Stockard Channing (the "Pickles" of "West Wing") held on DUI charges

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Stockard Channing Arrested for DUI
January 24, 2005

"The West Wing's" first lady recently traded the White House for the big house. "CJ" has learned that famed actress Stockard Channing spent some time in custody last month in a Los Angeles county jail. Channing was arrested on DUI charges on December 14, and on Monday, she was charged with two misdemeanor counts for driving under the influence.

Channing, nominated for an Oscar for her riveting role in "Six Degrees of Separation," was on the 101 Freeway in Hollywood around 10 p.m., according to court documents. California Highway Patrol officers say Channing was actually driving on the shoulder of the freeway. The city attorney's office tells "CJ" that at the time, a truck stuck on the well-traveled freeway was causing a traffic tie-up. Officers were laying out flares to redirect traffic, but sources tell us Channing allegedly decided to cut the line by driving on the shoulder.

After field sobriety tests, Channing was booked and released from the county jail. Interestingly, Channing has won critical acclaim for two roles playing an alcoholic. In 2003, Channing starred in "Anything Else" as a washed-up alcoholic singer. And in "The Business of Strangers," Channing played a businesswoman lost in booze-drenched mind games with Julia Styles.

"CJ" found no record of any prior DUI for the highly revered actress, but she will be arraigned on these two counts on February 9.