Greetings,
Ever known someone who had been at a job for so long that they sometimes come off as being over it, even jaded, perhaps, or just had an aura of ...whatever about things. Well, that's kind of the impression I got from District Attorney Adam Schiff when I watched him on Law & Order. Most episodes, I watched and waited for him to throw out the obligatory "Just put a deal on the table, and get it over with!" Maybe it was all in the delivery. Or maybe it's my perception. Anyway, let's talk about this guy.
Adam Schiff was portrayed by Steven Hill for the first ten seasons of Law & Order. Yeah, ten whole years. Of all the people from the first season, he was the one who lasted the longest. That makes sense. From the beginning, though everyone was good and had varying degrees of experience, he clearly brought the longest resume and most legitimacy to the series. And art certainly imitated life where that was concerned.
I'm not sure how long Schiff had been working in the world of law and whatnot at the start of the show, but it was obviously a very long time. No doubt, he always sounded like he knew what he was talking about more than anyone. That's probably why he knew when to fight and when to count your losses and move on. Oh, and we've got another one for the Democrat side here, and he sometimes fell victim to having those political party blinders on. Still, whatever side you're own, there will be criticism. Schiff, at this point, pretty much just let it all roll off his back. He was smart enough to know that sometimes you aren't going to be able to change people's minds. Interestingly enough, politics seemed to be set aside when it came to which of his subordinates he got along with best. He seemed more concerned with technique there. He appeared to get along with Ben Stone quite well, as Stone was usually very "by the book" when it came to prosecuting. Jack McCoy was always more the type to bend the rules and have no problem with it, which sometimes caused a bad reflection of Schiff. Yeah, McCoy heard quite a bit of "Dude, you're making me look bad! Knock it off!" Okay, MAYBE he never called him...ya know...dude.
Adam Schiff was quite known for being friends or acquaintances with several political figures and members of the hierarchy in law and business. Of course, that would be a for better or worse situation since - SURPRISE! - some of them ended up being corrupt. I know, right? What are the odds in this series? So, we did get a few or more episodes where that caused some problems. But it made for some compelling stories.
As far as personal life goes, Schiff was married and had a son. Now, if you watch this show, you know that it is a very procedural crime drama, and they don't often delve deeply into the lives of the character. Sure, we know things, but it's mostly in passing. So, when we did get a good look into their personal lives, it was always handled extremely well and ended up giving us some of the best moments of the series. Case in point, Schiff's wife had a stoke in 1997, and since she was in a vegetative state, he decided to pull her off of life support. That scene was so heartbreaking. It was quiet and real, and you felt it so much, especially with Steven Hill's acting. I always loved how they cared enough to perfect these moments since we got so few of them.
I think the best thing about casting Steven Hill as Adam Schiff was how the real man and the fictional man were both so seasoned in the respective crafts. You couldn't help but see all that experience melding itself together. God bless that Steven Hill. He was and always will be one of the great pieces of foundation for this show.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
