James B. Sikking

James Barrie Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934, to Arthur and Sue (née Paxton) Sikking. Sikking was the youngest of five children.^[4][5][6][7] His mother co-founded Santa Monica, California's Unity-by-the-Sea Church. He attended El Segundo High School.^[8] Sikking graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in 1959.^[9] During his time at UCLA, he worked at the Central Stage, the production program at UCLA and Los Angeles County lifeguard to pay for college.^[10]

While in college during the Korean War, Sikking served in the U.S. Army.^[8] He stated he based his approach to his Hill Street Blues character on one of his drill sergeants from basic training at Fort Bragg.^[4]

Sikking's first film was in Roger Corman's Five Guns West (1955) as a Union Sergeant uncredited.^[7][11] He was in The Strangler (1964),^[12] The Carpetbaggers (1964),^[13] Von Ryan's Express (1965),^[14] In Like Flint (1967),^[15] Point Blank (1967),^[16] the Elvis Presley film Charro! (1969),^[5][6] and Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969).^[17]

In the 1970s, Sikking was in Escape from the Planet of the Apes in an uncredited role (1971),^[18] Brother on the Run (1973),^[19] Capricorn One (1978),^[20] and The Electric Horseman (1979).^[21] In the 1980s, he was in The Star Chamber (1986),^[22] Up the Creek (1984),^[23] Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984),^[24][25], and Soul Man (1986).^[26]

In the 1990s, Sikking was in the remake Narrow Margin (1990) of 1956's The Narrow Margin,^[10][27][28] Final Approach (1991),^[29][30] The Pelican Brief (1993),^[31] and Whisper of the Heart (1995).^[32] In the 2000s he was in Made of Honor (2008).^[33]

In the 1960s, Sikking was in a number of television series such as Assignment: Underwater,^[4] Honey West,^[34] and Hogan's Heroes.^[35][36][37] From 1971–76, he played Jim Hobart, an alcoholic surgeon, on the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital.^[21][38] In the 1970s, Sikking was in M*A*S*H^[39] and he portrayed Geoffrey St. James on the NBC comedy series Turnabout.^[40]

Sikking appeared as Lieutenant (later demoted to Sergeant) Howard Hunter on the TV series Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1987.^[7] Sikking's performance earned him his first Emmy nomination in 1984.^[41][3][7] In 1989, Hill Street Blues' creator, Steven Bochco, cast Sikking in the ABC television series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser,^[7][42] father of the title character. On the 1997 drama series Brooklyn South he portrayed Captain Stan Jonas, for which he won a People's Choice Award in 1998.^[43] Sikking was in quite a few made-for-TV movies such as Inside O.U.T. (1971),^[44] The Alpha Caper (1973),^[45] Calling Doctor Storm, M. D. (1977),^[46] Bay Cove (1987),^[47] Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988),^[48] and Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992).^[49][50]

Sikking married his second wife, cookbook author Florine Sikking (née Caplan), in 1962.^[4] They had two children and four grandchildren.^[6][8] He and Robert Wagner were friends.^[51] Sikking enjoyed fishing. In the 1990s, he traveled to the Florida Keys to fish in the Redbone series of fishing tournaments.^[52] Sikking lived in the 4500 block of Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.^[53]

Known affectionately "Jim the Reader" at Los Angeles public schools, he read to public school third-grade classes for almost 20 years through the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Book Pals Program.^[6] Sikking did charity work for golf tournaments.^[7] He was at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for a health center in Washington, Iowa.^[7]

Sikking died of complications from dementia at his home in Los Angeles, on July 13, 2024, at age 90.^{[4][6][54][55]}