The cast of “Hill Street Blues”: Where are they now?
The cast of “Hill Street Blues”: Where are they now?
Declan GallagherMon, April 20, 2026 at 10:00 PM UTC
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The season 3 cast of 'Hill Street Blues'Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Hill Street Blues rewrote the rules of television drama. Set inside an overworked urban precinct within an unnamed city, Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll's gritty series introduced a level of realism and moral complexity not previously attempted on American TV.
After premiering in 1981, Hill Street Blues consistently captured the chaotic, compassionate, and often heartbreaking reality of police work. Its overlapping storylines, cinema vérité style, and flawed but authentic characters helped define what modern prestige dramas would become.
Critics and audiences recognized its impact instantly. Over a seven-season run, the show became one of the most decorated of its era, earning a whopping 98 Emmy nominations and winning 26.
More than three decades after its finale, the series remains a blueprint for truthful, character-driven storytelling. Read on as Entertainment Weekly catches up with the stars of Hill Street Blues to see where they are today.
01 of 10
Daniel J. Travanti (Frank Furillo)
Daniel Travanti in 'Hill Street Blues'; Travanti in 'NCIS: Los Angeles' in 2018Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Bill Inoshita/CBS via Getty
Daniel J. Travanti won two Emmys and a Golden Globe as the cool, calm, collected Captain Furillo, who commands the Hill Street Precinct with a tough but fair hand.
“He tolerated a great deal of goofy stuff. People would say he was so stern. I would say, ‘Have you ever seen the smiles? Check out the smiles. Don’t presume, because of some big impression, that you got the entire impression,’” Travanti said of his signature character. “A guy who understood other people and was determined to do the right thing no matter what anybody thought, but treated people with dignity on every level. Never talked down to anybody.”
The Wisconsin native was already a well-traveled veteran by the time he landed Hill Street, with nearly two decades of guest spots under his belt. Name a popular show from the ’60s and ’70s, he was probably on it.
During his Hill Street years, he squeezed in the feature-length Adam (1983) and landed yet another Emmy nomination. He later earned acclaim for his portrayal of Edward R. Murrow in the TV movie Murrow (1987).
The stage and screen veteran headlined the short-lived crime drama Missing Persons. In recent years, he popped up on series such as Boss and NCIS: Los Angeles.
02 of 10
Charles Haid (Andrew Renko)
Charles Haid on 'Hill Street Blues'; Haid at the L.A. Film Festival in 2016Credit: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Tommaso Boddi/WireImage
Charles Haid played “cowboy” cop Andy Renko, the precinct’s token renegade who eventually gets serious about police work and climbs to the rank of detective. Haid was nominated for two Emmys for his performance.
In the years just beforehand, Haid appeared on the big screen in the Nick Nolte-led Vietnam thriller Who’ll Stop the Rain (1978) and Ken Russell’s trippy classic Altered States (1980). In 2023, the actor admitted he had no desire to focus on TV at the time — until he realized how revolutionary Hill Street would become.
“I had no intention of doing a series at all,” he said. “But I had a great time doing the pilot and when I saw it, I was overwhelmed. I thought, my god, this is exactly right. It was the best damned thing I ever saw.”
Haid pivoted to a directorial career once his series left the air. He occasionally resurfaced onscreen, including in Clive Barker’s Nightbreed (1990) and on the NBC crime drama Third Watch, but he’s primarily been behind the camera.
The San Francisco native won a DGA award for ER — one of his four career nominations from the guild — and has helmed episodes of NYPD Blue, Breaking Bad, Nip/Tuck, and Sons of Anarchy, among many others. He also directed the big-screen Disney feature Iron Will (1994).
03 of 10
Michael Warren (Bobby Hill)
Michael Warren in 'Hill Street Blues'; Warren in Beverly Hills in 2023Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty
Michael Warren played Bobby Hill, the formerly acclaimed boxer who becomes Renko’s partner after joining the force.
The Indiana native was a star basketball player before making the move to acting. He was a starter on two championship-winning teams during UCLA’s dynasty, playing alongside Lew Alcindor (a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
His first main cast role was on the short-lived Sierra, and he landed a string of guest and recurring roles on other series before finding a home on Hill Street.
In subsequent years he found regular work on legal dramas, with appearances on In the Heat of the Night, L.A. Law, and Murder One. But his resume runs the full gamut, from sitcoms like A Different World and Living Single to cult classics such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sliders.
The veteran actor has four children, including producer Cash Warren, Jessica Alba’s ex-husband.
04 of 10
Veronica Hamel (Joyce Davenport)
Veronica Hamel on 'Hill Street Blues'; Hamel in New York City in 2010Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty
Veronica Hamel’s Joyce Davenport is a hard-working, well-respected public defender who's in a relationship with Frank for the bulk of the series. The two get married late in season 3.
The actress earned five Emmy nominations for her performance. It was Hamel's breakthrough role after years of guest work on TV.
She went on to a big-screen starring role in Alan Alda’s A New Life (1988), alongside Alda and Ann-Margret, before returning to headline a string of TV movies throughout the ’90s.
The Philadelphia native made a handful of appearances on Bochco’s Philly and played the mother of Matthew Fox's Jack on Lost.
05 of 10
Bruce Weitz (Mike Belker)
Bruce Weitz on 'Hill Street Blues'; Weitz at Big Apple ComicCon in 2009Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Bobby Bank/WireImage
Eccentric undercover detective Mike Belker was played by Bruce Weitz, who earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his work — including a win in 1984.
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The veteran actor has been a fixture on the small screen ever since, with regular gigs on the Jamie Lee Curtis sitcom Anything But Love and the classic soap General Hospital.
His guest work over the years includes The West Wing, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Dexter, and CSI. Most recently, the Connecticut native appeared in a season 2 episode of For All Mankind.
Since 1986, Weitz has been married to Vivian Davis, with whom he shares a son.
06 of 10
James B. Sikking (Howard Hunter)
James B. Sikking on 'Hill Street Blues'; Sikking at the 'Sister Act' theatrical premiere in 2013Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Mark Sullivan/Getty
James B. Sikking starred as Lt. Howard Hunter, the gung-ho leader of the precinct’s Emergency Action Team — a strong-headed but immensely capable policeman.
A longtime veteran of television going back to the early 1960s, Sikking enjoyed a long-awaited breakthrough in Blues, and followed it up with another major role as the title character’s father on Doogie Howser, M.D. He later reunited with Steven Bochco for Brooklyn South.
The actor’s big-screen career included Ordinary People (1980), The Star Chamber (1983), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and The Pelican Brief (1993). One of his final roles was as Drew Barrymore’s father in Fever Pitch (2005).
Sikking married cookbook author Florine Caplan in 1962. The couple shared two children. He died in 2024 at age 90 due to complications from dementia.
07 of 10
Joe Spano (Henry Goldblume)
Joe Spano on 'Hill Street Blues'; Spano at the 'Hoppers' premiere in 2026Credit: Ron Tom/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Jesse Grant/Getty
Hostage negotiator Henry Goldblume is Furillo’s confidante and a sure hand during the most dire of times at the precinct. Joe Spano made the part his own and earned an Emmy nomination for his work.
Like many Hill Street veterans, Spano has rejoined the Bochco fold in the years since. He was a regular on the first season of Murder One and had a two-season NYPD Blue arc late in its run.
The longtime stage veteran has long had a second home on television, with appearances ranging from The X-Files to Touched by an Angel. For over two decades, he’s played a recurring role on NCIS.
On the big screen, he’s had small roles in Apollo 13 (1995) and a handful of films directed by Hill Street vet Gregory Hoblit, namely Primal Fear (1996), Hart’s War (2002), and Fracture (2007). Most recently, he booked a voice role in Pixar’s Hoppers (2026).
Spano married his wife, Joan Zerrien, in 1980. The couple share two daughters.
08 of 10
Taurean Blacque (Neal Washington)
Taurean Blacque on 'Hill Street Blues'; Blacque in New York in 2002Credit: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; CJ Contino/Everett Collection
Taurean Blacque played undercover detective Neal Washington, the cool-cat partner to loose-cannon J.D. LaRue.
The actor followed his Emmy-nominated Hill Street turn with a voice role in Oliver & Company (1988) and a run on the soap opera Generations. He later went back to his detective roots on The WB’s Savannah.
The New Jersey native became a prominent adoption advocate, ultimately adopting 10 kids of his own, in addition to two biological children. Blacque died in 2021 at the age of 82 after a brief illness.
09 of 10
Kiel Martin (J.D. LaRue)
Kiel Martin on 'Hill Street Blues'; Martin at the 'Vote No on 64' Dinner in 1986Credit: Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Kiel Martin played J.D. LaRue, the spirited and resourceful detective whose knack for the job is often sidelined by his womanizing, hard-drinking habits.
The veteran actor, who had a supporting role in The Panic in Needle Park (1971) and played the lead in exploitation classic Trick Baby (1972), had a string of TV law enforcement roles under his belt before his Hill Street casting.
The Pittsburgh native continued to specialize in crime dramas afterward, with guest appearances on L.A. Law, Miami Vice, and Murder, She Wrote. He was also a longtime stage veteran.
Martin died in 1990 at age 46 due to complications from lung cancer. He was survived by one daughter, from his marriage to Dean Martin’s daughter, Claudia.
10 of 10
Betty Thomas (Lucy Bates)
Betty Thomas on 'Hill Street Blues'; Thomas at the DGA Awards in 2024Credit: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Frazer Harrison/Getty
The sole female in the Hill Street precinct, Betty Thomas’ Lucy Bates is a strong-willed and opinionated figure who often keeps her partner, Joe Coffey, in line.
Thomas was Emmy-nominated for every season of the show and took home the prize in 1985. But even after her acting success continued with her acclaimed role as the villainous Velda Plender in Troop Beverly Hills (1989), she segued to a career behind the camera.
She has helmed such films as The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts (1997), Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle (1998) remake, and the Sandra Bullock-led rehab dramedy 28 Days (2000).
More recently, she had a box-office smash with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), and helmed three episodes of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.
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