T.J. Hooker Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

"T.J. Hooker," aka the second most famous show starring William Shatner, is one of the most 1980s cop dramas ever conceived. Shatner's titular character is a disgruntled Special Forces veteran and a talented detective, who sets on a mission to fight crime even more than your average police officer does, and opts to do so with an effective demotion to a uniformed sergeant. The show, fortunately, is hardly as gloomy and gritty as that description makes it seem, with plenty of heart, humor, and Shatner's characteristically bombastic presence washing over the potentially dark elements. 

As Arkansas Online notes, the show can be somewhat corny at times, but the likeable cast's chemistry and the show's sheer, unapologetic drive makes it excellent comfort viewing for fans of this era's television. Unfortunately, many members of the aforementioned cast aren't with us anymore. Let's take a look at some familiar faces from "T.J. Hooker" that you may not know have passed away. 

In the world of television, every tough cop comes with an even tougher supervisor to keep them in check and, on occasion, to yell at them. In "T.J. Hooker," this position is filled by Captain Dennis Sheridan. Richard Herd's chief character is a fairly malleable figure that either supports his troops or makes life difficult for them, depending on the plot's needs. Rest assured, however, that the actor always brought his A-game to the role. 

Per Variety, the 27-year-old Herd died of cancer in May 25, 2020, leaving behind a treasure trove of film and TV work. Among his copious greatest hits are the role of James W. McCord Jr. in the star-studded 1976 Watergate scandal movie "All the President's Men," Evan Cormack in the 1979 nuclear thriller "The China Syndrome," and George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) boss, Mr. Wilhelm, in "Seinfeld." 

Herd stayed active in the industry well into his 80s. In recent years, you may have spotted him in Clint Eastwood's 2018 crime drama "The Mule." In 2017, he played the patriarch of the devious Armitage family in Jordan Peele's acclaimed horror movie "Get Out."

In May 25, 1990, 60-year-old actor Vic Tayback died of a heart attack (via The New York Times). Fans of "T.J. Hooker" may remember him as Lieutenant Pete Benedict, but outside the show, Tayback was far more famous for his role as diner owner Mel Sharples. Tayback first appeared as the grumpy Mel in Martin Scorsese's 1974 movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," and went on to play the role for over 200 episodes of "Alice," the CBS sitcom that sprung from the movie. Per IMDb, Tayback won two Best Supporting Actor Golden Globes for his role in the series. 

Even the esteemed role of Mel Sharples barely scratched the surface of Tayback's on-screen career. He was a fixture of screens both big and small since the late 1950s, and even in his final years, he delivered some truly memorable roles. In fact, in 1989, he voiced the villainous Carface Carruthers in Don Bluth's "All Dogs Go to Heaven," one of the best animated movies of all time. 

Whenever "T.J. Hooker" needed a reliable actor for a quick one-episode role, Paul Kent's phone rang. According to his IMDb page, Kent (pictured on the right) appeared on the show in six episodes between 1982 and 1985, playing no less than six different characters. Considering that two of them are different police lieutenants and one is a FBI agent, an argument could be made that Kent's combined roles make him the most powerful law enforcement entity in the "T.J. Hooker" universe, aside from the borderline invincible titular character himself. 

As Variety notes, Kent was far more than just the occasional supporting character in this particular show. A seasoned actor of big and small screen alike, he was active in the industry since the 1950s, raking in over 100 screen credits in popular shows and movies ranging from "Frasier" to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." However, the actor was arguably best known and most respected for his work in theater circles. He was the founder of the esteemed Melrose Theater, and his stage production work in various capacities earned multiple awards. At one point, he even acted onstage with one William Shatner.

Kent died of multiple myeloma in October 7, 2011, at 80 years old. 

Henry Darrow also played various roles in multiple episodes of "T.J. Hooker," though even this versatility was but a mere glimpse at the actor's true talent. Darrow got his start on stage, and by 2012, he had amassed no less than 147 screen credits.

Darrow could — and absolutely did — play all sorts of roles, and you could see him in productions ranging from "Babylon 5" and "The New Dick Van Dyke Show" to the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" and the detective drama "Harry O." A prolific actor in Westerns, from 1967 to 1971 Darrow starred as Manolito Montoya in NBC's "The High Chaparral." Per IMDb, he won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his stint as Rafael Castillo in NBC's "Santa Barbara."   

The actor is also known for portraying the legendary masked crimefighter Zorro in the 1973 show "Zorro and Son," and for providing the character's voice in the 1981 animated series "The New Adventures of Zorro." In addition to these two stints as the masked hero himself, from 1990 to 1993 he portrayed Zorro's (Duncan Regehr) father, Alejandro de la Vega, in "Zorro." 

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the 87-year-old Darrow died of natural causes in March 14, 2021.