James Sikking, the TV and movie actor who starred within the sequence “Hill Road Blues” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has died.
Sikking died Saturday of problems of dementia, his publicist, Cynthia Snyder, confirmed in a press release Sunday night. He was 90.
The Los Angeles-raised character actor “was one of many kindest, wisest, funniest and most beneficiant individuals I’ve ever identified,” Sikking’s “Doogie” co-star Neil Patrick Harris stated in a tribute shared Monday on social media.
Harris, who performed Sikking’s character‘s son, the present’s titular medical prodigy, added: “A real skilled. He handled everybody with respect, taught me numerous classes, but all the time had a spark of mischief in his eyes. It was an absolute honor to be his son. My condolences to his precise household for his or her loss.”
Sikking loved a various skilled performing profession that lasted practically 60 years and included appearances in standard sequence “Starsky and Hutch,” “MASH,” “Columbo,” “Common Hospital” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Starring roles within the sequence “Hill Road Blues” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” nevertheless, had been Sikking’s claims to fame.
By the early ’80s, Sikking had established fairly the monitor report for portraying legislation enforcement and authority figures onscreen. With the dynamic NBC police procedural “Hill Road Blues,” he leaned into this sort much more. From 1981 to 1987, Sikking starred as Lt. Howard Hunter, a Vietnam Battle veteran who was the pinnacle of an emergency motion group.
The lieutenant’s uptight demeanor was usually performed for laughs however was rooted in Sikking’s personal expertise with a drill teacher when he was a scholar at UCLA within the late Nineteen Fifties.
“The drill teacher regarded like he had metal for hair and his uniform had a lot starch in it, you knew it could sit within the nook when he took it off within the barracks,” he informed the Fresno Bee in 2014.
“Hill Road Blues,” from writers Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, received 26 primetime Emmy Awards throughout its run. Sikking earned a supporting actor Emmy nomination in 1984 however misplaced to co-star Bruce Weltz, who performed Sgt. Mick Belker.
Amid his “Hill Road Blues” tenure, Sikking additionally loved a busy movie profession, together with “Abnormal Folks,” “Star Trek III: The Seek for Spock” and “Morons From Outer House.”
Sikking and Bochco reunited shortly after “Hill Road Blues” for “Doogie Howser, M.D.” He starred as Dr. David Howser, the daddy of Harris’ wunderkind, a Vietnam Battle vet who pursued a follow of his personal. The sequence aired on ABC from 1989 to 1993 and received three primetime Emmys.
After “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” Sikking appeared in supporting roles on the sequence “Brooklyn South” and “Invasion America” but in addition turned his consideration to movie and TV films, together with “In Pursuit of Honor,” “Dare to Love,” “Mutiny” and “Made from Honor.” He most lately appeared within the movie “Simply an American” and the TV sequence “The Nearer,” each in 2012.
Sikking was born March 5, 1934, in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA in 1959. He married Florine Caplan, with whom he had two youngsters and 4 grandchildren.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
