James B. Sicking said,Hill Street Blues“and”Doogie HowserDr. John McClellan passed away at the age of 90.
Sicking died Saturday from complications from dementia, spokeswoman Cynthia Synder said in a statement Sunday night.
“Over the course of his incredible career, Sikking’s brilliant and evocative face has given us drama, comedy, tragedy and hilarious farce,” Snyder said. variety“His career spanned more than 60 years in television, film and stage.”
Mr. Sicking rose to fame playing Howard Hunter on the NBC police drama series “Hill Street Blues,” which aired from 1981 to 1987. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1984 for his performance as the clean-cut, pipe-smoking police lieutenant.
After “Hill Street Blues,” Sicking played Dr. David Hauser, father of Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), on the ABC medical comedy from 1989 to 1993 for all four seasons.
He played a police officer again in the short-lived CBS series “Brooklyn South” (1997-98), produced by Steven Bochco, his co-creator of “Hill Street Blues” and “Doogie Howser.”
Early in his career, Sicking guest-starred on such television series as Perry Mason, General Hospital, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, Rawhide, Bonanza, Ironside, Starsky & Hutch, and The Rockford Incident, and was a regular on Hill Street Blues. In 2004, he appeared in two episodes of HBO’s Curve Your Enthusiasm.
He is known for playing Captain Styles in the 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, directed by and starring Leonard Nimoy, and as the Director of the FBI in Alan J. Pakula’s 1993 legal thriller The Pelican Brief. Other credits include Point Blank, Maid of Honor, Fever Pitch, Charo!, Final Approach, Normal People, The Terminal Man, and Ryan Express, as well as appearing in four films directed by Peter Hyams: Capricon One, Outland, The Star Chamber, and Narrow Margin.
The youngest of five children, James Barry Sikking (named after the author of “Peter Pan”) was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934, to Andy and Sue Sikking. He earned a degree in theater arts from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1959, where he met Florine Kaplan, his wife of over 60 years.
Mr. Sicking is survived by his wife, son Andrew (Paula), daughter Dr. Emily Sicking (Mallory “Chip” Milam), and four grandchildren, Laura and Gemma Sicking, and Hugh and Madeline “Maddie” Milam.
