Current:Home > MarketsJames B. Sikking, 'Hill Street Blues' and 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' actor, dies at 90-LoTradeCoin
James B. Sikking, 'Hill Street Blues' and 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' actor, dies at 90
View Date:2024-12-23 23:04:04
James B. Sikking, an actor known for his roles on "Hill Street Blues" and "Doogie Howser, M.D.," has died. He was 90.
Sikking died Saturday due to complications from dementia, his publicist Cynthia Snyder told USA TODAY Monday.
"In a remarkable career, Sikking's wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse," Snyder said in a statement. "His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage."
Before Sikking's fame as Lt. Howard Hunter on "Hill Street Blues," the actor appeared in several popular shows in the 1970s, including "Mission: Impossible," "M.A.S.H.," "Hawaii Five-O," "Charlie's Angels" and "Little House on the Prairie."
In 1981, he began his role as the Vietnam War veteran that headed a police department in an unnamed city on "Hill Street Blues" until 1987, receiving an Emmy nomination in 1984 for outstanding supporting actor for his role in the show.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
He based the character off a drill sergeant he met at basic training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
"The drill instructor looked like he had steel for hair and his uniform had so much starch in it, you knew it would (stand) in the corner when he took it off in the barracks," he told The Fresno Bee in 2014. "So when I started to play Howard, I picked out the way he should be dressed. It had to be a very military look."
Shannen Doherty,'Beverly Hills, 90210' star, dies at 53 after cancer battle
After his success on the show, Sikking starred on the medical sitcom "Doogie Howser, M.D." as the father to the titular character, played by Neil Patrick Harris. The show ran from 1989 to 1993.
"I look back on that with fondness," Harris told USA TODAY in 2019. "That was a very remarkably wonderful chapter for somebody who had never really been in the entertainment business before."
Sikking also had stints in film. In 1984, he portrayed Captain Styles in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and in 1993, he starred as the director of the FBI in "The Pelican Brief." The actor starred in four Peter Hyams films throughout his career including "Capricorn One," "Outland," "The Star Chamber" and "Narrow Margin."
Sikking is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Florine Caplan, and their two children: son Andrew and daughter Emily.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Martha Stewart playfully pushes Drew Barrymore away in touchy interview
- LANY Singer Paul Klein Hospitalized After Being Hit by Car
- Senate Democrats to bring up Supreme Court ethics bill amid new revelations
- Band of storms bring 'life-threatening flooding' to South Florida, snarls I-95
- Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
- Chicago Red Stars upset about being forced to move NWSL match for Riot Fest
- Inflation is still too high for the Fed. Here's how the rest of the economy doing
- Arizona lawmakers agree to let voters decide on retention rules for state Supreme Court justices
- Man waives jury trial in killing of Georgia nursing student
- UCLA names new chancellor as campus is still reeling from protests over Israel-Hamas war
Ranking
- Sports are a must-have for many girls who grow up to be leaders
- Legal advocates seek public access to court records about abuse at California women’s prison
- 'Challenges our authority': School board in Florida bans book about book bans
- Young bear spotted relaxing on a hammock in a Vermont yard
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor to step down at end of academic year
- Vermont State Police say a trooper shot and killed man in a struggle over a sawed-off shotgun
- Sony Pictures buys dine-in movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse
- Southern Baptists narrowly reject ban on congregations with women pastors
Recommendation
-
Tennis Channel suspends reporter after comments on Barbora Krejcikova's appearance
-
Video shows National Guard officers enter home minutes before 4 women and 2 children were killed in Mexico
-
U.S. lifts weapons and training ban on Ukraine's Azov Brigade
-
An MS diagnosis 'scared' him to get more active. Now he's done marathons on all 7 continents.
-
Avril Lavigne’s Ex Mod Sun Is Dating Love Is Blind Star Brittany Wisniewski, Debuts Romance With a Kiss
-
Legal advocates seek public access to court records about abuse at California women’s prison
-
Catherine Laga'aia cast as lead in live-action 'Moana': 'I'm really excited'
-
Florida’s 2024 hurricane season arrives with a rainy deluge