THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601130096
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
HERE IN THE LAND of the unemployed actor, there are men and women who would kill for even the tiniest role in a Steven Bochco series. So, you don't hear much grumbling from the supporting cast of ``NYPD Blue'' on ABC because they don't get as much tube time as co-stars Jimmy Smits and Dennis Franz.
Consider James McDaniel, who plays Lt. Arthur Fancy, the rock in the 15th Precinct squad room. He has waited until now, season No. 3, for the writers to build an episode around his character - to give Fancy the ``A'' story line.
This week's set-up: Sipowicz (Franz) tosses out racial slurs when he's investigating a gang-related shooting. He's an equal-opportunity racist, offending blacks, Asians, Italians, the Polish and the Irish. Fancy gets on him about it.
It's the stuff of which Emmy nominations are made. The show airs Tuesday night at 10.
Most of the time, Fancy is seen behind his desk, saying something like, ``You make sure you get a search warrant.''
McDaniel isn't one to fuss about how much or how little is given to Fancy in the ``NYPD Blue'' scripts.
``I'm not a foot-stomper,'' he said. ``I do not make all kinds of demands. I try not to dwell on percentages, thinking about who has more to do than somebody else. I concentrate on moving Fancy along.''
We know much about Fancy, but not everything. We know he has confronted racism before. Remember the bigot who gave his brother a hard time on the job? We know about his family life - he wasn't certain at first that he wanted another child when his wife announced she was pregnant.
We know he can box a little.
And we know he has presence, that when Fancy strides into the squad room, it means everything will soon be under control. He's the boss we would all like to have. He's fair. He's supportive.
``I like to think that this guy can do anything, even dance well. I think of Fancy as a man with many, many facets to his life,'' said McDaniel.
``The egotistical mind in me says that I'm this great actor who created the role from the pages of a script. I can say that Fancy ain't me. But in fact, there is a lot of me floating around in the guy. There is a lot of every actor in a role they portray week after week. We're not that brilliant. We have to draw on our own experiences.''
(He steps out of chracter Jan. 24 to appear in ``The Road to Galveston,'' a USA network movie that deals with Alzheimer's disease.)
This man is an actor. He's worked in 75 plays, including productions in London's West End.
Now, he's playing an African-American cop on TV who butts up against racism almost every day on the job. ``NYPD Blue'' has put a mirror up to the world, said McDaniel.
``Racism is the theme of the times. It's what we think about a lot in America. People have racism in their hearts. They have to go through some dramatic experience to changes their views.''
Unlike other actors in the original cast - David Caruso, Sherry Stringfield and, in the near future, Gail O'Grady - McDaniel said he will continue with the series through his five-year contract.
And then what? A sitcom, perhaps?
Don't laugh. Or rather, do laugh.
``I can handle comedy,'' he said. ``You ought to be there on our set when the cameras aren't rolling. We have guys who'll drop their pants to their ankles for a laugh.''
O'Grady never did that. But she's a lot of laughs anyway, said McDaniel. ``She'll be perfect in a sitcom. She's smart, she's funny.''
Even if O'Grady's sitcom clicks, in our hearts she will always be the lovely Donna Abandando of ``NYPD Blue,'' just as James McDaniel will always be the granite Lt. Fancy. MEMO: Larry Bonko is in Los Angeles for the twice-yearly Television Critic's
Association press tour.
by CNB