Bernie Hamilton, Capt. Dobey on Starsky and Hutch, Dies at 80

Bernie Hamilton died of cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to his son Raoul.

Hamilton was born in Los Angeles in 1928, and ran away from home as a teenager. He ended up staying in someone's garage and attending Oakland Technical High School, where he played football and started acting.

Starsky and Hutch ran from 1975 - 1979. Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) and David Soul (Hutch) starred. Bernie Hamilton's by-the-book captain was the perfect foil to S & H, who probably couldn't read a book.

After that series, Hamilton didn't really do much as an actor, though I do remember him appearing on "The Love Boat" and "Galactica: 1980."

However, he spent the next 20 years in the music business. Bernie Hamilton produced a number of gospel and R&B albums on the US record label Chocolate Snowman.