TV Actor James Sikking Channeled His Drill Sergeant to Create His Most Memorable Character

Longtime film and television actor James Sikking died from complications of dementia on July 13, 2024, at his Los Angeles home. Although he may not be instantly recognizable to younger viewers, he was part of a television show cast that made the new "Golden Age of Streaming TV" possible.

Born in Los Angeles in 1934, Sikking attended UCLA to study theater, but his studies were interrupted by two periods of service in the U.S. Army. He trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (now called Fort Liberty), where he proposed to his future wife. He graduated from UCLA in 1959 and married Florine Caplan in 1962.

Sikking appeared in numerous film and television roles throughout an acting career that spanned seven decades, with parts that ranged from the original "Perry Mason" series in 1961, HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in 2004, until his last TV appearance in a 2012 episode of "The Closer." He had a starring role as Dr. David Howser on the series "Doogie Howser, M.D." between 1989 and 1993, but arguably his most important in the annals of television history was that of Lt. Howard Hunter in the long-running drama, "Hill Street Blues."

It's difficult to overstate how important "Hill Street Blues" was to the development of the kind of quality and complexity we expect from television today. Producer Steven Bochco was given carte blanche from NBC to make a cop show in any way he wanted -- and he did. It was filled with police jargon, cops facing real-world issues and even used handheld cameras, unheard-of at the time.

When it premiered in 1981, "Hill Street Blues" was unlike any show ever broadcast on the airwaves. It wasn't strictly drama, nor was it a straight comedy, but blended the two genres in an ongoing, serialized format with interwoven storylines, interdependent characters and a large cast. That sounds run-of-the-mill today, but television producers (NBC included) weren't convinced it would resonate with American audiences.

Instead, "Hill Street Blues" was a hit with critics, picking up 21 Emmy nominations in its first season and setting records that still stand to this day. Throughout its run, it would win 26 Emmy Awards out of 98 nominations. Its audiences were another story: In seven seasons, it never topped No. 23 in the television ratings, but it appealed to a more affluent audience and attracted advertisers willing to spend money to reach those audiences. Every show Americans have loved since, from "The Sopranos" to "Game of Thrones" to "Better Call Saul," has "Hill Street Blues" to thank.

The show focused on the gritty life of cops in an urban precinct that could have been in any city in the country at the time. Each episode, meant to represent a day in the life of the characters, began with the daily shift roll call. Sikking's character was the bombastic, excessively aggressive Lt. Howard Hunter, commander of the ​​Emergency Action Team (a kind of SWAT force). The actor had been given the blessing to play the character any way he chose, so he based the character on a drill sergeant he'd trained under at Fort Bragg.

"The drill instructor looked like he had steel for hair and his uniform had so much starch in it, you knew it would sit in the corner when he took it off in the barracks," Sikking told The Seattle Times in a 2014 interview. "So when I started to play Howard, I picked out the way he should be dressed. It had to be a very military look. He had to have those jump boots.

"When people asked me where I got the idea for his look, I told them it was the same look I had in the Army."

The character was the target of many jokes, adding to the show's comic relief, but was also a very capable commander when the situation called for it. It was a necessary microcosm of the show itself, a reaction to the grittiness of urban life in the 1980s. It even earned Sikking a 1984 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

"I've been an actor for 50 years, and when I look back at the show, I think it was the best show I was ever on," Sikking said.

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