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As many episodes of “Law & Order” as there have been, along with the spin-offs over the years, I can understand why trying to get a role on the shows was and still is the thing to do as a burgeoning actor. Even if you’re not a major character (aka, victim, criminal or attorney), you can still get a check from playing something small (a witness, someone who knows the whereabouts of a criminal, the dead body found in the beginning of the show). So many actors and actresses got their start on the show, along with “Criminal Intent” and “Special Victims Unit,” or appeared on it before hitting it big, and we’ve found some of the black ones here:

Samuel L. Jackson

By 1991, Samuel L. Jackson had been in quite a few movies already, even if his parts were small (including Do The Right Thing and Coming To America). In an attempt to build up his resume, Jackson nabbed a role on “Law & Order” in season one as attorney Louis Taggert. He represented a young man (Phillip Seymour Hoffman in his first on-screen role) accused of participating in the gang rape of a TV reporter.

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