James B. Sikking, a longtime actor in television and movies whose most famous role might be as an uptight leader of a SWAT unit on “Hill Street Blues,” has died at the age of 90.
Sikking’s publicist, Cynthia Snider, tells Deadline that Sikking died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He had been suffering from dementia.
According to IMDB.com, Sikking was born on March 5, 1934, in Los Angeles. He started acting in college plays while attending the University of California-Santa Barbara, UCLA and the University of Hawaii.
His first film role was in “Five Guns West” in 1955. His career consisted mainly of smaller TV and movie roles, including appearances in “Mission: Impossible,” “M.A.S.H.” “The F.B.I.,” “The Rockford Files,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Charlie’s Angels.” He also had a three-year stint on “General Hospital.” He did have a significant role with Donald Sutherland in “Ordinary People” in 1980.
But it was in 1981 he moved more into the mainstream with his portrayal of the uptight and straight-laced Lt. Howard Hunter on “Hill Street Blues.” The show’s fresh and different take on police drama eventually became a huge hit and stayed on the air until 1987.
Sikking based his performance on a drill instructor he’d had at basic training when military service cut through his time at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“The drill instructor looked like he had steel for hair and his uniform had so much starch in it, you knew it would sit in the corner when he took it off in the barracks,” he told The Fresno Bee in 2014, when he did a series of interviews with various publications marking the box set’s release.
Sikking followed “Hill Street Blues” with a long run as the title character’s father in “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” which ran from 1989 to 1993. After “Doogie Howser,” he again returned to making smaller appearances on TV and in films. His final credited appearance was in “Just An American” in 2012.
“In a remarkable career, Sikking’s wonderfully exciting face gave us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farse. His career spanned over six decades in television, film and on stage,” Snyder in the statement to Deadline. “His talent, integrity and imagination intrigued and delighted audiences.”
Sikking is survived by wife Florine, son Andrew, daughter Dr. Emily Sikking and four grandchildren.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)