Bernie Hamilton, `Starsky and Hutch` captain, dies

Los Angeles, Jan 02:Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played the no-nonsense police captain on the 1970s TV series "Starsky and Hutch," has died. He was 80. Hamilton died of cardiac arrest Tuesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his son, Raoul Hamilton.

Born in Los Angeles in 1928, Hamilton ran away from home as a teenager and wound up staying in someone`s garage and attending Oakland Technical High School, where he played football and got involved in acting. Hamilton appeared in more than 20 films, including "The Young One," "The Devil at 4 O`Clock," "Synanon," "The Swimmer," "Walk the Walk" and "The Organization." He also had guest appearances on television series before becoming a regular on "Starsky and Hutch," the ABC police drama starring Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul. Hamilton played the brusque, by-the-book Capt. Harold Dobey, a role that gave him wide recognition to this day, his son said. After "Starsky and Hutch," Hamilton spent the next 20 years in the music business producing R&B and gospel records under the record label Chocolate Snowman. Bureau Report