Ice-T Celebrates Milestone Ahead of Newest 'Law & Order: SVU' Episode

By Ashley Turner

Ice-T recently celebrated being one of the "longest-running" male actors on tv. Early successes for the 64-year-old rapper included minor roles in 1980's Breakin' and its sequel before landing a significant lead role in 1991's New Jack City. He would later appear on television screens in the Law & Order spinoff series Law & Order: SVU as Sergeant Fin Tutuola for over twenty years. He was originally intended to be in just a few episodes, but Ice-T, whose real name is Tracy Lauren Marrow, impressed showrunners so much that he became a series regular. Ice-T has now appeared in nearly 500 episodes, making him the show's second longest-serving cast member, behind Mariska Hargitay, who plays Captain Olivia Benson. "Longest running male actor in TV History," he wrote in an Oct. 25 Twitter post. "Don't tell me what CANT be done."

Law & Order: SVU also recently broke a record as the longest-running live-action primetime TV series in U.S. history, surpassing both NBC's Law & Order (which ended in 2010) and CBS' Gunsmoke (which ended in 1975). After it was announced that Kelli Giddish, who portrays Detective Rollins, would be leaving the series, word spread that Ice-T might depart the show as well. Fortunately, Ice-T said his exit isn't coming for a while yet. "FYI. People think I'm leaving SVU every time I do something else. Do they not understand I've got 20 Jobs! Simultaneously," he tweeted back in August.

However, Ice-T revealed to Mashed in an interview that he envisions his character ending his career with a memorable death rather than retiring quietly from the force. He said, "If I got to go, I want to go in a blaze of glory. Blow me up in a car. I want to be murdered!" then clarified that it's more likely he will appear on another show created by Dick Wolf if the show ends with his character still alive. "[I'm] in the Wolf Universe. You understand? Law & Order could end, and I could be climbing a ladder on Chicago Fire, I could be over on Organized Crime, so maybe I don't want to die." Another interview with Distractify revealed that despite his hopes for a big death, he intends to stay with the police procedural until Wolf calls it quits. "I'm trying to stay on the show until they decide it's over," he said. "Dick Wolf knows I'm a franchise player. I'm there for the ride." He laughed adding, "Me and Mariska will be in wheelchairs riding around talking."

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