Spenser (TV films)
Encyclopedia
Joe Mantegna
portrayed Robert B. Parker
's detective "Spenser
" in three TV movies on the A&E
cable network between 1999 and 2001.
, but nonetheless he felt that the movies didn't get it right, but that it was nothing to do with the performances, but rather a money issue. Parker had a small role in the first movie, and cameoes in the later two movies. His son, Daniel, and wife, Joan, appear in Thin Air.
All three movies were filmed in Canada.
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
portrayed Robert B. Parker
Robert B. Parker
Robert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also...
's detective "Spenser
Spenser (fictional detective)
Spenser is a fictional character in a series of detective novels initially by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker and later by Ace Atkins...
" in three TV movies on the A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
cable network between 1999 and 2001.
Production
Robert B. Parker had a significant role in the development of these TV movies (all three movies were adapted by Parker, with his wife co-authoring Walking Shadow) as opposed to the earlier Spenser: For HireSpenser: For Hire
Spenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
, but nonetheless he felt that the movies didn't get it right, but that it was nothing to do with the performances, but rather a money issue. Parker had a small role in the first movie, and cameoes in the later two movies. His son, Daniel, and wife, Joan, appear in Thin Air.
All three movies were filmed in Canada.
List of movies
- Spenser: Small Vices (1999): based on a novel of the same name released in 1997
- Thin Air (2000): based on a novel of the same nameThin Air (novel)Thin Air is the twenty-second Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. The story follows Boston-based PISpenser as he searches for the wife of his longtime associate, Sgt. Frank Belson of the Boston Police Department.-Plot:...
released in 1995 - Walking Shadow (2001): based on a novel of the same nameWalking ShadowWalking Shadow is the twenty-first Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker.-Plot:The story follows Boston-based PI Spenser as he tries to solve the on-stage murder of an actor in the run-down town of Port City...
released in 1994
Cast
- Joe MantegnaJoe MantegnaJoseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as Spenser - Marcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay HardenMarcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
as Susan
- Joanna MilesJoanna MilesJoanna Miles is an American actress.Miles was born in Nice, France, the daughter of Jeanne Miles, an American painter, and Johannes Schiefer, a French painter art curator. She immigrated to the United States, and was naturalized a citizen, in 1941...
as Evans (Small Vices and Thin Air) - R.D. Reid as Quirk (Small Vices and Thin Air)
- Scott WickwareScott WickwareScott Wickware is an actor. He is mostly known for his performances in the TV Series Goosebumps, as the Haunted Mask. Over his career, he has acted in many television series and movies, most of them Canadian...
as Captain Healy (Small Vices and Waking Shadow)
Walking Shadow (2001)
- Ernie HudsonErnie HudsonErnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
as Hawk - Eric RobertsEric RobertsEric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
as Police Chief DeSpain - Christopher LawfordChristopher LawfordChristopher Kennedy Lawford is an American author, actor and activist and member of the prominent Kennedy family.-Life and career:...
as Jimmy Christopholous - Tamlyn TomitaTamlyn TomitaTamlyn Naomi Tomita is an actress, who has appeared in many Hollywood films and television series.-Early life:Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. Her father then later became a Los Angeles Police Officer, rising to the rank of sergeant. He succumbed to cancer in...
as Rikki Wu
Audiobooks
Joe Mantegna has also narrated a number of Spenser novels;| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2009 | The Professional |
| 2008 | Rough Weather |
| 2007 | Now and Then |
| 2006 | Hundred Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | School Days |
| Cold Service | |
| 2004 | Bad Business |
| Widow's Walk | |
| 2003 | Back Story |
| 2001 | Potshot |
| 2000 | Hugger Mugger |