Alan Rosenberg has been a TV lawyer since "Civil Wars," "L.A. Law" and
"Chicago Hope." On the sitcom "Cybill," he played Ira Woodbine, a former
lawyer-turned-author.
Rosenberg is a 51-year-old Passaic, N.J., native who
began his Hollywood career playing villains. He was a 1960s political activist
who had planned to attend law school. But he decided on an acting career
instead after acting in college and professional plays in New York that
included "Buck," with future movie star Morgan Freeman.
Rosenberg, who lives today in Santa Monica, said he likes how his latest
series, "The Guardian," tackles social issues. His character, Alvin Masterson,
is the head of Children's Legal Services in Pittsburgh.
"The other lawyers
I played included a divorce lawyer and a criminal lawyer; this is the first
guy I've played who's an idealist similar to me. He's involved with the
helpless and underprivileged," Rosenberg said.
"I do care a lot about the world," he said between sips from a Diet Coke
during an interview in his dressing-room trailer.
Before the interview,
Rosenberg had had a short day shooting a courtroom scene on Stage 19 at Sony
Pictures Studios. A few sound stages away, Paul McCartney was rehearsing for
his new tour. Like McCartney, Rosenberg was a young man in the 1960s, someone
who wanted to change the world. Rosenberg was a member of the Black Panther
Party and other organizations, and he learned about union politics. He has
continued to speak out on issues and talked to students during the Persian
Gulf War.
Rosenberg talks passionately and candidly about his political beliefs and
career. He said America's reliance on oil has put it at conflict with the
world, and that partially led to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. "We have
to be at war in the world to maintain oil supplies."
Rosenberg said he has
enjoyed working on all his TV shows except for CBS' "Cybill," and the reason,
he said, was what he saw as the difficult attitude of the star and executive
producer, Cybill Shepherd. "She fired the creator - the right-hand man, the
other executive producer."
Previously, when "Civil Wars," a series about divorce lawyers, was
cancelled, Rosenberg and his character, Eli Levinson, moved to "L.A. Law."
Rosenberg has an uncredited small role as he reprises that character in
"L.A. Law: Return to Justice," the reunion movie airing in May on NBC. He said
he didn't feel his name should be in the credits because he's a regular on a
CBS series.
"It's very well-written," he said about the "L.A. Law" movie. "Everybody is
back but Jimmy Smits." (Fans can catch Smits in "Star Wars: Episode II - The
Attack of the Clones," coming to theaters May 16.)
Rosenberg said he would
like to play someone other than a lawyer in the future. "I'd rather play some
kind of a bad guy. I also want to direct a movie." He's working on developing
a film about singer Jeff Buckley, he said.
I told Rosenberg his "Guardian" character, Alvin Masterson, seems very hard
on Nick, the lawyer on the show who is sentenced for drug use to 1,500 hours
of community service working for Alvin at Children's Legal Services.
"In a
couple of recent episodes, I gave him a break when I became his AA sponsor,"
Rosenberg said. "But he's been screwing up."
Rosenberg said Nick's addiction doesn't make him a bad person. "A lot of
the show is about forgiveness."
Still, Rosenberg doesn't want Alvin to go
easy on Nick. "I've said that, instead of lightening up, I would like him to
be a little more of a (jerk)."
Like Nick, Alvin is flawed.
"So am I," Rosenberg said, as he stepped
outside his trailer for a quick smoke.
He said his wife, Marg Helgenberger, who was nominated for an Emmy last
year for starring as a forensics investigator on CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene
Investigations," is a good detective as well as a great actress.
"She can
tell when I've been smoking a cigarette," he said.
"The Guardian" airs at 9 p.m. EST/PST Tuesdays on CBS.
(Dave Mason is
television editor of the Ventura County Star in California. He can be reached at
mason(at)insidevc.com.)