Captain Leland Francis Stottlemeyer is a fictional police officer
played by Ted Levine on the American crime drama Monk. He is captain
of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD)'s homicide detail, and a
longtime and long-suffering friend of Adrian Monk from their days on
the force together where Stottlemeyer served as Monk's fourth partner
and later as watch commander. Stottlemeyer's second-in-command,
Lieutenant Randy Disher, is a source of much comedic strife.
Stottlemeyer, like many of the characters in the show, can be viewed
as a parallel to Detective Monk's Sherlock Holmes character (in this
case, Inspector Lestrade).Not much is known of Stottlemeyer's life
before he joined the SFPD, though in an interview, Ted Levine stated
it was his own belief that Stottlemeyer had served in the military and
was later discharged, lived on the East Coast, then moved to
California as a young man, joining the police force. In "Mr. Monk and
the Class Reunion", it is implied that he has lived in the Bay Area
since at least the 1970s, as when he is trying to get information from
reunion guests about a homicide investigation, he is booed off the
stage when the projectionist displays some embarrassing pictures of
him wearing riot gear and violently attacking protesters at an
anti-nuclear warfare demonstration at UC Berkeley (Monk and Natalie
are mortified, while Stottlemeyer insists that the protestors' permit
had expired). In "Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs", it is mentioned that
he hasn't lived in Los Angeles for almost 30 years. The novel Mr. Monk
and the New Lieutenant reveals that Stottlemeyer's father was a
bartender named Hamish. In "Mr. Monk Stays in Bed" Leland uses the
phrase "The 101" to refer to Highway 101. In Northern California,
people will call Highway 101, "Highway 101," not "The 101"; that's a
Southern California term. Stottlemeyer mentions in "Mr. Monk Gets
Cabin Fever" that he was the youngest officer in the history of the
SFPD to make detective, giving him at least a few years of seniority
on Monk. As Stottlemeyer mentions in "Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival,"
when Monk was promoted to detective, he was partnered with
Stottlemeyer, and right away, showed off his amazing abilities when he
proved that a prostitute's apparent suicide was murder.Not much is
known of Stottlemeyer's life before he joined the SFPD, though in an
interview, Ted Levine stated it was his own belief that Stottlemeyer
had served in the military and was later discharged, lived on the East
Coast, then moved to California as a young man, joining the police
force. In "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion", it is implied that he has
lived in the Bay Area since at least the 1970s, as when he is trying
to get information from reunion guests about a homicide investigation,
he is booed off the stage when the projectionist displays some
embarrassing pictures of him wearing riot gear and violently attacking
protesters at an anti-nuclear warfare demonstration at UC Berkeley
(Monk and Natalie are mortified, while Stottlemeyer insists that the
protestors' permit had expired). In "Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs", it
is mentioned that he hasn't lived in Los Angeles for almost 30 years.
The novel Mr. Monk and the New Lieutenant reveals that Stottlemeyer's
father was a bartender named Hamish. In "Mr. Monk Stays in Bed" Leland
uses the phrase "The 101" to refer to Highway 101. In Northern
California, people will call Highway 101, "Highway 101," not "The
101"; that's a Southern California term. Stottlemeyer mentions in "Mr.
Monk Gets Cabin Fever" that he was the youngest officer in the history
of the SFPD to make detective, giving him at least a few years of
seniority on Monk. As Stottlemeyer mentions in "Mr. Monk Goes to the
Carnival," when Monk was promoted to detective, he was partnered with
Stottlemeyer, and right away, showed off his amazing abilities when he
proved that a prostitute's apparent suicide was murder.Somehow, the
two men worked well together, even though Stottlemeyer was later
promoted past Monk. At the time Trudy was murdered, Stottlemeyer
reluctantly suspended Adrian from duty, though he still remained his
friend. Stottlemeyer also looked up Sharona Fleming and hired her as
Monk's practical nurse, which helped Monk to recover from a state of
near-catatonia caused by the loss of Trudy.Monk later calls
Stottlemeyer "the best cop I know." Leland Stottlemeyer Top Movies & Young Movies