acting career on the Chicago stage. In 1983, he hooked up with producer Steven Bochco, who cast him for the final two seasons of "Hill Street Blues." His big-screen credits include "City of Angels" (1998), "American Buffalo" (1996), and "Die Hard" (1990).

Earlier in his life, Franz leaned toward another passion.

"I thought I was going to get into sports," he said. "And football was one of the sports I was interested in and, yes, I was a quarterback for two years on the high school team."

Playing the hugely popular character Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue" has earned Dennis Franz commercial and critical acclaim

At first, Franz's choice to pursue acting stunned his father, a German immigrant postal worker.

"He scratched his head and thought 'Oh, where did I go wrong? What did I do here? What's this boy doing to me?'" Franz joked. "He's no longer with us. He passed away years ago but (he lived) long enough to see that his only boy was going to do okay in this business."

Franz, 55, earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year.

'ER,' 'NYPD Blue' fight ratings blues
May 27, 1999
'Shakespeare,' 'NYPD Blue' lead nominees for Screen Actors Guild Awards
January 27, 1999

'NYPD Blue' (ABC)

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.