Actor Bernie Hamilton, 80, died December 30, 2008, of cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Hamilton was best known for his role as by-the-book Capt. Harold Dobey in the 1970s ABC police series Starsky and Hutch. During his career, Hamilton appeared in more than 20 feature films, and had guest roles on several television series before becoming a regular on Starsky and Hutch. Following his stint on the popular cop show, Hamilton became involved in the music industry and produced R&B and gospel records for 20 years under the label Chocolate Snowman.
An obituary of Bernie Hamilton is available in the New York Times here.