Elizabeth Rodgers
| Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Doctor Elizabeth Rodgers | |
|---|---|
| Law & Order character | |
| First appearance | "The Fertile Fields" (L&O) "Payback" (SVU) "The Faithful" (CI) |
| Last appearance | "Misleader" (SVU) "Rubber Room" (L&O) "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap" (CI) |
| Portrayed by | Leslie Hendrix |
| Time on show | 1992–2010 (Law & Order) 1999–2000 (Special Victims Unit) 2001–2011 (Criminal Intent) |
| Succeeded by | None (L&0) None (CI) Melinda Warner (SVU) |
Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers, Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, is a recurring character in the fictional universe of the crime drama franchise Law & Order. She is played by Leslie Hendrix.[1]
She is a regularly recurring character on Law & Order, as well as the spin-off Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She also made several guest appearances during the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as a guest appearance on Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She is currently the longest-running recurring character in Law & Order and one of only five characters who have appeared in all four series of the Law & Order franchise that are set in New York City. The other four are Lennie Briscoe, Ed Green, Arthur Branch, and Elizabeth Olivet.
Career
Rodgers is dedicated to her work and finds it frustrating when she is badgered by the police for results when she does not have them yet. Rodgers originally wanted to be a surgeon, but mid-way through medical school she discovered she could not stand cutting into a live person.[2]
She also has an affinity for classical music, saying once that she missed an Itzhak Perlman concert to perform an autopsy. When making an impression of bite marks on the back of an acclaimed opera conductor, she complimented him on his production of Aida ("One of the best nights of my life. Lennie Briscoe took me.").[3]
Although it is never officially mentioned on screen, there are several moments that point to a growing relationship between Rodgers and Captain Danny Ross of the Major Case Squad on Law & Order: CI. In one episode, Ross and Rodgers can be seen getting into an elevator dressed for going to the theater.[4] When Ross asks Rodgers for information on Detective Robert Goren, Goren later finds out and confronts Ross, shouting at him, "Did your girlfriend tell you this?!"[5] After Ross is murdered, Goren and his partner, Alexandra Eames, arrive at the crime scene to find Rodgers already there, visibly distraught over both his death and the fact that the FBI is denying her access to the body. [6]
Rodgers can often be seen eating in the morgue. In several episodes, characters comment on her lunch being near the bodies.
She has a nephew, indicating that she had at least one sibling. By 2007, she is the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner of New York City.[7]
References
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