Fred Thompson Acting career When did he begin his acting career? 1985. How did he begin acting? director Roger Donaldson, who, after traveling to Nashville to speak with the people involved with the original case, asked Thompson if he wanted to play himself. Did Thompson immediately agree to play himself? The resulting film, Marie, was Thompson's first acting role and was released in 1985. Did he find it difficult to portray himself? I don't know. Did this role lead to other jobs? Roger Donaldson then cast Thompson in the part of CIA director in the 1987 film No Way Out.
Did he do well in that part?
Did Fred Thompson do well as the CIA director in No Way Out?
Marie Ragghianti's case became the subject of a book, Marie, written by Peter Maas and published in 1983. The film rights were purchased by director Roger Donaldson, who, after traveling to Nashville to speak with the people involved with the original case, asked Thompson if he wanted to play himself. The resulting film, Marie, was Thompson's first acting role and was released in 1985. Roger Donaldson then cast Thompson in the part of CIA director in the 1987 film No Way Out. In 1990, he was cast as Ed Trudeau, the head of Dulles Airport, in the action sequel Die Hard 2, as Rear Admiral Painter in The Hunt for Red October, and as Big John, the President of NASCAR, in the movie Days of Thunder (patterned on Big Bill France). Thompson went on to appear in many films and television shows. A 1994 New York Times profile wrote, "When Hollywood directors need someone who can personify governmental power, they often turn to [Thompson]." He portrayed a fictional President of the United States in Last Best Chance, as well as two historical presidents: Ulysses S. Grant in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) and the voice of Andrew Jackson in Rachel and Andrew Jackson: A Love Story (both produced for TV).  In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing conservative District Attorney Arthur Branch for the next five years. Thompson began filming during the August 2002 Senate recess.  He made occasional appearances in the same role on other TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and the pilot episode of Conviction. On May 30, 2007, he asked to be released from the role, potentially in preparation for a presidential bid. Due to concerns about the equal-time rule, reruns featuring the Branch character were not shown on NBC while Thompson was a potential or actual presidential candidate, but TNT episodes were unaffected.  In May 2007, he took a break from acting to run for the Republican nomination for president in the 2008 election, winning 11 delegates before dropping out of the race in January 2008. In 2009, he returned to acting with a guest appearance on the ABC television series Life on Mars and in the movie Alleged, about the Scopes Trial. CANNOTANSWER
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Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1994 to 2003; Thompson was a candidate in the 2008 presidential primaries.

He also chaired the International Security Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of State, was a member of the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence.

As an actor, usually credited as Fred Dalton Thompson, he appeared in a number of movies and television shows including Matlock, The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard 2, In the Line of Fire, Days of Thunder, and Cape Fear, as well as in commercials. He frequently portrayed governmental authority figures and military men.  In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the NBC television series Law & Order, starring as Manhattan District Attorney Arthur Branch.

Early life
Thompson was born in Sheffield, Alabama, on August 19, 1942, the son of Ruth Inez (née Bradley) and Fletcher Session Thompson (born Lauderdale County, Alabama, August 26, 1919, died Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, May 27, 1990), who was an automobile salesman. Thompson had English and distant Dutch ancestry. He attended public school in Lawrenceburg, graduating from Lawrence County High School in 1960, where he played high-school football. Thereafter, he worked days in the local post office, and nights at the Murray bicycle assembly plant.

Thompson then entered Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama), becoming the first member of his family to attend college. He later transferred to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis, where he earned a double degree in philosophy and political science in 1964, as well as scholarships to both Tulane and Vanderbilt law schools. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor degree from the Vanderbilt Law School in 1967.

Career as an attorney
Thompson was admitted to the state bar of Tennessee in 1967. At that time, he shortened his first name from Freddie to Fred.
He worked as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972,  successfully prosecuting bank robberies and other cases. Thompson was the campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker's re-election campaign in 1972, and was minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal (1973–1974).

In the 1980s, Thompson worked as an attorney, with law offices in Nashville and Washington, DC, handling personal injury claims and defending people accused of white collar crimes. He also accepted appointments as special counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1980–1981), special counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee (1982), and member of the Appellate Court Nominating Commission for the State of Tennessee (1985–1987).

His clients included a German mining group and Japan's Toyota Motors Corporation. Thompson served on various corporate boards. He also did legal work and served on the board of directors for engineering firm Stone & Webster.

Role in Watergate hearings

In 1973, Thompson was appointed minority counsel to assist the Republican senators on the Senate Watergate Committee, a special committee convened by the U.S. Senate to investigate the Watergate scandal. Thompson was sometimes credited for supplying Republican Senator Howard Baker's famous question, "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" This question is said to have helped frame the hearings in a way that eventually led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon. The question remains popular and is often invoked by pundits commenting on political scandals.

A Republican staff member, Donald Sanders, found out about the White House tapes and informed the committee on July 13, 1973. Thompson was informed of the existence of the tapes, and he, in turn, informed Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt. "Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decided to call Fred Buzhardt at home," Thompson later wrote, "I wanted to be sure that the White House was fully aware of what was to be disclosed so that it could take appropriate action."

Three days after Sanders's discovery, at a public, televised committee hearing, Thompson asked former White House aide Alexander Butterfield the famous question, "Mr. Butterfield, were you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the President?" thereby publicly revealing the existence of tape recordings of conversations within the White House. National Public Radio later called that session and the discovery of the Watergate tapes "a turning point in the investigation."

Thompson's appointment as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate committee reportedly upset Nixon, who believed Thompson was not skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outfoxed by the committee Democrats. According to historian Stanley Kutler, however, Thompson and Baker "carried water for the White House, but I have to give them credit—they were watching out for their interests, too ... They weren't going to mindlessly go down the tubes [for Nixon]."

Journalist Scott Armstrong, a Democratic investigator for the Senate Watergate Committee, is critical of Thompson for having disclosed the committee's knowledge of the tapes to Buzhardt during an ongoing investigation, and says Thompson was "a mole for the White House" and that Thompson's actions gave the White House a chance to destroy the tapes. Thompson's 1975 book At That Point in Time, in turn, accused Armstrong of having been too close to The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and of leaking committee information to him. In response to renewed interest in this matter, in 2007 during his presidential campaign, Thompson said, "I'm glad all of this has finally caused someone to read my Watergate book, even though it's taken them over 30 years."

Corruption case against Tennessee governor
In 1977, Thompson represented Marie Ragghianti, a former Tennessee Parole Board chair, who had been fired for refusing to release felons after they had bribed aides to Democratic Governor Ray Blanton to obtain clemency.  With Thompson's assistance, Ragghianti filed a wrongful termination suit against Blanton's office. During the trial, Thompson helped expose the cash-for-clemency scheme that eventually led to Blanton's removal from office.  In July 1978, a jury awarded Ragghianti $38,000 ($139,165.09 in 2016 dollars) in back pay and ordered her reinstatement.

Lobbyist

Thompson earned about $1 million in total from his lobbying efforts. Except for the year 1981, his lobbying never amounted to more than one-third of his income.  According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Fred Thompson earned about half a million dollars from Washington lobbying from 1975 through 1993  ... Lobbyist disclosure records show Thompson had six lobbying clients: Westinghouse, two cable television companies, the Tennessee Savings and Loan League, the Teamsters Union's Central States Pension Fund, and a Baltimore-based business coalition that lobbied for federal grants.

Thompson lobbied Congress on behalf of the Tennessee Savings and Loan League to pass the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, which deregulated the savings and loan industry. A large congressional majority and President Ronald Reagan supported the act, but it was said to be a factor that led to the savings and loan crisis. Thompson received $1,600 for communicating with some congressional staffers on this issue.

When Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in 1991, Thompson made a telephone call to White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu advocating restoration of Aristide's government, but says that was as a private citizen, not on a paid basis on Aristide's behalf.

Billing records show that Thompson was paid for about 20 hours of work in 1991 and 1992 on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, a family planning group trying to ease a George H. W. Bush administration regulation on abortion counseling in federally funded clinics.

After leaving the Senate in 2003, Thompson's only lobbying work was for the London-based reinsurance company Equitas Ltd. He was paid $760,000 between 2004 and 2006 to help prevent passage of legislation that Equitas said unfairly singled them out for unfavorable treatment regarding asbestos claims. Thompson spokesman Mark Corrallo said that Thompson was proud to have been a lobbyist and believed in Equitas' cause.

After Thompson was elected to the Senate, two of his sons followed him into the lobbying business, but generally avoided clients where a possible conflict of interest might appear. When he left the Senate, some of his political action committee's fees went to the lobbying firm of one of his sons.

Acting career
Marie Ragghianti's case became the subject of a book, Marie, written by Peter Maas and published in 1983. The film rights were purchased by director Roger Donaldson, who, after traveling to Nashville to speak with the people involved with the original case, asked Thompson if he wanted to play himself. The resulting film, Marie, was Thompson's first acting role and was released in 1985. Roger Donaldson then cast Thompson in the part of CIA director in the 1987 film No Way Out.  He played the head of FBI special-agent training in the 1988 comedy Feds; in the trailer, the FBI disclaimed any connection with the film. In 1990, he was cast as Ed Trudeau, the head of Dulles Airport, in the action sequel Die Hard 2, as Rear Admiral Painter in The Hunt for Red October, and as Big John, the President of NASCAR, in the movie Days of Thunder (patterned on Big Bill France). Thompson went on to appear in many films and television shows. A 1994 New York Times profile wrote, "When Hollywood directors need someone who can personify governmental power, they often turn to him."  He portrayed a fictional President of the United States in Last Best Chance, as well as two historical presidents: Ulysses S. Grant in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) and the voice of Andrew Jackson in Rachel and Andrew Jackson: A Love Story (both produced for TV). He appeared on the television sitcom Roseanne.

In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, Thompson joined the cast of the NBC television series Law & Order, playing conservative District Attorney Arthur Branch for the next five years. Thompson began filming during the August 2002 Senate recess.  He made occasional appearances in the same role on other TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and the pilot episode of Conviction. On May 30, 2007, he asked to be released from the role, potentially in preparation for a presidential bid. Due to concerns about the equal-time rule, reruns featuring the Branch character were not shown on NBC while Thompson was a potential or actual presidential candidate, but TNT episodes were unaffected.

In May 2007, he took a break from acting to run for the Republican nomination for president in the 2008 election, winning 11 delegates before dropping out of the race in January 2008. In 2009, he returned to acting with a guest appearance on the ABC television series Life on Mars and in the movie Alleged, about the Scopes Trial.

Senate (1994–2003)

Two campaigns for U.S. Senate

In 1994, Thompson was elected to finish the remaining two years of Al Gore's unexpired U.S. Senate term. During the 1994 campaign, Thompson's opponent was longtime Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper. Thompson campaigned in a red pickup truck, and Cooper charged Thompson "is a lobbyist and actor who talks about lower taxes, talks about change, while he drives a rented stage prop."  In a good year for Republican candidates, Thompson defeated Cooper in a landslide, overcoming Cooper's early 20% lead in the polls to defeat him by an even greater margin. On the same night Thompson was elected to fill Gore's unexpired term, political newcomer Bill Frist, a Nashville heart surgeon, defeated three-term incumbent Democrat Jim Sasser, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, for Tennessee's other Senate seat, which was up for a full six-year term. The twin victories by Thompson and Frist gave Republicans control of both of Tennessee's Senate seats for the first time since Sasser ousted incumbent Bill Brock in 1976.

In 1996, Thompson was re-elected (for the term ending January 3, 2003) with 61% of the vote, defeating Democratic attorney Houston Gordon of Covington, Tennessee, even as Bill Clinton and running mate Al Gore narrowly carried the state by less than three percentage points on their way to re-election. During this campaign, Mike Long served as Thompson's chief speechwriter.

Electoral history

Senate career

In 1996, Thompson was a member of the Committee on Governmental Affairs when the committee investigated the alleged Chinese attempts to influence American politics. Thompson says he was "largely stymied" during these investigations by witnesses declining to testify, claiming the right not to incriminate themselves or by simply leaving the country.  Thompson explained, "Our work was affected tremendously by the fact that Congress is a much more partisan institution than it used to be."

Thompson became committee chairman in 1997, but was reduced to ranking minority member when the Democrats took control of the Senate in 2001. Thompson served on the Finance Committee (dealing with health care, trade, Social Security, and taxation), the Intelligence Committee, and the National Security Working Group.

Thompson's work included investigation of the "Umm Hajul controversy" which involved the death of Tennessean Lance Fielder during the Gulf War. During his term, he supported campaign finance reform, opposed proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and promoted government efficiency and accountability. During the 1996 presidential debates, he also served as a Clinton stand-in to help prepare Bob Dole.

On February 12, 1999, the Senate voted on the Clinton impeachment. The perjury charge was defeated with 45 votes for conviction, and 55, including Thompson, against. The obstruction of justice charge was defeated with 50, including Thompson, for conviction, and 50 against. Conviction on impeachment charges requires the affirmative votes of 67 senators.

Campaign co-chairman for John McCain
In the 2000 Republican presidential primaries, Thompson backed former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, who eventually succeeded Thompson in the Senate two years later. When Alexander dropped out, Thompson endorsed Senator John McCain's bid and became his national co-chairman.  After George W. Bush won the primaries, both McCain and Thompson were considered as potential running mates.

Thompson was not a candidate for re-election in 2002. He had publicly stated his unwillingness to have the Senate become a long-term career. Although he announced in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks his intention to seek re-election ("Now is not the time for me to leave," said Thompson at the time), upon further reflection, he decided against it. The decision seems to have been prompted in large part by the death of his daughter.

Ratings

Thompson had an 86.1% lifetime (1995–2002) American Conservative Union vote rating, compared to 89.3 for Bill Frist and 82.3 for John McCain.  Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) characterized her colleague this way: "I believe that Fred is a fearless senator. By that I mean he was never afraid to cast a vote or take a stand, regardless of the political consequences."  Thompson was "on the short end of a couple of 99–1 votes", voting against those who wanted to federalize matters that he believed were properly left to state and local officials.

With Thompson's decision to campaign for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, his Senate record received some criticism from people who say he was "lazy" compared to other Senators. Critics say that few of his proposals became law, and point to a 1998 quote: "I don't like spending 14- and 16-hour days voting on 'sense of the Senate' resolutions on irrelevant matters. There are some important things we really need to get on with—and on a daily basis, it's very frustrating." Defenders say he spent more time in preparation than other Senators. Paul Noe, a former staffer, told The New York Times, "On the lazy charge, I have to chuckle because I was there sometimes until 1 in the morning working with the man."

Career between Senate and presidential campaign (2003–2007)

Acting
Thompson continued his acting career after he left the Senate.  He continued playing Arthur Branch on Law & Order until he left the show in May 2007 to prepare to run for president.  He also appeared in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Political work

From 2002 to 2005, Thompson was head of the Federal City Council, a group of business, civic, education, and other leaders interested in economic development in Washington, DC.

In March 2003, Thompson was featured in a commercial by the conservative nonprofit group Citizens United that advocated the invasion of Iraq, stating: "When people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask, what had the 9/11 hijackers done to us -- before 9/11."

Thompson did voice-over work at the 2004 Republican National Convention. While narrating a video for that convention, Thompson observed: "History throws you what it throws you, and you never know what's coming."

After the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Thompson to an informal position to help guide the nomination of John Roberts through the United States Senate confirmation process. Roberts' nomination as associate justice was eventually cancelled following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist; he was renominated and subsequently confirmed as Chief Justice instead.

Until July 2007, Thompson was Chair of the International Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan advisory panel that reports to the Secretary of State and focuses on emerging strategic threats.  In that capacity, he advised the State Department about all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy.

Legal defense for Lewis Libby

In 2006, he served on the advisory board of the legal defense fund for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., who was indicted and later convicted of lying to federal investigators during their investigation of the Plame affair.
Thompson, who had never met Libby before volunteering for the advisory board, said he was convinced Libby was innocent. The Scooter Libby Legal Defense Fund Trust set out to raise more than $5 million to help finance the legal defense of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.
Thompson hosted a fundraiser for the Libby defense fund at his home in McLean, Virginia.
After Bush commuted Libby's sentence, Thompson released a statement: "I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."

Radio analyst
In 2006, he signed on with ABC News Radio to serve as senior analyst and vacation replacement for Paul Harvey.  He used that platform to spell out his positions on a number of political issues. A July 3, 2007, update to Thompson's ABC News Radio home page referred to him as a "former ABC News Radio contributor", indicating that Thompson had been released from his contract with the broadcaster. He did not return after his campaign ended.

Columnist
Thompson signed a deal with Salem Communications's Townhall.com to write for the organization's magazine, Townhall, from April 23, 2007, until August 21, 2007, and again from June 8, 2008, until November 17, 2008.

2008 presidential campaign

On March 11, 2007, Thompson appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the possibility of a 2008 candidacy for president. At the end of March, Thompson asked to be released from his television contract, potentially in preparation for a presidential bid. Thompson formed a presidential exploratory committee regarding his possible 2008 campaign for president on June 1, 2007, but unlike most candidate exploratory groups, Thompson's organized as a 527 group.

Thompson continued to be mentioned as a potential candidate, but did not officially declare his candidacy. On June 12, Thompson told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that while he did not crave the presidency itself, he would like to do things that he could only do by holding that office. A The New York Times article cited Thompson's aides as saying on July 18 that he planned to enter the race just after Labor Day, followed by a national announcement tour.

On September 5, 2007, Thompson made his candidacy official, announcing on The Tonight Show that "I'm running for president of the United States" and running an ad during a Republican Presidential candidates' debate on Fox News.  In both cases he pointed people to his campaign website to watch a 15-minute video detailing his platform. His campaign entrance was described as "lackluster" and "awkward" despite high expectations in anticipation of his joining the race. Fred Thompson was endorsed by the Virginia Society for Human Life and several other pro-life organizations.

In nationwide polling toward the end of 2007, Thompson's support in the Republican primary election was sliding, with Thompson placing either third or fourth in polls.

On January 22, 2008, after attracting little support in the early primaries, Thompson confirmed he had withdrawn from the Presidential race. In a statement issued by his campaign, Thompson said:

Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.

After the campaign

Politics
Thompson spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention on September 2 in Minnesota, where he described in graphic detail presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese during his imprisonment, and gave an endorsement of McCain for president. Thompson also campaigned for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Actor
Thompson signed an agreement to be represented as an actor by the William Morris Agency.  In 2009, he returned to acting with a guest appearance on the ABC television series Life on Mars, and as William Jennings Bryan in the TV movie Alleged, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial. Thompson portrayed Frank Michael Thomas in the CBS series The Good Wife; besides having a similar name, Thomas also shares Thompson's love for acting and the law.  Thompson also had roles in Disney's Secretariat and the horror film Sinister.  In 2014, he appeared in the film, Persecuted, focusing on religious freedom, government surveillance, and censorship.

Radio host
On March 2, 2009, he took over on Westwood One's East Coast noon time slot, hosting the talk radio program The Fred Thompson Show, after Bill O'Reilly ended The Radio Factor. It was co-hosted for a time by his wife, Jeri. Thompson's final show for Westwood One was aired on January 21, 2011. Douglas Urbanski took Thompson's place in the Westwood One syndication lineup.

Advertising spokesman
In May 2010, Thompson became an advertising spokesman for American Advisors Group, a reverse mortgage lender.

Author
Thompson's memoir, Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing up and Second Chances, was published in 2010.

Political positions

Thompson said that federalism was his "lodestar", which provides "a basis for a proper analysis of most issues: 'Is this something government should be doing? If so, at what level of government?'"

Thompson stated that "Roe v. Wade was bad law and bad medical science," and that judges should not be determining social policy. Thompson stated the government should not criminally prosecute women who undergo early term abortions.

Thompson did not support a federal ban on gay marriage, but would have supported a constitutional amendment to keep one state's recognition of such marriages from resulting in all states having to recognize them.

Thompson said citizens are entitled to keep and bear arms if they do not have criminal records, and the Gun Owners of America says that he voted pro-gun in 20 of 33 gun-related votes during his time in the Senate.

Thompson said that U.S. borders should be secured before considering comprehensive immigration reform, but he also supported a path to citizenship for illegal aliens saying, "You're going to have to, in some way, work out a deal where they can have some aspirations of citizenship, but not make it so easy that it's unfair to the people waiting in line and abiding by the law." Thompson supported the U.S. 2003 invasion of Iraq
and was opposed to withdrawing troops, but believed that "mistakes have been made" since the invasion.

Thompson initially supported the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, but he later said that certain parts should be repealed.

Thompson was skeptical that human efforts cause global warming and pointed to parallel warming on Mars and other planets as an example.

Personal life

Marriages and children

In September 1959, at the age of 17, Thompson married Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey.  Their son, Freddie Dalton "Tony" Thompson Jr., was born in April 1960. Son Daniel and daughter Elizabeth were born soon thereafter. While Thompson was attending law school, he and his wife both worked to pay for his education and support their three children.

The couple divorced in 1985. They have two surviving children, as well as five grandchildren. Thompson's daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" Thompson Panici died from a brain injury resulting from cardiac arrest after what was determined to be an accidental overdose of prescription drugs on January 30, 2002.

While single, Thompson had been romantically linked to country singer Lorrie Morgan, Republican fundraiser Georgette Mosbacher, future Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and columnist Margaret Carlson.

In July 1996, Thompson began dating Jeri Kehn (born 1966) and the two married almost six years later on June 29, 2002. When Thompson was asked in a December 2007 Associated Press survey of the candidates to name his favorite possession, he replied, tongue-in-cheek, "trophy wife". The couple has two children, a daughter Hayden born in 2003 and a son Samuel born in 2006.

Religion
Thompson was raised in the Churches of Christ. According to Thompson, his values come from "sitting around the kitchen table" with his parents, and from the Church of Christ. While talking to reporters in South Carolina, Thompson said, "I attend church when I'm in Tennessee. I'm [living] in McLean right now. I don't attend regularly when I'm up there." On occasion, Thompson attended Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia. He did not speak much about his religion during his campaign, saying, "Me getting up and talking about what a wonderful person I am and that sort of thing, I'm not comfortable with that, and I don't think it does me any good."

Illness and death
Thompson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a form of cancer, in 2004. In 2007, Thompson stated, "I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. My life expectancy should not be affected. I am in remission, and it is very treatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future—and with no debilitating side effects." Reportedly indolent, Thompson's NHL was the lowest of three grades of NHL, and was the rare nodal marginal zone lymphoma. It accounts for only 1–3% of all cases.

On the morning of November 1, 2015, Thompson died at the age of 73 from a recurrence of lymphoma. His funeral was held on November 6, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee, with U.S. Senators John McCain and Lamar Alexander in attendance. He was interred at Mimosa Cemetery in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, that same day.

Filmography 
Thompson's acting roles were credited as Fred Dalton Thompson, unless otherwise noted.

Film

Television

Book

See also
List of United States senators from Tennessee

References

External links

Official
 The Official Flickr Page for Fred Thompson (official photo site)
Documentaries, topic pages and databases
 
 
 Financial information (presidential campaign) at the Federal Election Commission
 Center for Responsive Politics (aka OpenSecrets.org) campaign contributions
 1994 (Member of Congress)
 
 Archive of United States Senator Fred Dalton Thompson Congressional Website (From Internet Archive retrieved on 3 January 2007)
 Complete text and audio and video of Fred Thompson's GOP Presidential Candidacy Announcement AmericanRhetoric.com
 Complete text and audio and video of Fred Thompson's 2008 Republican National Convention Speech AmericanRhetoric.com
 

 Fred D. Thompson Papers, University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries
News media
 Lawrenceburgs.com – Fred Thompson biography from hometown newspaper
 Nashville Post – The Fred Files Lobbying disclosures, 1975–1994.
 New York Times – Fred D. Thompson collection of news stories and commentary

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1942 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American actor-politicians
American Enterprise Institute
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American members of the Churches of Christ
American people of Dutch descent
American people of English descent
American prosecutors
American talk radio hosts
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
Deaths from lymphoma
People from McLean, Virginia
People from Sheffield, Alabama
Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee
Male actors from Tennessee
Male actors from Alabama
Republican Party United States senators
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Conservatism in the United States
Ely do Amparo, commonly known as just Ely (May 14, 1921 – March 9, 1991), was a Brazilian football central defender, who played in two World Cups.

Career
Ely do Amparo started his career with América, in 1939. He joined Canto do Rio in 1940, leaving the club in 1945 to join Vasco. Ely, as part of Vasco's Expresso da Vitória squad, won the Campeonato Carioca in 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950 and in 1952, winning the South American Club Championship in 1948 as well. Ely do Amparo was transferred to Sport in 1953, winning the Campeonato Pernambucano in that year and in 1955, when he retired.

National team
He played 19 games for the Brazilian national team, including being part of the World Cup squad in 1950 and in 1954. He was part of the squad that won the Panamerican Championship in 1952.

Honors

Club
Sport
Campeonato Pernambucano: 1953, 1955

Vasco
Campeonato Carioca: 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952

Country
Brazil
Panamerican Championship: 1952

References

1921 births
1991 deaths
Brazilian footballers
Brazil international footballers
1950 FIFA World Cup players
1954 FIFA World Cup players
America Football Club (RJ) players
Canto do Rio Football Club players
CR Vasco da Gama players
Sport Club do Recife players
Association football defenders Do-support (or do-insertion), in English grammar, is the use of the auxiliary verb do, including its inflected forms does and did, to form negated clauses and questions as well as other constructions in which subject–auxiliary inversion is required.

The verb "do" can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, and it usually serves to add emphasis, as in "I did shut the fridge." However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the conventions of Modern English syntax permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. It is not idiomatic in Modern English to add the negating word not to a lexical verb with finite form; not can be added only to an auxiliary or copular verb. For example, the sentence I am not with the copula be is fully idiomatic, but I know not with a finite lexical verb, while grammatical, is archaic. If there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary do is used to produce a form like I do not (don't) know. The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions: inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb so it is not idiomatic to say Know you him?; today's English usually substitutes Do you know him?

Do-support is not used when there is already an auxiliary or copular verb present or with non-finite verb forms (infinitives and participles). It is sometimes used with subjunctive forms. Furthermore, the use of do as an auxiliary should be distinguished from the use of do as a normal lexical verb, as in They do their homework.

Common uses
Do-support appears to accommodate a number of varying grammatical constructions:
question formation,
the appearance of the negation not, and
negative inversion.
These constructions often cannot occur without do-support or the presence of some other auxiliary verb.

In questions
The presence of an auxiliary (or copular) verb allows subject–auxiliary inversion to take place, as is required in most interrogative sentences in English. If there is already an auxiliary or copula present, do-support is not required when forming questions:

 He will laugh. → Will he laugh? (the auxiliary will inverts with the subject he)
 She is at home. → Is she at home? (the copula is inverts with the subject she)

This applies not only in yes–no questions but also in questions formed using interrogative words:

 When will he laugh?

However, if there is no auxiliary or copula present, inversion requires the introduction of an auxiliary in the form of do-support:

 I know. → Do I know? (Compare: *Know I?)
 He laughs. → Does he laugh? (Compare: *Laughs he?)
 She came home. → Did she come home? (Compare: *Came she home?)

The finite (inflected) verb is now the auxiliary do; the following verb is a bare infinitive which does not inflect: does he laugh? (not laughs); did she come? (not came).

In negated questions, the negating word not may appear either following the subject, or attached to the auxiliary in the contracted form n't. That applies both to do-support and to other auxiliaries:

 Why are you not playing? / Why aren't you playing?
 Do you not want to try? / Don't you want to try?

The above principles do not apply to wh-questions if the interrogative word is the subject or part of the subject. Then, there is no inversion and so there is no need for do-support: Who lives here?, Whose dog bit you?

The verb have, in the sense of possession, is sometimes used without do-support as if it were an auxiliary, but this is considered dated. The version with do-support is also correct:

 Have you any idea what is going on here?
 Do you have any idea what is going on here?
 (Have you got any idea what is going on here? – the order is similar to the first example, but have is an auxiliary verb here)

For elliptical questions and tag questions, see the elliptical sentences section below.

With not
In the same way that the presence of an auxiliary allows question formation, the appearance of the negating word not is allowed as well. Then too, if no other auxiliary or copular verb is present, do-support is required.

 He will laugh. → He will not laugh. (not attaches to the auxiliary will)
 She laughs. → She does not laugh. (not attaches to the added auxiliary does)

In the second sentence, do-support is required because idiomatic Modern English does not allow forms like *She laughs not. The verb have, in the sense of possession, is sometimes negated thus:

 I haven't the foggiest idea.

Most combinations of auxiliary/copula plus not have a contracted form ending in -n't, such as isn't, won't, etc. The relevant contractions for negations formed using do-support are don't, doesn't and didn't. Such forms are used very frequently in informal English.

Do-support is required for negated imperatives even when the verb is the copula be:

Do not do that.
Don't be silly.

However, there is no do-support with non-finite, as they are negated by a preceding not:

It would be a crime not to help him (the infinitive to help is negated)
Not knowing what else to do, I stood my ground (the present participle knowing is negated)
Not eating vegetables can harm your health (the gerund eating is negated)

With subjunctive verb forms, as a present subjunctive, do is infrequently used for negation, which is frequently considered ambiguous or incorrect because it resembles the indicative. The usual method to negate the present subjunctive is to precede the verb with a not, especially if the verb is be (as do-support with it, whether it be indicative or subjunctive, is ungrammatical):

I suggest that he not receive any more funding (the present subjunctive receive is negated)
It is important that he not be there (the present subjunctive be is negated)

As a past subjunctive, however, did is needed for negation (unless the verb is be, whose past subjunctive is were):

I wish that he did not know it
I wish that he were not here

The negation in the examples negates the non-finite predicate. Compare the following competing formulations:

I did not try to laugh. vs. I tried not to laugh.
They do not want to go. vs. They want  not to go.

There are two predicates in each of the verb chains in the sentences. Do-support is needed when the higher of the two is negated; it is not needed to negate the lower nonfinite predicate.

For negated questions, see the questions section above. For negated elliptical sentences, see the elliptical sentences section below.

Negative inversion
The same principles as for question formation apply to other clauses in which subject–auxiliary inversion is required, particularly after negative expressions and expressions involving only (negative inversion):

 Never did he run that fast again. (wrong: *Never he did run that fast again. *Never ran he that fast again.)
 Only here do I feel at home. (wrong: *Only here feel I at home.)

Further uses
In addition to providing do-support in questions and negated clauses as described above, the auxiliary verb do can also be used in clauses that do not require do-support. In such cases, do-support may appear for pragmatic reasons.

For emphasis
The auxiliary generally appears for purposes of emphasis, for instance to establish a contrast or to express a correction:
 Did Bill eat his breakfast? Yes, he did eat his breakfast (did emphasizes the positive answer, which may be unexpected).
 Bill doesn't sing, then. No, he does sing (does emphasizes the correction of the previous statement).

As before, the main verb following the auxiliary becomes a bare infinitive, which is not inflected (one cannot say *did ate or *does sings in the above examples).

As with typical do-support, that usage of do does not occur with other auxiliaries or a copular verb. Then, emphasis can be obtained by adding stress to the auxiliary or copular:

 Would you take the risk? Yes, I would take the risk.
 Bill isn't singing, then. No, he is singing.

(Some auxiliaries, such as can, change their pronunciation when stressed; see Weak and strong forms in English.)

In negative sentences, emphasis can be obtained by adding stress either to the negating word (if used in full) or to the contracted form ending in n't. That applies whether or not do-support is used:

 I wouldn't (or would not) take the risk.
 They don't (or do not) appear on the list.

Emphatic do can also be used with imperatives, including with the copula be:

 Do take care! Do be careful!

In elliptical sentences
The auxiliary do is also used in various types of elliptical sentences, where the main verb is omitted (it can be said to be "understood", usually because it would be the same verb as was used in a preceding sentence or clause). That includes the following types:

Tag questions:
 He plays well, doesn't he?
 You don't like Sara, do you?
Elliptical questions:
 I like pasta. Do you?
 I went to the party. Why didn't you?
Elliptical statements:
 They swam, but I didn't.
 He looks smart, and so do you.
 You fell asleep, and I did, too.

Such uses include cases that do-support would have been used in a complete clause (questions, negatives, inversion) but also cases that (as in the last example) the complete clause would normally have been constructed without do (I fell asleep too). In such instances do may be said to be acting as a pro-verb since it effectively takes the place of a verb or verb phrase: did substitutes for fell asleep.

As in the principal cases of do-support, do does not normally occur when there is already an auxiliary or copula present; the auxiliary or copula is retained in the elliptical sentence:

He is playing well, isn't he?
I can cook pasta. Can you?
You should get some sleep, and I should too.

However, it is possible to use do as a pro-verb (see below section #Pro-verbs & Do-so Substitution even after auxiliaries in some dialects:

Have you put the shelf up yet? I haven't done (or I haven't), but I will do (or I will).
(However it is not normally used in this way as a to-infinitive: Have you put the shelf up? I plan to, rather than *I plan to do;  or as a passive participle: Was it built? Yes, it was, not *Yes, it was done.)

Pro-verbal uses of do are also found in the imperative: Please do. Don't!

Pro-verbs and do-so substitution
The phrases do so and do what for questions are pro-verb forms in English.  They can be used as substitutes for verbs in x-bar theory grammar to test verb phrase completeness. Bare infinitives forms often are used in place of the missing pro-verb forms.

Examples from Santorini and Kroch:

Tests for constituenthood of a verb-phrase in X'-grammar
The do so construction can be used to test if a verb-phrase is a constituent phrase in X'-grammar by substitution similarly to how other pro-forms can be used to test for noun-phrases, etc.

In X-bar theory, the verb-phrase projects three bar-levels such as this:

    VP
   / \
 ZP  X'
     / \
    X'  YP
    |
    X 
    |
   head

With a simple sentence:

         S
         |
         VP
        /  \
       /    \
      /      \
     /        \
    NP         \
   /  \         \   
 DP    N'        V'
 |     |        / \
The  children  /   \
              /     \
              V'     PP
             /  \   /_\
            /    \  with gusto
           V     NP
           |     /_\
          ate  the pizza

Here again exemplified by Santorini and Kroch, do so substitution for testing constituent verb phrases in the above sample sentence:

         S
         |
         VP
        /  \
       /    \
      /      \
     /        \
    NP         \
   /  \         \   
 DP    N'        V'
 |     |        / \
The  children  /   \
              /     \
              V'     PP
             /  \   /_\
            /    \  with gusto
           V     NP
           |     /_\
        did so   the pizza

Use of do as main verb
Apart from its uses as an auxiliary, the verb do (with its inflected forms does, did, done, doing) can be used as an ordinary lexical verb (main verb):

Do your homework!
What are you doing?

Like other non-auxiliary verbs, do cannot be directly negated with not and cannot participate in inversion so it may itself require do-support, with both auxiliary and lexical instances of do appearing together:

 They didn't do the laundry on Sunday. (did is the auxiliary, do is the main verb)
 Why do you do karate? (the first do is the auxiliary, the second is the main verb)
 How do you do? (a set phrase used as a polite greeting)

Meaning contribution
In the various cases seen above that require do-support, the auxiliary verb do makes no apparent contribution to the meaning of the sentence so it is sometimes called a dummy auxiliary. Historically, however, in Middle English, auxiliary do apparently had a meaning contribution, serving as a marker of aspect (probably perfective aspect, but in some cases, the meaning may have been imperfective). In Early Modern English, the semantic value was lost, and the usage of forms with do began to approximate that found today.

Origins

Some form of auxiliary "do" occurs in all West Germanic languages except Afrikaans. It is generally accepted that the past tense of Germanic weak verbs (in English, -ed) was formed from a combination of the infinitive with a past tense form of "do", as exemplified in Gothic. The origins of the construction in English are debated: some scholars argue it was already present in Old English, but not written due to stigmatization. Scholars disagree whether the construction arose from the use of "do" as a lexical verb in its own right, or whether periphrastic "do" arose from a causative meaning of the verb or vice versa. Examples of auxiliary "do" in Old English writing appear to be limited to its use in a causative sense, which is parallel to the earliest uses in other West Germanic languages. Others argue that the construction arose either via the influence of Celtic speakers or that the construction arose as a form of creolization when native speakers addressed foreigners and children.

See also

English verbs
English clause syntax
Intensifier

References

English grammar
Word order
Syntax
Generative syntax