Michael Cole, who starred as one-third of “The Mod Squad,” has died. He was 84.
The actor performed Pete Cochran within the hit ABC crime present that aired from 1968 to ’73. Cole died Tuesday, his Atlanta-based expertise agent Christy Clark confirmed to The Occasions.
On the tail of a decade of civil unrest because of the Vietnam Battle and the midcentury civil rights motion, “The Mod Squad” made preventing crime cool to the youthful era’s counterculture.
Peggy Lipton, left, Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III and Tige Andrews in a scene from the Nineteen Sixties TV collection “The Mod Squad.”
(ABC)
With “one black, one white, one blonde,” because the present’s tagline, “the rabble on the wrong side of the law was now the law,” stated tv critic Lorraine Ali in 2018. That very same yr, Cole authored a memoir that referenced his undercover-cop position titled “I Played the White Guy.”
Cole’s nephew, who was named after him, introduced his uncle’s demise Monday in a put up on Fb. “He was my inspiration to the craft of acting and helped guide me my whole career. He taught me of his passion as an artist … as a story teller … as an actor. But first, he was my Uncle … who I loved deeply.”
Cole spoke of the position in a 1999 interview with The Occasions.
“I was like a rebel with a cause,” he stated.
Cole’s Pete Cochran, Peggy Lipton’s Julie Barnes and Linc Hayes, performed by Clarence Williams III, had been all younger individuals in bother with the regulation. Police Capt. Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) labored with them so they may keep away from jail time. The trio blended into the crime scenes — and among the many suspects — they investigated.
Cole instructed The Occasions that he saved in contact with co-stars Lipton and Williams, who died in 2019 and 2021, respectively. He additionally stated he was a fan of the 1979 TV-movie revival “The Return of the Mod Squad,” which he stated captured “the bonding and caring” that was on the coronary heart of the unique.
One among his different notable roles was as Harlan Barrett, a 1991 heartthrob on daytime drama “General Hospital” who was a recurring character for a number of months. He additionally appeared in TV reveals “ER,” “The Love Boat” and “Police Story,” in addition to the 1990 Stephen King miniseries “It.”
Born in blue-collar Madison, Wis., in 1940, Cole moved to Los Angeles as a younger, ravenous actor in 1963, he stated in a 2018 podcast interview. There, he joined an appearing workshop with coach Estelle Harmon and ultimately obtained his massive break with “The Mod Squad,” he stated, by simply being himself. After divorcing twice, he met his present spouse in 1989, who helped him get sober — one in every of his biggest accomplishments, he stated.
Cole is survived by his spouse, Shelley Funes, daughter Jennifer and sisters Deborah and Colleen, his nephew wrote. “We are forever bound as family,” the put up says. “I love you Uncle Mike.”
