Longtime TV actor Robert Hogan — best known for roles on “Peyton Place,” “Law & Order” and HBO’s “The Wire” — has died. He was 87.
His family said he died on May 27 at his home in Maine after complications from pneumonia, according to an obituary. He was diagnosed with vascular Alzheimer’s in 2013.
Born in Queens, New York, Hogan enlisted in the Army after high school and served in Korea. He studied engineering at NYU before changing paths to acting, according to Deadline.
“After the first semester, however, an astute professor suggested he take an aptitude test to determine if engineering was really the best fit for the gregarious young man,” his family wrote in his obituary. “The test results produced two words: The arts. As Bob would say, ‘That’s when I gave acting a try.’”
After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he went on to amass over 150 acting credits during his 60-year career, largely on the small screen. The character actor was featured in shows like “Secrets of Midland Heights,” “Operation Petticoat,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Gunsmoke,” “Barnaby Jones,” “The Rockford Files” and “Peyton Place,” in which he played Rev. Tom Winter in more than 60 episodes.
Hogan’s family noted he also had a wide range of parts in his day, including “a helicopter pilot on ‘M*A*S*H’ to a judge on ‘Law & Order’ to a Marine in the original Broadway cast of Aaron Sorkin’s ‘A Few Good Men.’”
He appeared as a guest on “Hogan’s Heroes,” which the show’s co-creator Bernard Fein named after him, The Wrap reported, though Bob Crane played the fictional Robert Hogan.
In 2003, Hogan has a recurring role on HBO’s “The Wire” as Louis Sobotka.
His career wasn’t limited to the small screen, though. He also appeared in films like “Species II” and “Blue Christmas” as well as on and off Broadway productions. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance as famed attorney Clarence Darrow in “Never the Sinner.”
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, novelist Mary Hogan, three children from a previous marriage to fine artist, Shannon Hogan, and two grandchildren.