US Senate votes to name courthouse after actor Fred Thompson

NASHVILLE – The U.S. Senate has voted to name Nashville’s new federal courthouse after former Sen. Fred Thompson, the late actor who appeared in at least 20 movies and in the TV series “Law & Order.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander announced the Senate vote Wednesday on a resolution already passed by the House, leaving the final decision to President Donald Trump.

Thompson died at 73 in 2015.

A Tennessee-trained lawyer and prosecutor, Thompson was a hard-driving Senate counsel during the Watergate hearings and later a popular actor and fleeting presidential hopeful in 2008. He commanded audiences with a booming voice, folksy charisma and a 6-foot-6 frame.

Besides a starring role in the “Law & Order” TV series, he appeared in such motion pictures as “The Hunt for Red October” and “Die Hard II.”