James B. Sikking, known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on "Hill Street Blues" and the doctor dad on "Doogie Howser, M.D.," has died at age 90.
The actor died Saturday at his Los Angeles home because of complications related to dementia, his publicist, Cynthia Snyder, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Although best known for his television roles, Sikking also appeared in several hit films, including "Point Blank" (1967), "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984), and "The Pelican Brief" (1993).
Before his iconic TV roles, Sikking also showed up in shows like "The Outer Limits," "Honey West," "The Fugitive," "Hogan’s Heroes," and "Mannix." He eventually landed a lead role in Steven Bochco's "Hill Street Blues" before going on to play David Howser, dad of Doogie (Neil Patrick Harris), on all four seasons of Bochco's "Doogie Howser," which ran from 1989-93. From there, he went on to portray a cop for Bochco on the CBS show "Brooklyn South" from 1997 to 1998.
Sikking attended El Segundo High School and, after serving in the military, graduated from UCLA with a theater degree in 1959. Early in his career, he appeared on "Perry Mason" and "Assignment: Underwater" in 1961, and in films like "The Carpetbaggers" (1964), "Von Ryan’s Express" (1965), and "In Like Flint" (1967).
Sikking worked on a 1971 episode of NBC’s "Name of the Game," where he first collaborated with Bochco. He later guest-starred on CBS shows "Delvecchio" and "Paris," and was a regular on NBC’s "Turnabout," all written by Bochco, before starring in "Hill Street Blues."
From 1971 to 1976, Sikking played a surgeon with a drinking problem on the ABC soap "General Hospital" and portrayed Jim Carrey’s father in the 1992 Fox telefilm "Doing Time on Maple Drive." He landed a role in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" thanks to producer Harve Bennett, his former UCLA classmate, and appeared twice on HBO’s "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2004.
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