Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

portrayed

Robert B. Parker Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. AB ...

's detective " Spenser" in three TV films on the A&E cable network between 1999 and 2001.

Production

Robert B. Parker had a significant role in the development of the TV movies (all three films were adapted by Parker, with his wife co-authoring ''Walking Shadow'') as opposed to the earlier '' Spenser: For Hire''. Nonetheless, he felt that the movies didn't get it right, not because of the performances but because of the limited budget. Parker had a small role in the first film, and cameos in the later two. His son, Daniel, and wife, Joan, appear in ''Thin Air''. Spenser's ally, Hawk, was played by Sheik Mahmud-Bey in "Small Vices", and returns in "Walking Shadow" portrayed by

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in ''The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003). Hu ...

. All three movies were filmed in locations in Canada.

Films

Spenser: Small Vices

In this movie Spenser tries to solve the murder of a college student. It was broadcast in 1999, and is based on the 1997 novel of the same name. *

as Spenser *

Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American actress. She is the recipient of accolades including an Academy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Movie Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Born ...

as Susan Silverman *

Joanna Miles Joanna Miles (born March 6, 1940) is an American actress. She received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1973 film production of Tennessee Williams' ''The Glass Menagerie''. Early life and education Miles was born in ...

as Evans * R.D. Reid as Quirk *

Scott Wickware Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...

as Captain Healy * Sheik Mahmud-Bey as Hawk *

as Ives

Thin Air

In this movie, Spenser searches for the wife of his longtime associate, Sgt. Belson. It was broadcast in 2000, and is based on the 1995 novel of the same name. *

as Spenser *

as Susan Silverman *

as Evans * R.D. Reid as Quirk *

Jon Seda Jonathan Seda (born October 14, 1970) is a Puerto Rican actor. Seda was an amateur boxer who auditioned for and was given a role in the 1992 boxing film ''Gladiator''. He played the role of Chris Pérez alongside Jennifer Lopez in the movie ''Se ...

as Luis DeLeon * David Ferry as Frank Belson

Walking Shadow

In this movie, Spenser tries to solve the on-stage murder of an actor. It was broadcast in 2001, and is based on the 1994 novel of the same name. It is directed by

Po-Chih Leong Leong Po-Chih (born 31 December 1939) is a British-born Chinese film director from Hong Kong and United States. Early life On December 31, 1939, Leong was born in England. He has two siblings. Leong attended the London Film School, before em ...

. *

as Spenser *

as Susan Silverman *

as Captain Healy *

as Hawk *

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

as Police Chief DeSpain *

Christopher Lawford Christopher Kennedy Lawford (March 29, 1955 – September 4, 2018) was an American author, actor, and activist. He was a member of the prominent Kennedy family, and son of English actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy Lawford, Patricia "Pat" ...

as Jimmy Christopholous *

Tamlyn Tomita Tamlyn Naomi Tomita (born January 27, 1966) is a Japanese-American actress and singer. She made her screen debut as Kumiko in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and reprised the character for the streaming series ''Cobra Kai'' (2021). She is also ...

as Rikki Wu

Audiobooks

Joe Mantegna has also narrated a number of Spenser novels;List of Spenser Novels read by Joe Mantegna
/ref>

References

External links

* * * *
Small Vices
' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Spenser 1999 American television series debuts 1990s American crime drama television series 2000s American crime drama television series American mystery television series Television shows set in Boston Television shows based on American novels A&E (TV network) original films