Kevin Dobson, ‘Knots Landing’ and ‘Kojak’ Star, Dead at 77

Kevin Dobson, who starred as Det. Bobby Crocker on Kojak and M. Patrick “Mack” MacKenzie on the soap opera Knots Landing, died Sunday. He was 77. The United Veterans Council of San Joaquin County, which he served as the chairman of, announced his death Monday. Dobson was a U.S. Army veteran and is survived by his wife Susan and three children, Sean, Patrick and Mariah. Dobson died from medical complications, according to the United Veterans Council.

Dobson was born on March 18, 1943, in Queens, New York, and began his film and television career in the late 1960s. His first major role was as Crocker alongside Telly Savalas’ Lt. Kojak on CBS’ Kojak, which shot in New York for five seasons. He returned to the character in the 1990 TV movie Kojak: It’s Always Something, which revealed his character was an assistant district attorney, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

Following a starring role in the short-lived police drama Shannon as the titular detective, Dobson joined the cast of Knots Landing. He stared on the show until 1993 and later appeared in the 1997 min-series Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 1996, he starred in one season of F/X: The Series, inspired by the 1986 movie. Dobson had a 13-episode run on The Bold and the Beautiful as a judge in 2006 and 2007 and starred in 15 episodes of Days of Our Lives as Mickey Horton in 2008.

Dobson’s film credits include Klute (1971), Midway (1976), All Night Love (1981), and 1408 (2007). He starred in dozens of TV movies and made guest appearances in several shows. Some of his last appearances came in episodes of CSI, Hawaii Five-0, House of Lies, and Anger Management. He earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1983 for an episode of CBS Afternoon Playhouse.

Dobson also appeared on stage. He starred in the national tours of Twelve Angry Men and The Impossible Years and the Chicago production of Art. He was a board member of the North Hollywood Group Repertory Theatre and volunteered for the Motion Picture Television Fund, reports THR.