Fred Thompson, Former Senator and Actor Dead at 73

Fans of the television show 'Law and Order,' the original will remember actor and former senator Fred Thompson as the man who played Arthur Branch, the no-nonsense district attorney, on NBC's "Law & Order" from 2002 to 2007. Thompson has died at the age of 73 from lymphoma.

Thompson is also well known for his appearances in "Die Hard 2," "In the Line of Fire," as well as "The Hunt for Red October," among others.

However, Thompson wasn't just an actor. He was also a Watergate investigator and national political figure. Thompson was elected to finish out the Senate term of Al Gore, who left the position in 1994 when he became vice president. Thompson was elected to the seat in his own right in 1996 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

According to CNN, Thompson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2004. The cancer returned in 2007 just as he was planning his presidential campaign. According to his family, he died today in Nashville surrounded by friends and relatives.