5 Feet of Fury

‘Crime Story’ star (and ex-cop) Dennis Farina dies, aged 69

Such a great screen presence!

UPDATE: Nice round up at Vulture.com.

He also originated the “Jack Crawford” role in the “Hannibal Lecter” franchise, in Manhunter.

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll writes…

Crime Story began to fizzle near the end of its first season, but the first 18 or so episodes, set in Chicago, before the series relocated in Las Vegas, were great fun to watch. Set in the Mies van der Rohe-era Chicago of the early, pre-Maranda JFK ’60s, it was sort of Mad Men meets Goodfellas, (years before each of those titles) with plenty of smoking, skinny ties, and fedoras, and features a highly watchable blend of [Miami] Vice-like cinematography, which was still unique for television in the mid-’80s, and the great duel of wits (and occasionally guns, fists, etc.) between Farina’s tough Chicago PD lieutenant and Tony Denison as Ray Luca, the show’s lead gangster. (Denison is now a co-star on TNT’s Major Crimes series.)