"Law & Order": 20 Biggest Guest Stars

"Law & Order," one of the longest-running dramatic series in television history (now tied with "Gunsmoke"), returns tonight for its 20th season premiere. Over the years the show has scored some major-league actors to portray some of the most memorable perps and victims. Click through this slideshow to see the 20 biggest "Law & Order" guest stars.Friday, September, 25, 2009, 6:25 PM

Hollywood luminary Julia Roberts appeared on the 20th episode of "Law & Order's" ninth season as Katrina Ludlow, a professional fundraiser who claimed to have evidence that would lead to the person who killed a millionaire. The performance earned Roberts an Emmy.Jim Spellman/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Samuel L. Jackson played Louis Taggert, a defense lawyer for suspects accused of raping a news reporter, in the 14th episode of "Law & Order's" debut season. Philip Seymour Hoffman also appeared in this episode. George Napolitano/FilmMagic.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

The premiere of "Law & Order's" third season featured a murder mystery involving the slaying of a high-fashion photographer whose real business was prostitution. The detectives comb through the photographer's little black book of models and quickly learn that they all could be suspects with ample motive to knock him off. Claire Danes played Tracy Brandt, a former child model who was among the long list of suspects. Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

On the fourth episode of "Law & Order's" fourth season, James Earl Jones guest starred as Horace McCoy, the black defense attorney who defended a white supremacist charged with several counts of murder.Lester Cohen/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Laura Linney appeared in the third episode of Season 5 of "Law & Order" as Martha Bowen, a singer who is accused of killing her former boss, a Japanese nightclub owner. The defense tries to free her using the "battered woman syndrome" argument, but McCoy thinks her motive was actually revenge. Barry King/FilmMagic.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Philip Seymour Hoffman appeared on the 14th season of "Law & Order's" debut season as Steven Hanauer, one of the defendants accused of raping a television news reporter. Samuel L. Jackson also guest starred in this episode.Jason Kempin/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Future "Alias" star Jennifer Garner had a small role on the sixth-season finale of "Law & Order." Garner played a jogger who has an affair with homicide detective Reynaldo "Rey" Curtis (Benjamin Bratt).Jason Merritt/Getty Images - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Chevy Chase appeared on the seventh episode of "Law & Order's" 17th season as Mitch Carroll, a washed-up, anti-Semitic actor who is arrested with blood on his clothes. Chase's character was inspired by Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rant.NBC Photo - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

"Grey's Anatomy" star Ellen Pompeo actually guest starred in two episodes of "Law & Order." In Season 6, episode 16, she played Jenna Weber, the daughter of an unemployed ad executive whose drinking not only ruined his career but could be the cause of the murder of his wife and son. Pompeo later played Laura Kendrick on episode 15 of the 10th season. Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

William H. Macy guest starred in two episodes of "Law & Order": in the sixth episode of Season 1 and the 17th episode of Season 2. Paul Morigi/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Memories of the Patty Hearst affair were invoked in the fifth episode of "Law & Order's" sixth season, in which the detectives investigate a series of murders committed by a ski-mask-wearing holdup team. After the criminals are captured in a deli, it turns out that one member of the team, Leslie Harlin (guest star Amanda Peet), was allegedly kidnapped by the others. Did she willingly participate in the crime spree, or was she acting against her will? Jim Spellman/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Gregory Hines appeared in Season 13, episode 16, of "Law & Order" as Carl Halpert, a flamboyant celebrity defense attorney, who in his media-savvy efforts to transform the trial of a black teenager into a racial issue, also manages to uncover a number of disturbing truths about the New York justice system. Chris Polk/FilmMagic.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

On the second episode of "Law & Order's" first season, Cynthia Nixon played Laura Di Biasi, a woman being tried for allegedly shooting two black men in a crowded subway. The shooting appears to be self-defense at first, but further investigation leads detectives to believe that Laura's motive was revenge.Joe Kohen/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

The highly publicized arrest of a longtime fugitive from justice was the evident source of "Law & Order's" Season 13 episode titled "Absentia," which featured guest star Mandy Patinkin. Ray Tamarra/Getty Images - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Candice Bergen guest starred as Judge Amanda Anderlee in the third episode of Season 15 of "Law & Order." Judge Anderlee presided over the trial of a prison guard who was charged with killing a released member of a white supremacist prison gang. The victim's gang attempted to affect the outcome of the case by sending a death threat to Anderlee, who refused to be intimidated.Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com - Monday, September, 22, 2008, 12:22 AM

In a guest appearance as himself, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani introduced District Attorney Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest) to Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon) during the first episode of the 11th season of "Law & Order."Jim Spellman/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg guest starred as himself in two episodes of "Law & Order": in Season 14, episode 19, and Season 15, episode 1.Jason Kempin/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Oscar-nominated actress Kathleen Turner played Rebecca Shane -- a high-powered attorney who represented a privileged student accused of murdering a classmate who refused to sell him test answers -- in the 14th episode of "Law & Order's" 16th season.Ben Hider/Getty Images - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

Jerry Stiller played Micahel Tobis on episode 19 of Season 2 of "Law & Order," about a Jewish diamond dealer who is found murdered in an alley. In the show's seventh season, Stiller returned to guest star as Sam Pokras, a man accused of killing his deadbeat, abusive former son-in-law. Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM

A well-publicized murder case involving a former TV detective was the blatant inspiration for the sixth episode of "Law & Order's" 12th season. It all begins when the wife of has-been singer Tommy Vega (guest star Gary Busey) is shot to death a few blocks from the couple's favorite restaurant. Early suspects include Tommy's manager and his estranged, embittered son. But several credibility gaps lead the detectives and the district attorney's office back to Vega himself.Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com - Friday, September, 25, 2009, 10:25 AM