Bernie Hamilton
{{short description|American actor (1928–2008)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bernie Hamilton
| image = Bernie Hamilton "Ironside" (1967 NBC press photo).jpg
| caption = Hamilton in Ironside, 1967
| birth_name = Bernard Hamilton
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|06|12|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = East Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2008|12|30|1928|06|12|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1950–1985
}}
Bernard Hamilton (June 12, 1928 – December 30, 2008) was an American actor.{{cite news |title=Actor Bernie Hamilton, Capt. Dobey on 'Starsky and Hutch,' dies at 80.|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-hamilton1-2009jan01,0,7951858.story |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=2009-01-01 |accessdate=2009-01-02}} He is best known as Captain Dobey in Starsky & Hutch (1975–1979).
Biography
Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles; his brother was jazz drummer Chico Hamilton. He attended Oakland Technical High School, where he first became interested in acting.{{cite news |first=Dominic |last=Lawson |title=Bernie Hamilton: played Captain Dobey in Starsky and Hutch |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5435000.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524174251/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5435000.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 24, 2010 |work=The Times |date=2009-01-02 |accessdate=2009-01-02 |location=London}} In films from 1950, he labored in bit roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato (1964), the story of an interracial marriage. He is best remembered for his role as the brusque, no-nonsense Captain Dobey in the United States 1970s police series Starsky and Hutch.
After Starsky and Hutch, Hamilton by and large quit acting, playing in only four roles, his last role being a The Love Boat episode in 1985. Instead, he went into music business, producing R&B and gospel records.
Hamilton was also an impresario; starting in the late 1960s he ran a nightclub/art gallery called Citadel d’Haiti on Sunset Boulevard. Hamilton also produced rhythm and blues and gospel music recordings on his own record label called Chocolate Snowman. One of his releases featured himself; it was entitled Captain Dobey Sings the Blues.
Hamilton married Maxine King on December 7, 1950, they divorced in 1968 after having two children, son Raoul and daughter Candy.
Hamilton died on December 30, 2008, of cardiac arrest at the age of 80. A US Army veteran in the Korean War, he was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Selected filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Selected filmography of Bernie Hamilton | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Jackie Robinson Story | Ernie | |
| 1951 | Bright Victory | Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Harlem Globetrotters | Higgins | Uncredited |
| 1951 | Mysterious Island | Neb | |
| 1954 | Jungle Man-Eaters | Zuwaba | |
| 1954 | Carmen Jones | Reporter | Uncredited |
| 1955 | Kismet | Pearl Merchant | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Congo Crossing | Pompala | |
| 1956 | The Girl He Left Behind | Corporal West | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Up Periscope | Weary | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Cry Tough | Policeman | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Take a Giant Step | Sharpie in Bar | Uncredited |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Dawson | Season 6 Episode 1: "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat" |
| 1960 | The Young One | Traver | Directed by Luis Buñuel |
| 1960 | Let No Man Write My Epitaph | Goodbye George | |
| 1961 | Underworld U.S.A. | Investigator | Uncredited |
| 1961 | The Devil at 4 O'Clock | Charlie | |
| 1961 | The Law and Mr Jones | Bob Mills | "Lethal Weapons" |
| 1962 | 13 West Street | Negro | |
| 1963 | Captain Sindbad | Quinius | |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Second Convict | Season 2 Episode 18: "Final Escape" |
| 1964 | One Potato, Two Potato | Frank Richards | |
| 1965 | Synanon | Pete | |
| 1967 | Stranger on the Run | Dickory | |
| 1968 | The Swimmer | Chauffeur | |
| 1969 | The Lost Man | Reggie Page | |
| 1970 | Nam's Angels | Captain Jackson | |
| 1970 | Walk the Walk | Mike | |
| 1971 | The Organization | Lieutenant Jessop | |
| 1972 | Hammer | Davis | |
| 1973 | Scream Blacula Scream | Ragman | |
| 1975 | Bucktown | Harley | |
| 1980 | Battlestar Galactica 1980 | Police Chief | Season 1 Episode 8: "The night the Cylons Landed Pt 2" |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{IMDb name|0357745}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Bernie}}
Category:American male film actors
Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Category:American male television actors
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:Burials at Riverside National Cemetery
Category:20th-century African-American male actors
Category:21st-century African-American male actors