Michael Warren (Actor played Bobby Hill), About Kiel Martin:After Kiel passed away I really have had no contact with the cast. I knew if I gave it up, Id never get it back. read that script with so much going on and not know this was something unique. knew Robert and her very well. Without question the high point of my professional life. The actor, whose beloved Esterhaus famously told his co-workers after morning roll call, "Let's be careful out there," died of cancer in November 1983, during the show's fourth season. Here is Hill Streets story. He resents his age and deteriorating health and wishes he could be out on the street with his men and not cooped up in the station house. The Young, the Beautiful and the Degraded. Jan 2, 1991. less than a week I know one thing for sure, I will never work with a crew like that again. As the show progressed, he became Captain of the Polk Avenue Precinct, though his promotion ended in disaster. WebKiel Martin . Writing. She told me she was a bunny at the Playboy club for a time. Haid: I owe my career to Steven Bochco. "Ironic, isn't it?" At that point, I wanted to build a career and get opportunities to play different roles or have my own series. His most well-known role is Sergeant Becker in "The Rockford Files,"opposite James Garner, which aired from 1974 until 1980. Marinaro: We were way ahead of our time. ACTOR KIEL MARTIN DIES AT 46 RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. -- Kiel Martin, 46, the actor who played shady detective Johnny "J.D." Within seconds I knew this was something special and that ending with Renko and Hill going down in slow motion Its temporary and it has nothing to do with basic reality as most of us know it. "Oh, people hated us, because we had 24 people or so with mates or dates it was a group of probably 50 of us: cast, crew, and everything in that place," James B. Sikking, who played SWAT team commander Howard Hunter, tells Yahoo TV of the 1981 Emmy ceremony. "Hill Street Blues" finished 87th (out of 96 shows) in the Nielsen ratings. We realized we had so many characters that the only way to service all those characters was to have multiple storylines. Following "Hill Street Blues,"Hirschfeld made many television appearances across the 1990s and 2000s, including five episodes of "Law &Order," as five different characters. They enjoy taking bubble baths together. art. Joyce Davenport. "If NBC had been flush, I don't think we would have seen the light of day. Trinidad Silva popped up in 28 episodes of "Hill Street Blues," debuting in the 1981 pilot and making his final appearance in Season 7's "A Pound of Flesh," the penultimate episode of the series. Silva's character,Jesus Martinez, starts out as a gang member before "officially" reforming and embarking on a new career in the legal field. If the owners refuse, he and his associates destroy their property until they acquiesce. Despite being introduced as a goof, Sergeant Jenkins made several more appearances over the course of the series. I went home (which was nearby) and within half hour I had written it. He'd just live with it What power! Kiel Martin played Detective J.D. Bare in mind that he did nothing but Hill Street Blues until its conclusion in 1987. But Bochco never flinched. Cast members Charles Haid, Ed Marinaro, James B. Sikking and Bruce Weitz spoke with CNN on the phone. [Laughs.] What happened was (Bochco) couldnt come up with a title, and theyd just done something at Cape Canaveral, and he said, Well call this Moon Over Uranus. And he sent it in and Standards and Practices called up, No, no, no., Steven said, Why do I have to change the title? Marinaro: My agent said he wanted to set up a meeting for me to say hello to the casting director on Hill Street Blues, Geri Windsor. The sixth season premiere of "Hill Street Blues" features film star Yaphet Kotto as its special guest. how far ahead did you know where a story that featured you heavily was going? He reprised the role in eight made-for-TV movies in the 1990s. The former Yale writing teacher won an Emmy for his first "Blues" script the Season 3 premiere, "Trial by Fury" and went on to become an executive producer on the show, adding Writers Guild awards and a Humanitas Prize to his rsum. Unlike his character, Enrquez was born in Nicaragua, not Colombia. He died several days later, on March 18, 2016, at the age of 84, per The Hollywood Reporter. Late in Season 4, LaRue (Kiel Martin) simply disappears for about four episodes, with one reference to him being sick and then it being "mono, so expect him to be out for a few weeks." (NBC) told me the character had tested so well, they didnt want him to die. Ron Herbinger (Friend of Kiel Martin), About Robert Hirschfeld:Bob did a lot of wonderful work as an actor. Milch, meanwhile, would later use one actor Garret Dillahunt to play two different characters on "Deadwood. His mother Eileen called me in Miami to see if I was coming to Palm Springs for the celebration and I told her it Repertory Theatre, as indeed did had a number of the cast. Theyd always shoot him first. Bochco: Talk about the early 80s. He was capable of being tough but also calmly diplomatic. the first episode. Trending. 2. He was a lonely guy with this pretentious uniform who wanted to fall in love and wanted to be a friend and didnt have the guts to go out and get it. Then he knew and he said to everybody. Joe Santos appeared in small roles in a handful of films in the late 1960s, but his first major film was 1971's "The Panic in Needle Park,"with Al Pacino and Kiel Martin. "Every time they named somebody from the show, we'd scream 'Yay!' Grant Tinker, MTM Enterprises co-founder: Not only did MTM give good creative people the freedom to do their work, but I became justly famous for throwing my body between our producers and network bureaucrats. NBC wasnt thrilled with the way things were going. Dennis Franz played two different, completely unrelated characters on the show. he told People. Sergeant Belker (Bruce Weitz) takes the opportunity to go undercover and dismantle their extortion and gambling racket that turns out to be much more ruthless and violent than expected. Weitz: Its not real. Its absolutely the high point. and displaying his wares, just as he'd done on "Hill Street Blues.". It stayed on through a combination of key corporate support, determination and a little bit of luck. The Cast Of NBC-TV's Hill Street Blues. Joe: (laughing): I was never a bow tie man but I think I may still have one or two hanging around at home. We should have won 10. One of them was James B. Sikking, who had appeared in a number of Bochco-written shows. 11. The supermarket tabloids have had a field day with Kiel Martin, the actor best known as hard-living Detective J.D. The character retires during Season 7 but still appears throughout the final season, supporting his old colleagues as a friend and confidant. He got his start in a 1968 episode of "N.Y.P.D.," and went on to star in dozens of films and TV shows, including "Bay City Blues." The cops were flawed; the story lines were not resolved in a single episode; characters you loved died while having sex. The short-lived series followed a minor league baseball team, and featured many actors from "Hill Street Blues," including Dennis Franz and Ken Olin. Outside of "Hill Street Blues," Conrad was mainly a hardworking television actor, appearing on shows as varied as "Little House on the Prairie"and "The Incredible Hulk"to "All in the Family" and "The Bob Newhart Show." Was it a handful, that kind of creativity? an interest in acting, and prior to my retirement for football, I had worked in an acting class in New York, soI dont know that you She told me she lived in Miami for a while when But Haid was a busy man with a recent role in the film Altered States and a medical pilot in the works. 9. When I got into the room, I jumped up on Grant Tinkers desk and went after his nose. not so ready to remember their time doing it. Bochco left after Season 5. I can even remember cast members giving a round of applause after a difficult portrayal was went by it was clear that there were some very clever people involved in the series and I am proud of my contribution. It was great people loved these shows but it wasnt Hill Street Blues.. they decided to keep me alive! LieutenantCalletano, played byRen Enrquez, made his first appearance in the pilot episode of "Hill Street Blues"and appeared in 109 episodes across all seven seasons. Joe: Much of the same I guess. The show followed with a special episode in which the group said goodbye to the character and Conrad. He was 82 years old (via Los Angeles Times). Sikking: We had a funeral for Esterhaus on camera. Sikking: I thought there was great depth to the character because he was a very lonely guy. WebKiel Martin succumbed to lung cancer on December 28. commission for Hill Street he said he could get me a part in it. idea. And (the network) said OK. Now were stuck with it. Kiel and his mother and Here are twelve "Hill Street Blues" actors you may not know passed away. 2023 Cable News Network. HSB.net: Is it true that you were originally cast as Renko, but they thought you were not aggressive enough for Hunter was often the shows Hirschfeld died in 2009 at the age of 67, presumably of natural causes. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Hill Street Blues was a popular police drama that ran on NBC from 1981 until 1987. Afterwards I went to a meeting with Bochco and some of the executives, I had an idea in my head for something If you allow yourself to continue to be swept up in it, there can only be disaster at the end. In one episode, Belker was undercover at a butcher shop. Female police officers still tend to be looked upon with less trust and respect than male officers and are treated more as sex objects in their departments. 16. Joe: When Nancy ( Robert Hirschfeld widow) told me of your efforts in creating the website, I felt it would be good to Weitz: It was devastating. would call it a conventional route to a career in acting. Coffey's girlfriend is sexually assaulted. Before finally landing on "Hill Street Blues," the show was called "Hill Street Station" and "The Blue Zoo. Guess I'm not the Hollywood type. His final television appearance was in a 2006 episode of "The Sopranos." Though the show was filmed in California, the Maxwell Street Police Station in Chicago was used as the exterior of the precinct in the closing credits. The pilot of Hill Street Blues was tested both at the ASI Theater and on cable. We portrayed them as real people. Robert Prosky died in 2008 following complications from heart surgery. stage at Berekely Rep and Magic Theater in the Bay Area. The 1981-87 NBC cop drama (which just got the Complete Series DVD treatment) not only helped turn around a last-place network, but it's no hyperbole to say Bochco: Personalities were just so volatile. Conrad died on November 22, 1983, during the series fourth season. The hardest part to cast was the police captain, Francis X. "Steven put a reference to him in one of the shows. I real don't know Also of course Michael Kozoll was the writer. ", [Related: The 'Deadwood' Cast Chats for a 10th Anniversary Oral History of the HBO Drama], Marinaro, a former NFL player-turned-actor, was originally killed off in the Season 1 finale, but when the show was granted a second season, Joe Coffey miraculously survived what had appeared to be a fatal gunshot wound. One of the saddest events of Hill Streets run involved Michael Conrad. So half the time, things that were going on in the background were in fact the elements of stories and character relationships that would emerge in the foreground two episodes from now. Ed Marinaro, a former football player whod had a short run on Laverne & Shirley, wasnt planning on Hill Street at all. It showed a generation of writers how ambitious television drama could be.". During the fourth season, Sweet was diagnosed with cancer and died on May 8, 1985, just three days before the fourth season finale aired. Sweet's final project was the domestic sitcom "Gimme a Break!," which lasted six seasons and saw the star oppositeNell Carter. Joe: This was the first time I actually worked with him. 22. WebHe dabbled in film, beginning with a lawyer role in Rocky IIbut after his Hill Street Bluessuccess, he landed a lead role alongside BJ himself, Greg Evigan, in the 1989 sci-fi Haid: Michael Conrad talk about old school. Sixth season premiere of `` the Rockford Files, '' opposite James,. Hill Streets run involved Michael Conrad mother and Here are twelve `` Hill Street until... The course of the shows still appears throughout the final season, supporting his old as! As the show was called `` Hill Street Station '' and `` the Rockford Files, '' opposite Garner. Progressed, he and his associates destroy their property until they acquiesce the supermarket tabloids have had field... Handful, that kind of creativity colleagues as a Friend and confidant one episode, Belker was undercover at butcher! 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