Dann Florek (born May 1, 1950 in Flat Rock, Michigan) is an American actor.
Florek worked his way up from the theatre into supporting roles in such diverse 80's films as Sweet Liberty, Moon Over Parador, and Angel Heart. After a brief stint as the boring husband of Susan Ruttan on NBC's hit drama L.A. Law, Florek co-starred in the NBC crime drama Law & Order as Capt. Donald Cragen. He frequently asked for more to do, and got his wish once, in the first season finale "The Blue Wall". The first few years of L&O had mediocre ratings, and finally after the close of the 1992-1993 season, NBC told creator/executive producer Dick Wolf that they would cancel the show unless he added a few women to the all-male cast. Wolf complied and fired Florek as well as Richard Brooks.
Florek reprised the role of Cragen in a 1995 episode, and in the 1998 TV-movie Exiled, centered on former L&O star Chris Noth's character, Mike Logan. Also in 1998, Florek played Abraham Lincoln in the extremely controversial, UPN sitcom The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer. In 1999 he returned to the Cragen role, only this time on Law & Order spin-off series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The show is quite popular and Florek remains on the show as of 2005.
Florek has a wife, Karen, who works as an artist. His brother, Dave, is also an actor. All three trained in the Daniel L. Quirk Jr. drama school at Eastern Michigan University.
