Lawrence O’Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell's career in politics at various times flourished onscreen, in the real world and in fiction. On TV, was best known as the host of news and commentary show "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" (MSNBC 2010- ), while he was also seen as a guest host and commentator on "Countdown" (MSNBC 2003-2011), "The McLaughlin Group" (syndicated 1982-2016) and "Morning Joe" (MSNBC 2007- ). He also worked as a writer, producer and sometimes actor in television, most famously as a writer and producer on the hit political drama "The West Wing" (NBC 1999-2006), in which he also appeared in flashbacks as President Jed Bartlet's father.

Prior to working in television, the Boston-born, Harvard-attending O'Donnell was a writer who also worked as an attorney and a Congressional aide in Washington D.C. His first book, a true-crime tale of a racially-motivated 1975 incident involving the Boston police department called Deadly Force was adapted into the television movie "A Case of Deadly Force" (1986); O'Donnell co-produced the film, giving him his first taste of the world of television. Along with his various other careers, O'Donnell worked frequently as an actor. He played a lawyer in the polygamy drama "Big Love" (HBO 2006-2011), a judge in the detective comedy-drama "Monk" (USA 2002-09) and himself in the political thriller "Homeland" (Showtime 2011- ), sexy vampire drama "True Blood" (HBO 2008-14), and the comedy "Swing Vote" (2008) and action thriller "Olympus Has Fallen" (2013).