James B. Sikking

James Barrie Sikking (March 5, 1934 – July 13, 2024) was an American actor, best known for his roles as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s television series Hill Street Blues and Dr. David Howser on Doogie Howser, M.D.^[1][2]

James B. Sikking
Sikking at The Athenaeum Hotel in London, England
Born	James Barrie Sikking (1934-03-05)March 5, 1934 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	July 13, 2024(2024-07-13) (aged 90) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2012
Spouse	Florine Sikking
Children	3

Early years

James Barrie Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934,^[3] to Arthur and Sue (née Paxton) Sikking. His mother co-founded Santa Monica, California's Unity-by-the-Sea Church. He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in 1959.^[4]

While in college during the Korean War, Sikking served in the U.S. Army.^[5] He stated he based his approach to his Hill Street Blues character on one of his drill sergeants from basic training at Fort Bragg.^[6]

Career

From 1971–76, Sikking played Jim Hobart, an alcoholic surgeon, on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. He portrayed Geoffrey St. James on the NBC comedy series Turnabout^[7]: 1113 and voiced General Gordon in Invasion America. He was sometimes credited as "James Sikking" or "Jim Sikking" in some of his earlier roles on film and television.^{[citation needed]}

Sikking appeared as Lieutenant (later demoted to Sergeant) Howard Hunter on the TV series Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1987. In 1984, Sikking's performance earned him his first Emmy nomination. In 1989, Hill Street Blues' creator, Steven Bochco, cast Sikking in the ABC television series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser,^[7]: 278 father of the title character. On the 1997 drama series Brooklyn South he portrayed Captain Stan Jonas, for which he won a People's Choice Award in 1998.^[7]

Sikking's film career started in 1955. His film work includes The Competition, Up the Creek, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Point Blank. He appeared in four of Peter Hyams' films: Capricorn One, Outland, The Star Chamber and Narrow Margin.

Sikking starred in the 1992 television movie Doing Time on Maple Drive. He made guest appearances on many television series, including Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Fugitive, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, General Hospital, The Incredible Hulk, Here Come the Brides, Mannix, The Rockford Files, The Bob Newhart Show, Hogan's Heroes, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, Hunter, and Batman Beyond.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life and death

Sikking married his second wife, cookbook author Florine Sikking (née Caplan), in 1962.^[6] They had two children and four grandchildren.^[8]

Sikking was a philanthropist, and worked to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Known affectionately "Jim the Reader" at Los Angeles public schools, he read to public school third-grade classes for almost 20 years through the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Book Pals Program.^[6]

Sikking died of complications from dementia at his home in Los Angeles, on July 13, 2024, at age 90.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Five Guns West	Union Sergeant	Uncredited
1964	The Strangler	Police Sketch Artist
1964	The Carpetbaggers	Reporter	Uncredited
1965	Von Ryan's Express	American Soldier	Uncredited
1967	In Like Flint	Secret Service Member	Uncredited
1967	Point Blank	Hired Gun
1969	Charro!	Gunner
1969	Daddy's Gone A-Hunting	Joe Menchell
1971	The Night God Screamed	Deacon Paul
1971	Escape from the Planet of the Apes	Control Room Officer	Uncredited
1971	Chandler	Bogardy	Scenes deleted
1972	The Magnificent Seven Ride!	Andy Hayes
1972	The New Centurions	Sgt. Anders
1973	Scorpio	Harris
1974	The Terminal Man	Ralph Friedman
1978	Capricorn One	Control Room Man
1979	The Electric Horseman	Dietrich
1980	Ordinary People	Ray
1980	The Competition	Brudenell
1981	Outland	Sergeant Montone
1983	The Star Chamber	Harold Lewin
1984	Up the Creek	Tozer
1984	Star Trek III: The Search for Spock	Captain Styles
1985	Morons from Outer Space	Raymond Laribee
1986	Soul Man	Bill Watson
1990	Narrow Margin	Nelson
1991	Final Approach	Jason Halsey
1993	The Pelican Brief	Denton Voyles
1994	Dead Badge	Wheeler, Aaron Feld
1995	Whisper of the Heart	Seiya Tsukishima (voice)	English dub
2005	Fever Pitch	Doug Meeks
2008	Made of Honor	Reverend Foote
2012	Just an American	Dr. Hanover

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Perry Mason	Bert Springer	Episode: "The Case of the Misguided Missile"
1963	Combat!	American POW	Episode: "The Long Way Home"
1963–1964	The Outer Limits	Botany, Orderly	2 episodes
1964–1966	The Fugitive	Deputy Marsh, Bert, Leonard Taft	3 episodes
1967	The Invaders	William Taft	Episode: "Valley of the Shadow"
1967	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Colonel Richardon	Episode: "The Show Must Go On"
1967–1968	Bonanza	Jack Rimbau, Kevin Maco	2 episodes
1968	Adam-12	Tex	Episode: "Log 72: El Presidente"
1968–1969	Hogan's Heroes	Private Berger, Gestapo Officer	2 episodes
1972	The Astronaut	Higgins	Television film
1972	Mission: Impossible	Wilson	Episode: "Committed"
1972	Family Flight	Second Controller	Television film
1972	The Bob Newhart Show	Dick	Season 1 Episode 5
1972–1973	Room 222	Albert Kramer	2 episodes
1973	M*A*S*H	Finance Officer	Episode: "Tuttle"
1973	The President's Plane Is Missing	Dunbar's Aide	Television film
1974	The Six Million Dollar Man	2nd OSO Agent in background outside elevator door @19:31	Episode: "S1E00 Part C The Solid Gold Kidnapping ";
1974	Columbo	Policeman	Episode: "Publish or Perish"; uncredited
1974	Cannon	Clint	Episode: "The Sounds of Silence"
1976	Ellery Queen	Mike Hewitt	Episode: "The Adventure of Sinister Scenario"
1977	The Feather & Father Gang	Bricklaw	Episode: "Never Con a Killer"
1977	Little House on the Prairie	Mr. Franklin	Episode: "To Live with Fear"
1977–1978	Hawaii Five-O	George Cameron, Oscar Ross	2 episodes
1978	A Woman Called Moses	McCracken	2 episodes
1981–1987	Hill Street Blues	Howard Hunter	Main cast
1986	L.A. Law	Party Guest	Episode: "Pilot"; uncredited
1986	Dress Gray	Clifford Bassett	2 episodes
1987	Police Story: The Freeway Killings	Marit Cameron	Television film
1988	Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss	Television film
1989	Around the World in 80 Days	Jenks	3 episodes
1989	The Final Days	Elliot Richardson	Television film
1989–1993	Doogie Howser, M.D.	David Howser	Main cast
1990	Cop Rock	Howard Hunter	Episode: "Cop-a-Felliac"; uncredited
1992	Doing Time on Maple Drive	Phil Carter	Television film
1995	In Pursuit of Honor	Douglas MacArthur	Television film
1995	Tyson	Bill Clayton	Television film
1997	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Dr. Carson (voice)	Episode: "Nuclear and Present Danger"[9]
1997–1998	Brooklyn South	Captain Stan Jonas	22 episodes; series regular
1998	Invasion America	General Gordon (voice)	13 episodes
1999–2000	Batman Beyond	Harry Caulder, Foreman (voice)	2 episodes[9]
2000	Rocket Power	Vice Principal Healy (voice)	2 episodes
2001	Submerged	Cyrus Cole	Television film
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Jim Remington	Season 4, Episodes 5[10] and 6[11]
2012	The Closer	Edward Crosby	Episode: "Hostile Witness"