Benjamin Stone

Benjamin Stone was a fictional character on the TV drama Law & Order, portrayed by Michael Moriarty.

Related Topics:
Law & Order - Michael Moriarty

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Stone joined the District Attorney's office around 1974, working under DAs Alfred Wentworth (in the pilot episode) and Adam Schiff during his tenure. It was Schiff with whom he was closest, treating him as a kind of surrogate father (his own father having been an overbearing alcoholic.) He became Executive Assistant District Attorney in 1985 after putting a con artist named Philip Swann away for murder. His assistants have been ADAs Paul Robinette and Claire Kincaid, both of whom revered him as a kind of mentor.

Related Topics:
1974 - Adam Schiff - Alcoholic - 1985 - Con artist - Murder - Paul Robinette - Claire Kincaid

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A strict, unyielding boss, he could be very difficult to work with; in the pilot episode, the detectives, Max Greevey and Mike Logan, intimated that Stone ate ADAs for lunch.

Related Topics:
Max Greevey - Mike Logan

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He is a Catholic who was mostly raised by his Irish grandmother. He is currently divorced with one daughter, who was never seen on the show.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Irish - Divorce

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Stone would occasionally let his strongly held liberal convictions cloud his judgement. By 1994, he had become disillusioned with the compromises his job increasingly required. The last straw was a racketeering case in which the main witness, whose safety Stone had personally guaranteed, was murdered. Wracked with guilt, he resigned. He was succeeded by Executive ADA Jack McCoy, played by Sam Waterston.

Related Topics:
Liberal - Racketeering - Guilt - Jack McCoy - Sam Waterston

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By the time he left the show, Moriarty had long been dissatisfied with the diminishing amount of screen time afforded the DA's office—and he was also worried that then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno would make good on her promise to purge network TV of "excessive violence," a move he felt would emasculate reality-based series like Law & Order. Moriarty chose not to return to the program for season 5, and Ben Stone was written out of the show - in fact, at more than one point during season 4, the scriptwriters were unsure if Moriarty would be finishing the season, and ended episodes by presenting Stone with terrible dilemmas which would have, if necessary, given Stone a valid personal reason to resign his post.

Related Topics:
U.S. Attorney General - Janet Reno

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