ACADEMY AWARD WINNER, MERCEDES RUEHL, GUEST-STARS IN NBC'S 'LAW & ORDER' ON NOVEMBER 24

NEW YORK -- November 22, 2004 -- Mercedes Ruehl ("The Fisher King" and "Married to the Mob") guest-stars as the widow of a murdered jeweler with ties to the Russian Mob, in the "All in the Family" episode of NBC's "Law & Order" on Wednesday, November 24 (10-11 p.m. ET). In speaking about her appearance, Ruehl said, "It's hard to believe that I've lived in New York City as long at I have and never done a 'Law & Order' episode! The role was, as is almost always the case with this well-written series, complex and challenging."

In this episode, after four people, including tourists, are shot dead on the same sidewalk, Detectives Fontana (Dennis Farina) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) learn that one was a philandering jeweler with criminal ties to the Russian mob who was cooperating with federal authorities -- until someone close to the victim "ratted him out." In the meantime, the investigators find the hitmen, but A.D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) must wrestle with the federal prosecutor over jurisdiction -- and both cases might hinge on the obscure clue that the jeweler was an Orthodox Jew. Mercedes Ruehl guest-stars as the jeweler's wife. S. Epatha Merkerson, Elisabeth Rohm and Fred Dalton Thompson also star.

Ruehl made her film debut in "Married to the Mob," for which she earned a National Society of Film Critics Award. She is best known for her role in "The Fisher King" for which she earned an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Los Angeles Film Critics Society Award. She also appeared in other feature films, such as "Last Action Hero," "Crazy People," "Slaves of New York" and "Big." On television Ruehl appeared in the miniseries "Widow" and the telefilm "The Mary-Kay Letourneau Story: All-American Girl." Ruehl also had a recurring role in the series "Frasier," as Frasier's boss and love interest.

"Law & Order" is a Wolf Films production in association with NBC Universal Television Studio. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer; Matthew Penn, Eric Overmyer, Peter Jankowski and Roz Weinman are executive producers.