Arthur Branch

Arthur Branch is a fictional character on the TV crime drama Law & Order and one of its spinoffs, Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Branch has also appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Conviction. He appeared in 142 episodes of the various series in the franchise (116 episodes of Law & Order, 11 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, one episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, all 13 episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and the pilot episode of Conviction).

Branch was portrayed by Fred Thompson, who started his acting career in 1985, and was a sitting U.S. Senator by the time was introduced to the Law & Order franchise as the Manhattan District Attorney in the 2002 episode "American Jihad". In 2005, during his third season on Law & Order, his character appeared in the main cast of Trial by Jury, making him one of the few actors to be in the main cast on two TV series simultaneously as the same character. When Thompson began the role, his term in the Senate did not expire until several months after his first episode aired—thus making Thompson the first sitting U.S. Senator to portray someone other than himself on TV.

Thompson was the only regular on Law & Order who was once a prosecutor in real life. He worked as an assistant United States Attorney from 1969 to 1972.