An actor known for roles in “Hill Street Blues” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” has died.
James Sikking died at the age of 90 from complications from dementia, his publicist told The Associated Press.
Sikking appeared in shows such as “Perry Mason,” “M.A.S.H.” and “Little House on the Prairie” but is best known as Lt. Howard Hunter a Vietnam War net who was the head of the Emergency Action Team at the center of the drama. The character was uptight but had “quirks” that were used as “comic effect,” the AP reported. He based the role on a drill instructor when he was in basic training.
The show would run until 1987. One cliffhanger had Sikking’s character thinking of committing suicide but publications accidentally ran a teaser that leaked that Hunter survived.
Sikking was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama in 1984.
He also appeared in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spok,” playing Captain Styles. He was not drawn to the character but it was a one-day shoot that pulled him into the “Star Trek” universe, the AP reported.
“It was not my cup of tea. I was not into that kind of outer space business. I had an arrogant point of view in those days. I wanted to do real theater. I wanted to do serious shows, not something about somebody’s imagination of what outer space was going to be like,” he said in 2014. “So I had a silly prejudice against it, which is bizarre because I’ve probably and happily signed more this, that or the other thing of ‘Star Trek’ than I have anything of all the other work I’ve done.”
After the end of “Hill Street Blues,” Sikking was cast as the father of “Dougie Howser, M.D.,” David Howser, appearing on all four seasons of the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sikking was born in Los Angeles in 1934 and named after “Peter Pan” author James Barrie. His mother founded Unity by the Sea Church in Santa Monica after she survived a near-fatal car accident. His father was also part of the ministry.
Sikking attended El Segundo High School then g graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1959 after he served in the military.
He leaves behind his second wife Florine, two children and four grandchildren, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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