Which Law & Order Season 1 Cast Member Was On The Show The Longest?

The "Law & Order" of today is a very different beast from the one it started as when it debuted back in 1990 — and that's not just with regard to tone or structure. Out of every main cast member that was a part of the show during Season 1, not a single one of them is still on the series over 30 years later. Cast departures are to be expected when it comes to shows with a shelf life as long as "Law & Order," but the dispersal of the show's initial batch of stars wasn't anything resembling a mass exodus. Rather, various cast members slowly took their leave over the years, until just one remained.

Out of all the major players who debuted in the original season of "Law & Order," the character who remained a fixture of the series the longest is none other than Steven Hill's District Attorney Adam Schiff. Schiff serves as the primary DA of "Law & Order" for its first 10 seasons, making his first appearance early on in Season 1, and his last in the Season 10 finale. Hill's tenure on the series lasted quite a bit longer than any of his fellow original castmates. The second longest-lasting star from the show's inception is Chris Noth's Mike Logan, who stuck around for the first five seasons.

Steven Hill and his character of Adam Schiff had quite the impressive TV run, so some fans may be wondering why exactly the "Law & Order" actor left the franchise after all that time. As far as the in-universe explanation goes, Schiff exits his role as the Manhattan District Attorney and leaves for Austria, where he proceeds to spend time working on Holocaust reparation projects. That's quite the life change, but the real world reason for Hill's exit from "Law & Order" is far more run-of-the-mill.

When Hill left "Law & Order" in 2000, it was simply because he was ready to retire from acting altogether. The actor was around 78 at the time, and per an explanation from series creator Dick Wolf to Newsday (and preserved by Looper's sister site The List), he was tired of making the commute to work on the series week-in and week-out. According to New York Daily News, Hill and "Law & Order" reached a mutual agreement, and the former quietly departed the show.

After "Law & Order," Hill stayed true to his retirement status. Schiff proved to be his very final role, as the actor died in 2016 at the age of 94. "Steven was not only one of the truly great actors of his generation, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met," Wolf told Variety at the time. "He is also the only actor I've known who consistently tried to cut his own lines. He will be missed but fortunately he can be seen ubiquitously on 'Law & Order' reruns."