Bernie Hamilton

Bernie Hamilton was an American actor who began appearing in films in 1950. Born in East Los Angeles, he attended Oakland Technical High School, where he developed an interest in acting. For years he played small parts before drawing attention with One Potato, Two Potato (1964). He became best known as Captain Dobey, a no-nonsense role in the 1970s police series Starsky and Hutch, which ran from 1975 to 1979. After that show he mostly stopped acting, appearing in just four more productions, the last a 1985 episode of The Love Boat. He moved into music, producing rhythm and blues and gospel recordings. From the late 1960s he operated Citadel d'Haiti, a Sunset Boulevard nightclub and art gallery, and put out records on his own label, Chocolate Snowman, including Captain Dobey Sings the Blues, a release that featured him. He died in 2008.